Finally! An Equinox Redesign is in the Works for 2017

Finally, we will see a fresh-faced Equinox on the lots of Chevy dealers in Columbus at at the end of 2017. Since 2010, the Equinox has remained (essentially) unchanged. Apart from a few minor aesthetic and design changes, it’s been left relatively untouched. With sales figures dropping slightly in 2016, it’s the perfect time to give the Equinox a redesign from the ground up. With a reinvigorated design, hopefully the Equinox can catapult Chevy to the top of the charts in the crossover SUV market. Chevy is targeting quite a few areas for the Equinox’s big redesign, and we’ll see things like a brand new design from the ground-up, three new turbocharged engines, and new safety, driver assist features.

These changes are sure to breathe some life back into Chevy’s popular crossover SUV.

A Redesign is Definitely Needed

Like I said, the Equinox has sported essentially the same design since 2010. So, it’s definitely time for a refresh. Especially since in the highly competitive SUV segment sales of the Equinox have fallen 17.7% this year down, to 158,475 sold through August. The main reason? Because the competitors have introduced fresh updates and redesigns over the course of the last two years.

Even so, the Equinox still outsells the Malibu and Cruze, and is still the second-best selling Chevy model after the Silverado pickup truck. When Alan Batey — President of Global Chevy and GM’s North American operations — introduced the 2018 Equinox last week, he had this to say: “We’ve got the strongest truck business in the industry and we’ve reinvigorated our car lineup with the Volt, Cruze, and Malibu… We’re applying the same customer focus to grow our crossover/SUV business — starting with the Chevrolet Equinox.”

And apply that legendary customer focus Chevy did. With all the new features on the redesigned Equinox, it’s almost an entirely new vehicle. It has a whole new design from the ground up, three turbocharged engines, and plenty of new safety and driver assist features. Take a look!

What’s New?

The Equinox truly hasn’t seen a change this big in a long, long time. Carrying over from 2010 proved to be a mistake, since the competitors all pulled ahead, thanks to the refresh they received. Even so the Equinox is still the second best selling Chevy model, which is a testament to how great of a vehicle it is. I predict when this rejuvenated 2017 Equinox is released, it’s going to be bad news for the other crossover SUVs on the market.

The Design is All-New From the Ground Up

If you want to make an impression, you give yourself a new look. The same goes for cars, and with the way the new Equinox looks, it’s making a great impression. This is thanks to the all-new platform that the Equinox has been built on, which is similar to the one found under the new Buick Envision — just a fun fact. It’s a little bit lower and wider than before, but is 4.7 inches shorter and dropped nearly 400 pounds. Since it’s shorter, the wheelbase naturally had to get trimmed down by 5.2 inches. This brings the overall wheelbase down to 107.3 inches, and all of this upgraded architecture ends up reducing the turning radius by 10%. Miraculously, it also adds 3.5 cu. ft. to the interior volume.

Chevy labels their current Equinox as a city-smart vehicle. With the weight reduction, improved turning, and shorter body, it’s even more of a city-smart vehicle. Therefore, the target audience should be even more pleased. Especially since it’s easier to move through the city, but gained some interior volume in the process. As far as looks go, it wraps the stiffer, shorter, and stronger structure into a much sleeker, extra-aerodynamic, and more refined body. The newfound aerodynamics of the Equinox compliment the weight loss nicely, and are sure to help improve the overall fuel economy.

All told, it’s just a much more sophisticated and finished looking version than the current Equinox. While the 2016 Equinox has nice aesthetics, seeing the newest one makes the 2016 model look like a stepping stone that Chevy used while working out where to go with the model.

Three New Turbocharged Engines

Whats really exciting is the new lineup of turbocharged engines making an appearance. There are three four-cylinder engines, and kicking off the trio is a 1.5-liter gas-powered engine producing 170 horsepower and 203 lb.-ft. of torque. By summer of 2018, the 2.0-liter gasoline engine will arrive, giving the Equinox 252 horsepower and 260 lb.-ft. of torque. The 1.6-liter turbodiesel will show up at the same time as the 2.0 gas-powered engine, and will produce 136 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque. While the fuel economy of the two gasoline powered engine is unknown, the diesel engine is said to return 40 mpg highway. This would be a huge advantage for the Equinox since there aren’t many crossover SUVs out there this size that can return that type of fuel economy.

The 1.5-liter and 1.6-liter engine will transfer power through a 6-speed automatic transmission, and the 2.0-liter engine will be mated to GM’s new 9-speed autoshifter. Front-wheel-drive is available, along with a switchable, on-demand AWD setup. This decouples the rear axle when not in use, so the fuel-efficiency is improved.

New Safety and Driver Assist Features

Finally, there are plenty of new safety and driver-assist features that are going to come either standard or optional on the new Equinox. Don’t worry, it’s still going to retain the same safety features found on the 2016 Equinox like Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Zone Alert, and Rear Cross Traffic Alert. These are going to be accompanied by Lane Keep Assist, Lane Departure Warning, Forward Collision Alert (with a Following Distance Indicator), Low-Speed Forward Automatic Braking, a 360-degree Surround Vision camera, Safety Alert Seat, and a Rear Seat Reminder alert. Adding in these new safety features is going to bring the Equinox up-to-par with other vehicles in this segment, and probably surpass a good portion of them.

Pricing of the redesigned Equinox is unknown for now, but it will surely be reasonable and competitive — just like the price of all Chevy vehicles. One thing is certain, the new Equinox is looking very promising, and this redesign is sure to boost the sales of this beloved model when it hits the market at the end of 2017.