Refinement saps any joy from the latest Equinox.
The small-SUV segment is the land of four-cylinder engines. Thinking it could get an edge up on the competition, Chevrolet sent its new compact Equinox SUV into the fray in 2005 with only a V-6 engine. The result? We didn’t fall for its cheapo interior and Chinese-built V-6, and buyers didn’t exactly flock to the Equinox, either. They kept on buying the four-cylinder Honda CR-V, Ford Escape, and Toyota RAV4 in huge numbers. So in 2007, Chevy slipped an even more powerful, 264-hp V-6 under the hood of the Equinox Sport, thus providing an answer to a question no one really asked.
For the Equinox’s second act, Chevrolet has redesigned it inside and out and now offers a four-cylinder—a 2.4-liter similar to the one in the Cobalt, Malibu, and Saturn Vue, except the Equinox’s four has direct fuel injection and a higher compression ratio (11.4:1). Output is 182 horsepower at a high 6700 rpm, and 172 pound-feet of torque gets delivered at 4900 rpm. Unlike GM’s powerful four-cylinder engines of the past, this one is smooth and emits nary a protest all the way to 7000 rpm.
Keep Reading: 2010 Chevrolet Equinox – Second Drive
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