CHEVY’S EQUINOX ACTIV AWD – YOUR URBAN ADVENTURE. HERE.

CHEVY’S EQUINOX ACTIV AWD

YOUR URBAN ADVENTURE. HERE.

Back in the day, when the popularity of traditional SUVs was growing and the car-based crossover remained a novelty, the body-on-frame SUV was intended for real work – towing, off-roading – while the crossover was aimed at lighter fare: commuting, carpooling and grocery-getting. That trad SUV could commute and carpool and do Safeway, but you wouldn’t venture too far offroad with the crossover; in fact, you wouldn’t go  much further in your CR-V or RAV4 than you’d go in an Accord or Camry. Recently that expectation has changed, and one response to that more expansive expectation is Chevy’s new Equinox in its (available) ACTIV trim.

In full disclosure: You should know Chevy’s Equinox isn’t typically on my radar, as small crossovers from Japan and Korea are simply too competent, efficient and/or value-oriented. Or all of the above. And as you probably know from the TV ads, an increasing number of OEMs are hyping their offroad capabilities with available dirt-oriented trims. Ford offers them on its Bronco Sport, Jeep has trail-rated its Compass and about-to-be-reintroduced Cherokee, and both Honda and Toyota have given their CR-Vs and RAV4s – respectively – slight lifts and more aggressive rubber. Bad is suddenly rad, and there’s a side benefit: You don’t have to wash these crossovers as often as you’d wash their more street-specific variants.

With its all-new Equinox the team at Chevy have fully embraced the more crusty crossover. In the walkaround you’ll note the more overtly truck-like sheetmetal, sitting on – again, in ACTIV spec – its 17-inc all-terrain tires. The front fascia is, in my view, a tad too busy, but the overall impression – especially when painted in its of-the-moment Cacti Green with white top – is of a slightly rowdy derivative, like seeing your Starbucks barista at a bar…downing a Shiner.

Inside, what Chevy calls a Maple Sugar interior would not seem out of place at REI, and its composed of what Chevy dubs Evotex and sueded microfiber; those, of course, wouldn’t seem out of place in a lab. There’s generous room for four, and the small adult occupying the middle of the rear seat can do so comfortably for a lunch hour…or in the proverbial pinch. Behind the rear seat is 30 cubic feet of cargo volume, while folding the rear seat roughly doubles that. 

Fronting the driver is an expansive windshield, a digitized dashboard of 11 inches and an 11.3-inch infotainment display. There is, as you’d hope, wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto, and SiriusXM is available on a trial subscription – and you should try it. And happily, HVAC controls are not part of the screen, but sit beneath it. Adjustments are all one touch, and in adjusting fan speed you might actually see that tree…or other traffic!

My one hesitation regarding the ‘command center’ is the almost flimsy stalk for selecting D, R and P. While intuitive, it doesn’t impress as sufficiently sturdy beyond the Chevy’s first owner.

Under the hood the Equinox gives you one choice…and one choice only. It’s a 1.5 liter turbocharged four, which would prove delightful in Chevy’s smaller Trax, but is only adequate in the 3,700-pound Equinox. It doesn’t complain, and in the available all-wheel drive versions it’s connected to an 8-speed automatic. But in testing by Car and Driver magazine, arriving at 60 took 8.6 seconds – and the EPA estimates just 24 City/29 Highway and 26 Combined mpg. I’m guessing there are full-size Chevy pickups that do almost as well. 

With all of that, the Equinox ACTIV goes down the road comfortably. At low speeds the handling feels slightly clumsy, which I’ll attribute to its all-terrain rubber. But those same tires with the generous section height handle today’s urban jungle with genuine aplomb; you can, I think, skip the wheel/tire insurance when wrestling with the dealership’s F&I rep. And while you wouldn’t describe the handling as ‘point-and-shoot’, neither is it ‘point-and-hope’. 

If the idea of a smallish, dual-purpose crossover appeals to you, Chevrolet’s Equinox ACTIV is worth a look. But at a window sticker approaching $40K, you should think hard about alternatives from Japan and Korea, many of ‘em built in Ohio or Alabama.