How Much Has the 2016 Chevy Equinox Really Changed? (28 Photos)
The Equinox has set sales records each of the past five years, according to Chevrolet, which perhaps explains why the brand didn’t feel compelled to fully redesign it for 2016; the Equinox is now in its seventh model year, but it receives just a mild styling update for 2016.
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And those changes are mild, even by refresh standards. They’re concentrated in the new front-end design that Brian Sweeney, U.S. vice president of Chevrolet, says shows where the brand’s look is heading. The new face gives the Equinox a greater Chevy family resemblance, and the new taillights are nice, but otherwise this small SUV looks exactly like the current one, which has had handsome proportions since its 2010 redesign.
Even less has changed inside, which is more concerning. What once was a very nice interior when it debuted six years ago is now showing its age. The plastic trim has nice graining but many surfaces, like the upper door trim, is hard. This update would have been a good opportunity to give the Equinox a full-color information screen between the gauges, but it’s still monochrome. Eliminating some of the button density in the center control panel wouldn’t have hurt, either, but it’s still packed with similar-looking buttons.
Like its predecessor, the 2016 Equinox has a roomy seating area that’s large enough to comfortably carry adults in the front and back seats at the same time. The sliding rear bench seat has a lot of travel forward and back, and with the seat all the way rearward backseat passengers enjoy quite a bit of legroom.
Efficient packaging continues to be an issue for the Equinox, however. While it’s larger on the outside than competitors like the Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue and Toyota RAV4, its 31.4 cubic feet of cargo room behind the rear seat is less than what those models offer. Even when the rear seats are folded, the Equinox’s 63.7 cubic feet of maximum cargo room trails those models, which all have 70 cubic feet or more.
The 2016 Equinox is scheduled to hit dealerships this fall, but unless you’re considering a base model and want the newly standard backup camera and touch-screen stereo — or the newly available blind spot warning system and rear cross-traffic alert — there’s no need to wait that long for it. With more than 44,000 Equinoxes in Cars.com’s new-car inventory, there are potential deals to be had now.
Cars.com photos by Evan Sears
