It'll take you about 2 minutes of seat time to figure out that the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox is simply an excellent compact crossover SUV. In the past, vehicles like the Equinox were good once you qualified it. "It's good for an American car" some would say.  "It's a great value" was another common backhanded complement paid to the Equinox. Thankfully, those days are gone. The 2010 version of the Chevy Equinox is just plain good - no further qualification is needed. On many fronts, the new Equinox is easily better than the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Subaru Forester

Even in LT trim with a fuel sipping, 2.4 liter engine the Equinox is better than the completion. It feels more powerful and is quieter than a Honda CR-V and the interior is filled with high quality materials and a more edgy style than the Toyota RAV4. In fact, it's the Equinox's ability to combine quality, style and value that makes it so compelling.

A familiar complaint when it comes to many compact crossover SUVs is road noise. Frankly, the previous Equinox as well as the current Honda CR-V are just too noisy inside when traveling at highway speeds. The 2010 Equinox remains smooth and quiet even on the highway lacking both wind and road noise. That's likely due to the fact that Chevy Equinox shares its basic platform with the much more luxurious, much more expensive Cadillac SRX. That's pretty good company to be keeping for a $25,000 compact SUV. If you're really looking to save some cash, check out the base Equinox LS. The 2010 model is actually less expensive than the outgoing 2009 Equinox.

The heart of the 2010 Equinox LT1 is a direct injection four cylinder engine that's good for 188 hp. It never feels slow or sluggish and is rated an impressive 32 mpg on the highway thanks to a six-speed automatic transmission  - that's 5 mpg better than the EPA highway rating for a four cylinder RAV4. Of course there is a V6 version of the Equinox available too. That engine produces 264 hp and is rated at 18 mpg city and 25 highway.

Inside the new Equinox you'll find none of the cheap, hard plastics that used be the calling card of all small SUVs. The dash and center stack have an intentional style and everything fits together nicely. We're not sure folks living in sunny climates will appreciate the chrome latch for the dash mounted storage box as the reflection can be annoying.  Other than that, there's very little to dislike and plenty of reasons to praise the all new 2010 Chevrolet Equinox.
Amount Paid (US$): 26,550
Condition: New
Model Year: 2009
Model and Options: LT1 package