Video: 2010 Chevrolet Equinox

GM is trying to recreate some of the success it had here with the Chevy Malibu, which was redesigned recently, in creating a boldly styled alternative to the Toyota RAV4, Honda CRV, and Ford Escape. You can see a lot of different styling things going on here. The front grill, it's a two-piece grill, it's what you see on a lot of other Chevy products, including the Malibu. The headlights look like they were borrowed from the Saturn Vue, in fact. And in the rear, we can see a strong resemblance to the Pontiac Torrent. Inside, you're gonna get a lot of the same sort of swoopy styling that you get in the Malibu all the way up to the Chevy Corvette. Materials are okay. There's hard plastics, some graininess. Center control's a little bit crowded. Might take some getting used to, but there's plenty of utility. The glove compartment is pretty huge. Chevy says the center console here can hold a laptop. It's very deep, kind of narrow. But again, lots of room there. There's cubbies up here. Even the side door pockets here pretty wide. Plenty of space for moms and dads on the go. The backseat has a good leg room and head room. The seats do recline. The range is kind of limited, but it's good. They also move forward and backward. One thing I wanna show you, Chevy has done sort of an interesting solution here. When the seats move forward, what you often get is a gap in the cargo floor. They kind of move forward and this area isn't filled, and that can catch suitcases. Here, if the seats are forward, there's this hard plastic shelf here that kind of moves forward with the area. You don't have a gap. It's a pretty nice setup as far as we've seen. Total cargo volume, a little over 30 cubic feet. That beats the Escape, not quite the CRV or RAV4, which both have around 35 cubic feet. One nice thing there are here are two kind of heavy-duty scuff plates here. Pretty substantial plastic. Kids can do their worst. They're not gonna get too many scuffs on here. You will wanna note that there are pretty substantial C and D pillars here. They can make for a pretty nasty blind spot. There is a backup camera offered for better rear visibility as you're parking. It's offered as a standalone option. If you want, you don't have to get the nav system for it. It just sits up in the rear view mirror. That's nice. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars to get an expensive navigation system you might not actually need. Where GM does have the upper hand is fuel efficiency. With the new direct injection engine, the Equinox is targeting 30 miles per gallon with front wheel drive. That's a figure usually reserved for cars, not SUVs. You'll have to weigh that against the limited cargo space and a 40 foot turning circle. Easily the worst in this group. Still, Chevy has a penchant for value. So if it can combine thriftiness at the pump with thriftiness at the showroom once prices are announced, the Equinox could definitely be worth checking out. <v Narrator>For additional information on this car or any other, go to cars.com and our blog kicking tires.