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2005 Chevrolet Equinox Road Test

4-24-2004

by Alex Law , Auto123.com

If its roominess weren't enough to recommend it, the Equinox also turned out to be one of the most pleasant SUVs of any size to drive. The classic definition of this is that it has car-like ride, and that certainly applies here. Not once did I have to deal with the kind of awkward response through the steering wheel that you feel on other sport-cutes when they come wheel-to-surface with some unpleasant situation. Very smooth, very quiet, very refined and easy-to-handle at all times is something that you can't always say in this category.

It's just hard to over-estimate what a quiet and refined package the Equinox is in relation to most of its competition. Canadian Brent Dewar is the general-manager of Chevrolet, and he puts it this way: '' Say goodbye to small, harsh, look-alike compact SUVs.''

On top of all that, Equinox will actually go off-road if you want it to, though virtually no one ever wants a sport-cute to go off-road except the people who produce commercials of vehicles going off-road to help sell it to people who never go off-road.

Much of Equinox's charm comes from the 3.4-litre V6 that happens to be built in China and shipped to the CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, where it replaces Tracker.

This is not the engine with the biggest power numbers in the segment, but it delivers good, solid everyday performance in this package. If you're counting, the V6 delivers 185 hp at 5200 rpm and 210 lb.-ft. of torque at 3800 rpm, all of which goes through a slick five-speed automatic transmission to either the front or all four wheels.

Thanks mostly to the torque and the programming of the transmission, that will power the lighter front-drive model from 0 to 100 km/h in about 8.6 seconds, which should make it competitive with the latest version of the Porsche Cayenne SUV and a bunch of others.

There are two trim levels in Equinox, and both are available in either front- or all-wheel-drive. The LS FWD lists for $26,560 and the LS AWD goes for $29,170, while the LT FWD goes for $28,565 and the LT AWD stickers for $31,275.

Which brings us to another interesting feature of the Equinox -- it is pretty well equipped, starting with that V6; remember that other sport-cutes sometimes come with inline-fours.

The car that I rampaged across two countries in was pretty much the base car -- an LS with front-wheel-drive. It did also have four-wheel anti-lock brakes with traction control for $780 (thankfully, I never got to use that), 16-inch aluminum wheels for $550 (which added to the vehicle's cool factor, though more pedestrian 16-inch wheels are standard) and preferred equipment package 1SB for $785 (which included tinted glass, carpeted floor mats and roof rails), but none of that was key to the general charm of the car.
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