Compact crossovers are the darling of the automotive industry right now. Basically every automaker has at least one, and some have even more than that. Because of this fact, when a new entrant to the market comes out, it needs to be quite impressive to capture the attention of your average Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Nissan Rogue buyer. That’s exactly what Chevy is gunning for with the redesigned fourth-generation gas-powered Equinox.
To appeal to a market that is currently obsessed with boxy vehicles that have the appearance of off-road ability, the Bowtie took the swoops and curves of the previous ‘Nox and cut them down with an angle grinder. What you get now is a more truck-looking vehicle, cosplaying as an off-roader even if it’s never meant to actually tackle an off-road trail.
For the most part, Chevy succeeded in its mission to build a competitive and compelling compact crossover, but in a world dominated by the trio of cars I mentioned before, it has to be damn good to win over the hearts and minds of a crossover-obsessed market. I think Chevy was able to do just that with the 2025 Equinox.
Full Disclosure: Chevy flew me out to Minneapolis, fed me all sorts of delicious foods and put me up in a fancy Mariott all so I could drive the fourth-generation Equinox.
Chevy’s redesigned Equinox is not a car for car enthusiasts, people who derive pleasure from driving or people who even really like getting behind the wheel. It’s an appliance car, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There are way more people who want an appliance car than enthusiasts, and since General Motors is in the business of making money, it makes sense it would cater the Equinox to those folks.
So don’t expect an inspiring drive. The new Equinox is rather dull, but again, that’s sort of the point. It’s designed to ferry people and things from one place to another with as few issues as possible, and it’s so aggressively fine to drive you almost forget you’re doing it. The whole car — its steering, its engine and its transmission — falls to the wayside as you go down the road. That means it’s a fairly relaxing experience, at least, which is what you want in a crossover like this.
Powering all three Equinox trims (LT, RS and Activ) is a turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-4 that puts out 175 horsepower and 203 lb-ft of torque if you go for all-wheel drive, which uses an eight-speed automatic. Front-wheel-drive Equinoxes come with 184 lb-ft of torque and a CVT. Neither of these are particularly strong numbers, but you won’t really miss the extra 19 lb-ft of the AWD car, so I’d probably skip it unless you feel you really need AWD (you don’t). Steering and handling are also more than adequate. It’s not a sports car, so there’s some lean in the corners and the steering feel is pretty much dead. However, it’s weighted well on and off-center, and there’s more than enough grip from the all-season or all-terrain tires to handle whatever sort of mundane driving you throw at the Equinox.
To be fair, none of that really matters. No one has ever bought a Chevy Equinox — or any other compact crossover for that matter — based on how well it drove and how quick it was. What actually matters is the interior space, comfort and refinement. I’ve driven all the big names in the compact crossover segment, and the Equinox is among the best when it comes to interior space and design. There’s plenty of room everywhere for you, your partner, your 2.2 children and all of their shit. Head-, leg- and shoulder room is also more than adequate in the rear seats, even for me at 6-foot-1-inch.
If you fold down the rear seats, you get an extremely generous 63.5 cubic feet of cargo room. In terms of comfort, the Equinox ain’t too bad. The seats are pretty well bolstered and offer some lumbar support. One thing I really appreciate is that Chevy added a bit of padding on the top of the door for your elbow. I’m a big elbow-on-the-window-frame guy, so this was really welcome and something a lot of OEMs overlook in cheaper cars.
Up front you get a funky yet familiar GM interior design with two screens, an 11-inch gauge cluster display and an 11.3-inch infotainment touchscreen, and both work well and can be easily customized to your desires. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto fans will be happy to hear that both systems still exist in the 2025 Equinox, despite GM moving away from the systems. Furthermore, button fans will rejoice because the entire climate control system uses hard buttons. Sure, you can use the screen as a redundancy, but a piano black button in the center stack can control anything you want to do. One downfall is that the lights are controlled through the screen like on some other Chevys. Nobody’s perfect, I suppose.
Chevy decided to move the gear selector from the center console to the steering column, and that’s always a welcome decision in my book. There’s no need for a big shifter to be taking up valuable real estate in a car like this. It frees up more room for storage cubbies, cup holders and an obnoxiously large drive mode selector.
Depending on what trim you go for, the Equinox’s interiors are slightly different. The basic layout is pretty much the same, but material choices and colors vary depending on whether you go for the LT, RS or Activ. The Activ comes with the biggest difference, seats covered in Maple Sugar and suede microfiber upholstery. The LT and RS have to settle for black and gray. Regardless of what trim you choose, the Equinox’s cabin feels rather well put together and sturdy. I could certainly see it holding up through years of daily driving abuse. Piano black is also kept to a minimum, so if you’re a hater, don’t be.
While we’re on the subject of trims, the three are pretty much the same, just appearance packages that add different features. The base LT will likely be the volume seller with a $29,995 base price (including $1,395 for destination) for a front-wheel-drive model. The RS adds some sporty touches, slightly bigger wheels (20s are coming) and red and blue interior trimmings, and it starts at $34,395. Finally, you get the Equinox Activ, and despite its off-roadish looks you don’t get any mechanical upgrades, save for 17-inch wheels wearing General Grabber all-terrain tires. Ground clearance remains the same, as does just about everything else. Chevy tells me the suspension has been calibrated for each model, but they all feel the same if I’m being honest. Anyway, a FWD Activ starts at an identical $34,395. All three trims can be had with AWD and the eight-speed automatic for an extra $2,000.
The LT I drove came in at $33,880, while the RS stickered at $39,065 and the big-dog Activ was $39,925, and that’s just about as expensive as the new Equinox can be. For the money, it’s a pretty solid value. There’s a plethora of standard safety equipment and driver aids on every trim; stuff like adaptive cruise control and rear parking assist are now standard. There are, of course, options you can select like a convenience package that gets you more seat controls, dual climate zones, a power liftgate, a wireless charger, and a different roof color with a panoramic sunroof. All of that stuff is available from the base LT trim, so you can skip the RS and Activ trims altogether if they aren’t speaking to you.
It’s up to you whether or not the truck-ified 2025 Equinox fits your tastes. I think it’s pretty handsome, but some of the design elements and sharp looks are writing checks its compact crossover underpinnings cannot really cash. It’s off-road cosplay, and if that’s what you’re into, who am I to say that you’re wrong? There are still plenty of smoothed-out options (including Chevy’s own Blazer) to choose from.
As more and more companies enter the compact crossover segment, Chevy seriously needed to do something special with the fourth-generation Equinox, especially on the heels of the excellent Equinox EV’s launch (a car that is wholly unrelated). I’m not here to say the Equinox resets the compact crossover market, but it’s another solid entrant into the field with looks that’ll make it stand out amongst a very large crowd and an interior that’ll isolate its occupants from Toyota RAV4 buyers bragging about reliability.
