2018 Chevrolet
Equinox

By Tara Weingarten

Ten Things to Know About the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox

If you’re a shopper looking for value and you need the utility of a small SUV, put the 2018 Chevy Equinox on your list. It hits all the points: value, practicality and quality. We drove the this completely redesigned American favorite on the twisty roads of North Carolina and enjoyed the updates.

What we loved most was how pleasing the spacious cabin is now. Seats are incredibly comfy, not just for this gal, but also for my male driving partner, who is taller and has a MUCH MORE slender frame than me. UGH!

Touch points are great, too. Soft-feeling plastics with clean stitching is a surprising design element at this price. We also liked the large 8″ color media touch screen. though which we accessed the (optional) navigation, audio system and climate controls.

Ride quality is good, though tight handling through twisty roads was somewhat sacrificed for a smoother ride feel overall. In other words, handling is fine, but not amazing.

Acceleration is quick enough off the line. Mario Andretti you won’t be. But who cares? The 2018 Chevrolet Equinox gets the job done just fine when you tap the gas pedal.

New to the Equinox for 2018 is a choice of engines. The standard model gets a small 1.5L, 4-cyl turbo–charged engine that has an EPA rating of 26 in the city and 32 on the hwy. Not the best fuel economy among the current crop of small SUVs but about average among its competitors. At least it’s better than the outgoing Equinox model, which garnered only 21 mpg in the city. Yikes. This 2018 Equinox has stop/start technology and front-wheel drive.

A zippier 2.0L turbo engine paired with a gas-sipping nine-speed automatic transmission is coming very soon. This fall, a 1.6L turbo diesel will enter the market promising about 40 mpg combined city/hwy driving.

The 2018 Chevrolet Equinox gets a big dose of swank inside. With more contemporary materials and cleaner lines, the Equinox is pleasing to look at and to touch. Plus, an optional denim-style seat fabric is fun and durable. A new “kneeling” rear seat allows backseat cushions to lay flat for a larger and easier-to-load cargo area.

Standard safety features on the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox include: Six airbags and a collapsable pedal assembly. For an added price, there is a Forward Collision Alert which flashes lights when your vehicle gets too close to the one in front. Pair this with a new Safety Seat Alert, which makes the chair vibrate under the same circumstances, and you will vastly reduce the chances of being in a front-end collision.

Chevrolet’s Teen Driver safety feature comes standard and is invaluable for parents. It allows parents to set speed limits, reduce the volume allowed through the vehicle’s sound system, and see how far your kid has driven. A final in-vehicle report card tells all. Sorry kids, it’s for your own good.

Basic maintenance is included in the price of the Equinox. You’ll get two free maintenance visits, which include oil and filter changes, four wheel/tire rotation, and a 27-point inspection.

A new optional Surround Vision feature gives a 360-degree bird’s-eye view of the Equinox so you can better see people, toys, animals and any other impediments to your clear path as you park or back out of a spot.

A Chevy Equinox Redline edition will come out later this year. Touted as an “urban street-smart” and “sporty” style cue, it includes things like: blacked-out wheels with red accents, a black grille, and other blacked-out trim details on the side mirrors and around the window frames. Groovy, baby.