Video: 2025 Chevrolet Equinox Review: Substance Over Speed

Chevy has revamped the entire lineup of SUVs over the last 18 months, and now, we finally get to see the last piece of the puzzle, the '25 Equinox. It's got a new exterior, it's got a new interior, it's got new technology. It's a little bit wider than before. It's got a brand new trim level at the top called the Activ, but what it doesn't have is a new powertrain. Well, it's got a new transmission, but the engine is the same. So we've come here to the mean streets of Minneapolis to drive the new '25 Equinox to see if the changes they've made are only skin deep. (upbeat music) First and foremost of the changes for the 2025 Equinox is the all-new sheet metal. And it's not just a different look to it, it's also two and a half inches wider than the outgoing model, which means it has a more planted, wider, almost a bulldog trucklike stance to it now. Up front, you have the Chevrolet family SUV style front end, which is pretty much what every Chevy SUV now has from the Trax all the way up to the Tahoe. And, frankly, I'm not mad about it. I think it's definitely a nice look. And given that you have three different trim levels for the Equinox, each of them has a slightly different front end so that you can pretty much tell what you're looking at. But what all three trim levels share is the styling down the side, these squared off wheel wells. Now these wheel wells are meant to be kind of an homage to the Chevrolet pickup truck lineup. So you've got the Colorado, the Silverado HD, all of them have a very similar look to the wheel wells. This is meant to look a little bit more trucky, so they're kind of bringing that styling element in. Overall, the whole thing looks like a baby Traverse where the smaller Trax actually looks kind of like a baby Blazer. This one is meant to be a bit more trucky. It definitely looks like the the bigger Traverse, but in maybe three quarter scale size and that's not a bad thing. There are three trim levels to talk about for the 2025 Chevrolet Equinox, and it starts with the base level LT, but base level is kind of a misnomer. It's the entry level point, but it really does come very well-equipped. 17-inch wheels are standard with 19-inch wheels as an option, and you can actually option up with a number of different packages to make the LT really quite nice. Stepping up from that, you have the RS, and that's the sporty-looking model. Now, it is only sporty-looking. It comes with standard 19-inch wheels with optional 20 inch-wheels and tires, and it's got blacked out trim instead of all the chrome look that you have with the other models, and a black roof as well if you want one, but it is just an appearance package. There isn't really anything to it that makes it actually more athletic than the LT or this model. This is the brand new Activ trim for 2025, never before seen on the Equinox. This is the ostensibly off-road model. Now, again, like the RS, it only looks sporty. The Activ really only looks off-roady. It does have things like these 17-inch wheels with these all-terrain tires, so it might have a little bit better grip on the dirt, but, overall, it's really only meant to look off-roady. It doesn't have any higher ride height, it doesn't have any skid plate protection underneath. It's not a Z71 package like we've seen with a Tahoe or with some of the pickup trucks. It is really just meant to look off-roady, and I think it definitely does. So while the inside and the outside definitely look new, the one thing that's not new is the powertrains. It's still got the same 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder as before. So we really do need to see if the changes they've made for the Equinox are just appearance things, or does it actually drive differently. Let's go find out. While they've done a number of changes to the sheet metal and to the interior, the powertrain is carryover. It's a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, and it's making 175 horsepower. Now, there are a couple of differences here. You can either get a front-wheel-drive or an all-wheel-drive Equinox. If you get the front-wheel-drive one, you get a continuously variable automatic transmission, and you get 185 pounds-feet of torque. If you get the all-wheel-drive version of the Equinox, which is a $2,000 option on all of the trim levels, this is not standard on any of them, then you get an eight-speed automatic transmission with actual gears, which is better than the six-speed that they had on the outgoing model, and you get 203 pounds-feet of torque. Here's the interesting part about it though, the less powerful version, the front-wheel-drive model with 185 pounds-feet and the CVT is actually more fun to drive, and more responsive than the all-wheel-drive version with the eight-speed gear transmission, and that's probably one of the first times I have ever said that I prefer the CVT over an actual traditional automatic geared transmission, but that is the case. The engine output in this thing is not great. It's not all that much, and it is below a number of competitors' output as well. That kind of makes it a little on the pokey side. Now, I wouldn't go as far as saying that the Equinox is downright slow, but when you put three or four people and luggage in this thing, and you really put your foot down, you have to plan in advance for things like passing maneuvers or getting onto a highway. It doesn't have a whole lot of torque. It doesn't have a whole lot of grunt. It's not one of those vehicles out there that you go, "Oh, this thing is just a heck of a lot of fun to drive, and it's sprightly and spirited." No, that's not what this is. This is comfort over everything else, because the ride quality in this Equinox is exceptional. I would rank this as probably the best riding compact SUV on the market right now, and it's regardless of trim level. They all kind of feel the same in many ways. The Activ one that I'm driving right now does feel a little bit different because of its big balloon off-road style, all-terrain tires, but the ride quality and the ride and handling balance are really, really impressive. It's very well-damped. I mean I've taken the RS and the LT versions over some railroad tracks, and not just, like, one set of tracks. There's a part of this drive route that has a number of different railroad tracks over it, and it's completely fine. It's not perturbed in the slightest. It's just quiet in here and nothing that comes up through the pavement really disturbs the passengers in the cabin at all. It's also pretty quiet, which is kind of interesting given that this is a small engine that's trying to do a lot of work. Usually, when you put your foot down, that means a lot of noise gets into the cabin, but not in this case. Honestly, it's just not the most powerful power chain, but it is pretty refined, and it doesn't make nearly as much noise as, say, the larger turbocharged four-cylinder does and the larger Chevrolet Traverse. That makes a lot more racket than this does. This is just meant to be calm, meant to be easy to drive, and it definitely is. The handling characteristics are also really good. The steering is direct. There's decent amount of feedback. It's not overly boosted, and the steering wheel itself is just big and chunky, and feels good in your hands as well. It's a really nice SUV to drive. It's just not one that you're gonna necessarily wanna drive if you have, like, a lot of twisty canyon roads or if you plan on trailering anything. The trailering maximum weight is only 1500 pounds, so you're not towing necessarily anything more than a jet ski with this thing, and even then, I'd be kind of iffy about it just from the fact that it doesn't have a whole lot of torque. But if you're just looking for something that's a really nice, all-around commuter vehicle, or if you're looking for something to haul kids around in, the powertrain will do just fine. And again, this is something that General Motors has told us time and again, the customers don't necessarily care as much about what's under the hood. As long as it's adequate, and isn't actually slow, and can get out of its own way, then it could be anything under the hood, and it's not gonna matter to them as much as how nice the interior is, and how comfortable the vehicle is to drive. So they didn't change the powertrain all that much. It's got some refinements, but overall, it's the same engine and mostly the same transmissions. They did change the exterior sheet metal and they definitely changed this interior, which is a 1000% better than the outgoing one. First of all, visibility is outstanding. You're actually sitting up fairly high in this with a a low dash, so you're able to see out really quite well. But it's the material quality, and the shapes, and the designs in here that really set the Equinox apart from a lot of its competitors. Everything in here feels dynamite. That's very high quality materials in here. It doesn't feel cheap. Nothing feels hollow. Everything that you touch has some softness to it. There's interesting artistic details, like these vents that we've seen before on the Chevrolet Blazer and Blazer EV, and that are all reminiscent of the Camaro. And one of the things that Chevrolet is still doing that we applaud them for is not going fully touchscreen. Yes, there are touchscreens in here that are bigger and newer, but there's still hard buttons in here for things like climate control and audio controls. Things that you use frequently that you don't want to have to hunt for in a touchscreen, are all available right here, and are easy to use, and easy to find. You do have some new technology in here. This is an 11.3-inch touchscreen for the multimedia system, and that multimedia system is now running the Google-based operating system that we've seen proliferate through the entire General Motors lineup. For better and for worse, it does work pretty well, and if you have an Android phone or a Google-based phone, or you're part of the whole Google universe, you could integrate your vehicle into your life really quite well. In terms of home automation, shopping, concierge services, they could do all of that kind of stuff. If you have an Apple iPhone, it is still offering a wireless Apple CarPlay, so you can integrate that as well. It's just not quite as well as some of the Google stuff that you can do. In addition, you've got an 11-inch digital gauge cluster that's standard on all models now. It's no longer a luxury item. You're seeing these things pop up everywhere. It's reconfigurable to a couple of different displays. You can either have a bunch of gauges, you can have the navigation system, or you can have a kind of a minimalist thing as well where it's just a speedometer. So it really is configurable to a number of different ways depending on how much information you want displayed in front of you. Comfort is actually quite good in here as well. The seats themselves are decently padded. They're a good size even for bigger people like me, and there's enough room in the backseat as well that I can actually sit behind myself at about 5' 11" that I am, and really not have a problem. I wouldn't wanna necessarily drive cross-country in it, but if you've got a smaller family and you've got kids, they'll fit back there without a problem. And there's plenty of cargo room as well, especially when you lower the back seats. This thing can haul quite a bit of stuff, so it works quite well as a family vehicle, and it works well if it's just a young couple, or if you just want something that's a personal commuter vehicle, does that, too. And you'll feel good about buying it, because it makes you feel good in here. The material quality, the ride quality, the handling characteristics, the technology that's available, all of it kind of adds up to a much more premium vehicle, and a more premium experience than the outgoing Equinox ever delivered. Pricing for the new '25 Equinox is also pretty decent. It starts at just a few dollars short of $30,000 for a base front-wheel-drive LT. That includes all the destination pricing, and it can range up to about $37,000 for a fully-loaded Activ all-wheel-drive like the one that we're currently sitting in. That's squarely the heart of where people are spending money in terms of compact SUVs, and it comes in well under the average new car transaction price of $48,000 for 2024, which is, to my mind, still ridiculously high. So it does have a value component to it as well, especially given a lot of the safety features that this thing has now, in terms of automatic braking, a lot of lane keep assist features, surround view cameras that are optional. You've got digital camera mirror as well. So it's got a lot of comfort, it has decent value, it rides well, it drives well, the materials in here feel fantastic. I think they've scored a winner with their '25 Equinox redesign. So it drives really quite well. The ride is exceptional, it's got good handling, the interior is top-notch with excellent material quality, the technology inside works really well as well. It looks dynamite, it's got tons of room, it's comfortable, and it's really value-priced as well, so it ticks a lot of the boxes. Yeah, it's not necessarily the fastest thing on the road, but that's not always that important for a lot of Chevrolet customers. They prioritize safety, and value, and comfort over things like outright speed in their family SUVs, and for those people, I think the Equinox is really gonna fit them quite well. If you'd like to learn more about the new 2025 Chevrolet Equinox, make sure you look everything up at cars.com/news. (upbeat outro music)