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Drive Report: 26 MPG in 2010 Chevrolet Equinox Four-Cylinder Page 2

 
20,643 views Oct 27, 2009
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2010 Chevrolet Equinox LT

HI-RES GALLERY: 2010 Chevrolet Equinox LT

Fuel economy

Overall, we registered 25.8 miles per gallon in 180 miles of mostly freeway driving, with a bit of suburban stop-and-go as well.

That's close to the EPA blended mileage rating of 26 mpg (without ECO engaged, as far as we know), so we think fuel efficiency might be more like 24 or 25 mpg in the real world, when using regular mode. That's good, although not spectacular.

Interior

GM has greatly improved the interiors of all its vehicles in recent years, and it shows best in mid-range vehicles like the 2010 Equinox. We appreciated that not only did the steering wheel tilt, but it also telescoped.

The dash has a very nice two-tone treatment, the needles of the blue-and-chrome instruments sweep all the way over on startup, and even the Chevrolet logo on the navigation screen is a carefully rendered graphic that looks almost three-dimensional. One nice feature: note only a clock, but a date and an exterior temperature gauge on the display.

The "premium cloth" seating was a mix of grey and black nylon blend, with a grey mesh weave almost like a basketball shirt over the black upholstery, with red stitching. It's a little startling at first, but the effect grew on us, mostly.

Equipment

For a $29,000 crossover, the Equinox LT was nicely--if not lavishly--equipped, with 17-inch aluminum wheels, remote keyless entry and remote starting, an anti-theft system, and one year of Onstar service free.

The driver's seat had eight-way power adjustment, and even the 60-40 split rear seat slid and reclined. It took us a while to get used to the aggressive automatic dimming on the rear-view mirror, but it was nice to have.

And Chevrolet warranties the powertrain for 5 years or 100,000 miles, which should comfort long-distance travelers.

Miscellaneous

For us, the biggest flaw in the 2010 Equinox was its truly appalling rear three-quarter vision. The large side mirrors are an absolute necessity, because looking over your shoulder when merging shows little more than interior trim surrounding a tiny window opening.

Thankfully, the LT has a reversing camera fitted as standard. We can't imagine how you'd back up otherwise, especially since the rear-seat headrests don't remove or fold down to open up vision in the rear-view mirror.

Another grumble: We've said this before, and we'll say it again. How can ANY manufacturer not offer one-touch automatic raise on the driver's window, since they build it one-touch down on every car we've driven? It baffles and irritates us. Ridiculous.

Conclusion

We liked the new 2010 Chevrolet Equinox, and feel that it's fully competitive with other small crossovers in the category, including the Honda CR-V and the Toyota RAV-4. And it's definitely more stylish than the aging 2010 Ford Escape.

While it had a few flaws and features we weren't fond of, it definitely returned good gas mileage in the ECO mode. Whether the vast majority of U.S. drivers would press that button and keep it down, however, is another question.

High Gear Media drove a manufacturer-provided vehicle to produce this hands-on road test. 

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HI-RES GALLERY: 2010 Chevrolet Equinox LT




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Comments (10)

  1. By DaveG Posted: 11/4/2009 2:46pm PST

    Hey John. Nice review. My 1999 Lexus RX300 has one touch down AND up on ALL doors. I bought it used and has been (and still is) a great car. This was my first foreign car and want to buy American again. I am board with it and wanted a small strong hybrid SUV or the Chevy Volt. So far its the Escape hybrid or... wait and see. I am sooo frustrated with American car design when I see European designs currently available across the pond. Of many examples I could point out look at the Chevy Volt verses the Opel Ampera. BTW, the new GMC Terrain would make a sweet hybrid. Slim chances huh? I am looking for a car company to take my money for a reliable, strong hybrid SUV. Who will make it happen?
    Thanks much.
     
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  2. By CB Posted: 11/18/2009 6:02am PST

    John,
    I want to give my experience with mileage. I am using the vehicle with a light foot but staying up with traffic just fine. My experience is that pure highway driving in the Baltimore/DC area (not too hilly) gets 35 mpg. I am getting a little over 32 mpg on state roads with a few red lights and occassional traffic.
    Aggressive driving does drive the mileage down into the 20's. Your review had me concerned prior to the time I recieved my car. I just want to let people know that 32 mpg (4 cyl 2LT with 17 inch tires) is easy to achieve (outside of congested driving).
     
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  3. By Dennis J Posted: 2/19/2010 4:11pm PST

    The gas mileage does not come close to what Chevy advertise. I have tried many times to get 32mpg with
    my 2010 4cyl Equinox on trips . And I can only get 26 mpg, and I live in Michigan it was not too hilly
    on our expressway. The only way I think it could get 32mpg, is driving on downhill grade for the trip and
    driven by jockey ( who weights less than 100 lbs )
     
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  4. By NH Posted: 2/26/2010 10:35am PST

    I thought I would mention that the EPA's official mileage estimates are done with the Eco mode activated. GM's internal testing suggests the Equinox 4-cylinder should get approximately 1 MPG less if you drive with the Eco mode turned off. (http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2009/06/chevrolet-equinox.html)
     
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  5. By Jacki Dircks Posted: 4/16/2010 1:13pm PDT

    I have a 2010 Chevy Equinox 6 cyl. I have not gotten over 19 MPG and 90% of my driving is highway. It has had 4 recalls, the driver's side back window won't go up automatically, the blue tooth has very poor connection, and I am very dissatisfied with the whole thing. Chevy's attitude has been to bad so sad. I will not buy a Chevy again. I've had the car since September and I have heard every excuse in the book for the mileage. First it just wasn't broken in, then it was because winter gas has higher RVP (Reid Vapor Pressure)now they just haven't done the switch over yet. How about they just lied on their test results.
     
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  6. By Mark Posted: 6/1/2010 8:00am PDT

    I would agree with Jacki D. I have had the Equinox 2010 6 cyl LTZ and have not gotten over 20mpg. Very dis-satisifying! Feel duped! Other than that, the interior, comfort, styling is appealing. Just can't get passed the mpg.
     
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  7. By clthomps Posted: 8/17/2010 2:40pm PDT

    I also agree with Jacki D. We bought the 4 cyl 2010 Equinox in April. We are getting 22 MPH whether it is highway or city (we really can't call anything we drove city. We bought this crossover due to its style AND mileage. Frankly, we are disgruntled with this mileage. Our 2005 Toyota Camry outperforms this vehicle in all respects. Driven on the same trip, the Camry got 32 MPG and the Equinox 22 MPG. We wanted to back the US economy and a US company. Chevy or other US automakers should not look for us to make this mistake again.
     
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  8. By John Posted: 12/14/2010 10:03am PST

    I think clthomps comparison of the Camry to the Equinox is a mistake. Mostly because an Equinox weighs hundreds of pounds more than a Camry, much of it is in the structure that gives it a 5 star side crash rating, when a Camry gets 2 stars with the new 2011 rating!. Yup, Among Toyotas other dishonest wowes this year is that now it has come out that Toyota petitioned congress for years to postpone or eliminate the toughter crash tests because the milage of its cars is , among other things, directly related to weight, which is related to crash safety. They traded milage = sales for our safety and got caught. GM's have solid structures which routinely get the best ratings (look at the data behind the stars) and Toyotas are often at the bottom.
     
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  9. By  BillAggie Posted: 1/21/2011 7:15pm PST

    Being in the market for an SUV, the Chevrolet Equinox caught my attention with the gas mileage figures. I did read lots of folks that claim it gets less than the 2011 EPA results of 32 highway, etc. But you know, so do all the other cars.. getting less. Even makes like the CRV --- according to REAL WORLD GAS reports the CRV can get into the "teens" such as 18 and so. All cars are overestimated... not just the Chevy Equinox. According to the real world mileage reports from consumers, the Chevrolet Equinox gets real world mileage of 24.4 thru 26.2 and in the real world, it's better mileage than ALL the other similar crossovers. The remarkable thing about the Equinox.. It doesn't feel like a light bodied small SUV.. it feels substantial and full sized. It's really a remarkable vehicle. I'm still shopping and looking at all the others, but I can't get my mind off the Chevrolet. They really did do this one right. So far the CRV, Sorento, Outlander and Nissan models felt like a step down in overall build quality and comfort and that's no minor statement.. some of those are pretty good vehicles!
     
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  10. By Bill Zieser Posted: 2/18/2011 6:17am PST

    I bought the 2011 Equinox because of the estimated MPG.I am averaging less than 25 MPG. I live out in the country in rural Iowa and 95 percent of my driving is hiway miles. I complained to the dealer and being that half of my hiway miles are interstate hiway driving, he said I won't get 32MPG. He said I would only get 32MPG driving 55 to 60 MPH. I like every thing else about the equinox. This is my first and last SUV
     
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