I’ve had a really hard time trying to write this one, there’s just so many wonderful things I want to tell you about the Chevy Equinox I tested out on my trip to Key Lime Cove. I could honestly write a novel but I’m sure you don’t want to read that much so I tried condensing it but felt like I was then missing things so here is some of the most important information I felt I needed to share with you.
First, Let me start by saying I wish I could have returned my own van and kept the Equinox. It was a dream to drive, very roomy and comfortable and loaded with features. I love that i could just plug in my iPhone and control it through the stereo when listening to music, it had satellite radio but I only used it once as I have a pretty extensive play list on my iPhone. I used the Turn by Turn navigation provided by on-star for a little bit, however we had a technical glitch that prevented that from working properly so I would have to call back every so often to find out what and where my next turn was, a bit of a pain but i still got there without having to read a map so that’s still a bonus in my books.
The Equinox seemed to float down the highway and it was pretty quiet inside (well limited road noise anyways, I was traveling with 2 teenagers and a 2 year old lol) the cargo are had more than enough room for everything we needed for for all 4 people plus a stroller on top of that and I could still see no problem out the back window and even with a large car seat there was still adequate room in the back seat for a 16 year old to be comfortable.
What I loved the most about the Equinox was the fuel consumption, I drove the entire trip, there and home, which was about 2000km or 1240 miles and only burned about $120 in gas. (Here’s a little more about the engine and such copied from GMCanadas site)
Powerful Or Fuel Efficient? Or Both?
With Direct Injection and Variable Valve Timing (VVT) on both the standard 182 horsepower 2.4L ECOTEC four-cylinder engine and the available 264 horsepower 3.0L V6 engine, power and fuel efficiency are both maximized. At 6.1 L/100 km highway fuel efficiency and a driving range of up to 1100 highway kilometers, the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox has better highway fuel efficiency than Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and even Ford Escape Hybrid.** And the standard six-speed automatic transmission further improves fuel efficiency, with an ECO button that allows you to switch to a fuel-saving mode on models with the 2.4L engine. Advanced technology – for the power you need and the fuel efficiency you demand.
The sound from the stereo is rather impressive too, nice and clear and more than loud enough for me, I`m not one for loud music but that was one of the first things Lee tested out and now he wants to change the speakers in the van yet again lol.
Probably the only thing I didn’t like about the equinox was the small storage compartment that was above the stereo on the dash, it was very convenient for ID and sunglasses and small items like and it blended seamlessly into the dash adding a little to the look of the interior, however that part I didn’t like was the button to open it was very shiny chrome and the angle of it seemed to pick up the sun all the time shooting the glaring reflection into my face. It was rather distracting while driving into the sun most of the way home. It would have been nice if it was black or dark gray.
That being said I still absolutely loved the Equinox and would for sure consider buying one for our second vehicle maybe, I would consider it for our primary however at this current time we need to fit at least 6 people in sometimes so a mini van or similar is our first option solely for that reason.
I took a bunch of pictures I wanted to share with you but instead of posting each one seperate I did a collage and numbered, below the picture you will find a list detailing what each picture is.
- The roomy backseat, I put two car seats in there and there was still room for an adult to ride in there.
- Outside from the front
- Shifter that was between the seat with two cupholders, these were big enough for an extra large double double, bottles of water, juice and I think at one point my wallet was riding in there.
- The back of the car, this was large enough to hold four suitcases, a stroller, a box of toys and some other misc things picked up along the way.
- The rear view mirror with On-Star, while the service did not work for GPS the on star reps were great for telling me exactly how far to drive before I had to turn etc.
- View of the front seat from the back seat
- The storage compartment on the dash, as you can see the sun reflects off it and it makes it kind of hard to see.
- Dashboard stuff speedomoter, odometer etc.
- GPS built into the radio display ( I took this picture right before the unit quit working for the rest of our trip)
- Storage in the back with the shield pulled halfway over, this goes all the way to the rear hatch to protect you if you got in an accident your stuff from the back wouldn’t be flying everywhere
- the center console, the light made the picture look funny but this actually had a plug for my iphone in it so I could charge while on the go. If you look to the left of the picture you will see a tray that slides back and forth, perfect for change at the toll booths and id to go into.
- Radio while it was playing music, it displayed the song/artists name. We used this or the satellite radio for our entire trip.
Thank you so much to Chevy Canada for providing us this car for our trip. It was perfect for three adults and one child to travel in.
