2010 Chevrolet Equinox, A Review

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Deb’s Introduction

We weren’t asked by General Motors to write a review about the new 2010 Chevrolet Equinox. We weren’t even asked by them to blog about our time on the Chevy Equinox Rocky Mountain Adventure.  I am sure that they wanted us to and were happy that we did, but they never asked us for anything in return when we were invited out to take part in adventures in the incredibly beautiful province of Alberta.

Like everything that we put on this site, we only write about what excites and inspires us.  If we didn’t love our experience and find it worth sharing with you, we wouldn’t post it.  As you may already know, we have posted several articles about our adventure drive already and you guessed it, we had a fantastic time going on amazing adventures.

2010 Chevy Equinox

And just like those adventures that we enjoyed sharing with you, we thought that we would share our thoughts on the New 2010 Chevrolet Equinox.

We like General Motors products. Really.  I don’t understand why everyone puts them down all of the time. We have been driving the same 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier for almost 7 years and we have never had a problem.  You see, we are travelers and we don’t like to put a lot of money into our vehicles.  I often joke to my brother who owns a car dealership that I am going to keep driving this car right to it’s last legs.  And he always replies that the problem with our car is that it will never quit.  Great! I say, that way I won’t have to buy a new one!

Growing up I drove a Pontiac Firebird  and loved it.  I hadn’t really thought about it before, but I guess I am a GM person through and through.

Unfortunately, our Cavalier doesn’t really fit our lifestyle while we are at home.  We cram tents into the trunk and coolers into the back seat, while we mount our bikes and snowboards on our roof rack when we take off for the weekend. It has worked surprisingly well, but over the past couple of years we have talked about how we really need to invest in a car that is more suited to our lifestyle.

Dave’s Review

This Chevy Equinox really does suit our lifestyle.  It is a small SUV that is a pleasure to drive both on the highway and in the city.

The first thing we noticed when we approached the car was the sleek styling. With the multi-dimentional hood and wraparound headlamps it really catches your eye. Now looks are not everything (although they tend to help) and I was anxious to get inside and see what else this crossover had to offer. Most important to us , because we do a lot of outdoor activities, was Cargo Space. When we opened up the back we were blown away with the room. After putting down the 60/40 split seat there is more than enough room to stuff all of our winter sports gear including the snowboards and still have room left for non essentials. Also all of the compartments in the cockpit would make it easy and convenient to store all of your readily accessible items. ( there is even enough room to store your laptop under the armrest. Cool!!)

After taking a quick tour through the interior it was time to get on the road. We hopped in and adjusted our power leather seats and tilting and telescoping steering wheel, threw it in drive and we were on our way.  We immediately noticed was how quiet it is. Compared to our Cavalier it seemed like we were in a soundproof room. So we turned on the XM satellite radio. Now, we have never had this so it took a little getting used to not knowing where the channels were. But soon we had it figured out and we were cruising on the highway with Hair Nation cranked.

The Chevy Equinox is smooth on the highway. Easy to handle and had guts in the mountains.

This is great but at what cost? We have always tried to avoid driving those gas guzzlers so when we calculated our fuel economy we were pleasantly surprised to see that we got 10 Liters to 100km. How do we know this? Because it tells you on the dashboard menu screen!  Also, we had driven it 0ver 1000 km. We topped it up in Lake Louise for $29 and still had almost a half a tank left in it after driving from Calgary to Jasper and back plus  everywhere in between.

The good thing is that it does not sacrifice power to achieve this. We never really got a chance to put the all wheel drive to the test but judging by the way it handles we are confident that it could handle a lot more. It gave us the sense of security without feeling that we were encased in a tank!

Other features that we liked were:

1. The back up assist camera. It takes a little getting used to but is a cool and useful feature

2. On Star System. We used it to make a few phone calls. You can also use it for directions and would be a real help if you were in the middle of nowhere, as the signal is 4 times as powerful than a cell phone.

3. Bluetooth Handsfree Connectivity- This is becoming a must in our society.

4. DVD Entertainment Center. We don’t have kids and we have heard that these are a lifesaver when you do have them, but we would just like one for ourselves!

So, after test driving the 2010 Chevy Equinox we came to the conclusion that, this vehicle could be our next purchase. It has everything that fits the adventurers needs and then some.