Monday, August 19, 2013
2006 Chevrolet Equinox Review
A new model for 2005, the 2006 Chevrolet Equinox adds a few minor updates that include a revised shift knob, body-color front fascia for LS trims, body-color outside mirrors for LT trims, and two new exterior colors: Black Amethyst Metallica and Bermuda Green Metallic.
Pros:
I love everything about this SUV. It has plenty of room for all my camera gear, and my daughters gymnastics bags. She has plenty of room in the back seat to sleep.
Cons:
The parking brake is under the cup holder. You have to push the cup holder in when you use the parking break.
To see just how much Americans love sport-utility vehicles, you need only look at Chevrolet. The well-known brand has five SUV nameplates, including the popular Tahoe and full-size Suburban.
As a group, theyve done extremely well at bringing in buyers. Indeed, Chevy helps parent company, General Motors Corp., remain the only automaker to sell more than 1 million SUVs in the United States in a calendar year.
So Chevy wasnt about to lose momentum by leaving a hole in its showrooms when the aged Chevrolet Tracker compact SUV was being retired.
A new SUV, the five-passenger Chevy Equinox, offers a larger interior than the Tracker had, more comfortable ride and a novel rear seat that can slide forward and back nearly 8 inches to provide a whopping 40.2 inches of back-seat legroom — unheard of in the smaller SUV segment. Also standard in every Equinox: A V6 and automatic transmission
Responsive Transmission
The Equinox V6 is hooked to a responsive 5-speed automatic transmission and delivers an estimated 19 mpg in the city and 25 on highways no matter if the Equinox has front-wheel drive or its on-demand all-wheel drive, which doesnt call for driver involvement. Only 87-octane fuel is needed.
The all-wheel-drive system delivers all power to the front wheels during normal driving but shoots some to the rear ones if it detects front-wheel slip.
Well Equipped
Even the base LS trim level has lots of equipment, including air conditioning, the usual power accessories, remote keyless entry and an AM/FM/CD sound system. The all-wheel-drive LS adds anti-lock brakes, which are a worthy $400 option that includes traction control for the front-wheel-drive LS.
Both versions of the LT have anti-lock brakes, along with cruise control, fog lights, rear privacy glass and alloy wheels.
Extras include $395 side-curtain airbags. The LT is offered with $250 heated front seats and $545 leather upholstery. Theres also a costly $3,745 option package for the LT that contains a power sunroof, in-dash 6-disc CD player, steering wheel radio controls and GMs OnStar assistance system.
Length doesnt translate into cargo room
Because of its lengthened platform, the Equinox is larger than the VUE, inside and out.
For example, the Equinox is 7.5 inches longer, or 15.7 feet long from bumper to bumper. The wheelbase, which is the distance from one wheel on one side of the SUV to the center of the other wheel on the same side, is 112.5 inches in the Equinox, compared with 106.6 inches in the VUE.
This, and the seat track thats included to move the Equinox rear seat forward and aft, helps explain why theres all that rear-seat legroom in the Equinox. The VUEs rear-seat legroom is 36.8 inches, which is less than the 39.4 inches in the competing Honda CR-V. The Toyota RAV4, however, has just 32.6 inches of rear-seat legroom. But dont expect a huge increase in cargo room inside the Equinox.
Despite its larger outer size than the VUE, RAV4 and CR-V, the Equinoxs maximum 68.6 cubic feet of interior cargo space—with rear seats folded down—is just 0.3 foot more than the 68.3 cubic feet in the RAV4 and less than the 72 cubic feet found at the back of the CR-V.
Some of this has to do with the involved plastic-slot structure built into the sides of the Equinox cargo area. Its there for use with a height-adjustable cargo shelf that can double as a small table back there, but this shelf system also can be less convenient to manage than a simple sliding shade-like vinyl cover. But some of the problem also seems to be the rear seatbacks dont fold flat and the wheel wells intrude into the cargo space.
The Equinox can tow up to 3,500 pounds, according to Chevy, which is far more than the 1,500-pound maximum of the CR-V and RAV4, which come only with four-cylinder engines that produce 160 and 161 horsepower, respectively.
Lively Old-Style Engine
The new Chevy comes only with an old-style 3.4-liter pushrod V6, which generates 185 horsepower. Thats considerably less than the 250 horsepower from the Honda-supplied 3.5-liter V6 available for the VUE.
However, the fairly smooth Equinox engine doesnt feel overworked and delivers good acceleration—although it would be nice if the Honda V6 was an option.
Slow Steering
The Equinox looks sporty, so new owners may be surprised to find that its electric power steering is a little slow. Also, a 41.8-foot turning circle will result in lots of wheel turning in parking maneuvers.
Accompanying the slow steering is a soft suspension that smooths out rough roads but causes pronounced body lean in curves if youre driving hard. However, handling is good during routine driving.
The all-wheel-drive system enhances stability, and so do the optional 17-inch alloy wheels and 60-series tires offered for the LT. Standard for the LS and LT are 16-inch wheels and narrower 65-series tires.
The brake pedal is sensitive without feeling touchy, and stopping distances are short.
About the ride
While the Equinox works to keep many road bumps away from passengers for a mostly mild ride, passengers notice indications that the suspension is working underneath them.
Among the most annoying indicators in the test vehicle were noisy "boom" sounds that came when the Equinox passed over potholes and other major road bumps. There were "boom" sounds from the 16-inch tires, too, as the Equinox rolled over expansion cracks on highway bridges. But wind noise wasnt obtrusive.
Overall Review:
This is the perfect vehicle for anyone needing lots of space, excellent quality, superior styling all at an affordable price. Chevrolet gets an AA+ for this one!
