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THE
NEW THINKING
ENTHUSIASTS TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT CHEVROLET VERSUS THE COMPETITION
Earlier this year, we invited four Road & Track readers to get up close and personal with the Chevrolet lineup, and we picked Stewart Graham to be our expert on the Chevy Equinox. Stewart experienced the quality and versatility of the Chevy through a challenge that left the competition sagging. In both perception and real-world performance, we showed Stewart why the Equinox is a great choice for enthusiasts like you—or the people who ask you for car-buying advice.
OUR ENTHUSIAST
STEWART GRAHAM CROTON-ON-HUDSON, NY
CHALLENGE
TRUE STORY
GROUND CLEARANCE AND CARGO People love crossovers like the Equinox for its flexible interior and a go-anywhere minimum ground clearance of 6.9 inches. But they might not realize that ground clearance and cargo are related. More weight in the vehicle lowers that clearance. To show that the Equinox’s capabilities raise the bar versus the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, we loaded up each crossover with bags of play sand and had Stewart and our other readers drive over a pile of bricks at a height just over 6 inches. After each pass we added more weight until the ground clearance was too low. Once the Equinox made it with 700 pounds of sand, we gave up—it already beat the Toyota RAV4 by 200 pounds and the Honda CR-V by 150.
“ My favorite road is a scenic ribbon of asphalt adjacent to the Hudson River Valley in Westchester County, NY, where I now live. I absolutely love finding new lines and trying to perfect every corner.”
HAULING ADVICE
TO DETERMINE YOUR VEHICLE’S MAX WEIGHT CAPACITY, LOOK FOR THE TIRE AND LOADING INFORMATION LABEL—IT’S USUALLY ON THE PILLAR NEAR THE DRIVER’S SIDE DOOR LATCH. ON
There were plenty of things that impressed Stewart about the Equinox, but one feature in particular was the Multi-Flex® sliding rear seat, which moves 8 inches back and forth for quick adjustment to passenger space or cargo room without the need to fold the seats.
