The 2021 Chevrolet Equinox has made its official debut at the Chicago Auto Show, arriving with refreshed looks and a new RS trim.
Styling changes applied to Chevy’s popular compact crossover include a new front grille, which now extends into the redesigned headlamps, along with a restyled lower fascia with different foglamps. The rear has also seen some small changes in the way of redesigned taillamps and a different bumper.
The new Equinox RS trim is set apart by its unique front and rear fascias, black exterior accents, black badges, “Dark Android” 19-inch wheels and quad-tip exhaust. Inside, the sport-inspired crossover features black upholstery with red contrasting stitching and an RS-branded shift knob. We assume the RS model will slot in between the LT and the Premier in the Equinox’s lineup based on the positioning of other Chevrolet models with an RS trim, like the Blazer, for example.
Chevrolet also says a wider variety of safety and driver assistance features will be available on more Equinox trims for 2021, though it did not provide exact details on how the features would be packaged. The 2020 Chevrolet Equinox offers Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Alert, Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning and Forward Automatic Braking as standard, but only certain trim levels can be equipped with tech such as Rear Cross Traffic Alert or GM’s Safety Alert Seat. With this change, these features may become optional on lower trim levels. In addition to the RS, the 2021 Chevrolet Equinox will be offered in L, LS, LT and Premier trims.
2021 Chevrolet Equinox Premier
The turbocharged 1.5L LYX inline four-cylinder, as well as the turbocharged 2.0L LTG inline four-cylinder, remain the only two engine options for 2021. The 1.5L engine is rated at 170 horsepower and 203 pound-feet of torque and is paired to a six-speed automatic, while the 2.0L engine produces 252 horsepower and 260 pound-feet and pairs up with GM’s nine-speed automatic transmission.
Stay tuned for more official details on the 2021 Chevrolet Equinox, such as pricing and EPA estimated fuel economy figures.
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Comments
I really like the new Front end a lot. The Taillights are much better now as well.
But like I said from the first day GM showed the World the new Nox, it needs a materials upgrade in the interior badly and unfortunately it seems like they did nothing to fix that.
GM has a habit of making the outside of a vehicle look good, while going “cheap” on the inside. Look how many DECADES it took them to put a decent interior into a Corvette! And don’t get me started on older Buicks, like my old 1999 Century, although I have to say that my 2019 Avenir looks great inside & out (Carrageen Metallic paint, Chestnut with Ebony interior) and is far superior in every way to my old 2015 Enclave. The 2017 Envision with the Amethyst paint that I got rid of was gorgeous outside, cheap on the inside, and a nightmare everywhere else (mechanically, radio, tires, wipers, you name it!), and I had every option possible on it except for the “self-parking”. GM is schizophrenic in the way they package their vehicles, and it’s gonna bite ’em in the ass sooner rather than later. As long as I’m complaining, BRING OLDSMOBILE BACK!! 😀
definite improvement.
This now the best looking CUV in it’s segment. Gm should have increased the bhp on the 1.5 at least, to around 185bhp or so. Additionally, the 1.5 should’ve also receive the 9-speed transmission, thus increasing the vehicle’s competitive standing.
The 1.5 could use another 10-15 horsepower.
But yeah, this is a great vehicle and it will sell well.
2.7T for the SS please
That engine needs to go in the whole crossover lineup.. and even more so in the Colorado
As much as I like the new 2.7, the big question with it in regards to the crossovers is packaging, as it was designed to be an engine for rear-wheel drive bias vehicles (hence it’s usage in the upcoming CT4-V), so would it work in a front-wheel drive bias platform like the crossovers have?
The 5.3 fit in the W-cars, don’t see why not the 2.7t despite the high-power. Maybe some torque management would do.
Wow, that red RS looks terrific. I think this will only assist the Equinox in getting to even higher sales.
On another note: Those safety features everyone keeps talking about and thinks every car should have? Although I’m not going to bash them, the reality is that people need to drive instead of having this false sense of the car doing everything for them. And, what about when these things fail and they will? With our Volvo and Mazda’s, I can personally tell you how dangerous these “safety” items can turn when people place all their trust in them and don’t drive the car properly. Mazda is having issues with several of their systems failing all together. At this moment, the Mazda 3 is having system failures and all dash lights are coming on. Then what? And don’t even get me started on Volvo’s new back-up braking system! Several times now I’ve been backing a car up on the lot only to have it pick up someone walking 10 feet away and the car slams on the brakes in a very violent way. No, not a gentle brake, but it literally slams on the brakes like as if you just mashed the brake pedal to the floor. No thanks. Oh, and those blind spot monitors? If I had a dollar for every time I’ve had someone nearly hit me on the freeways out here because they came over into my lane even though I could clearly see their blind spot monitor was activated (light in the mirrors).
Sorry for the rant. All I’m saying is that safety starts and ends with the driver! Not the car loaded up with electronic (failure prone) safety systems.
Much needed improvements that were desperately needed. It is no longer “white bread” boring.
I agree with the comments above about the interior and hp upgrades.
Interesting they refrained from switching to the new 9 speed on the 1.5T. It somehow loses MPG in the nearly identical Terrain which uses that new 9 speed with the 1.5T and drops highway MPG to a very lackluster 28 with AWD and 30 with FWD. I’m going to hazard a guess that the terrain’s 9 speed is geared more for performance than MPG which is odd considering the lengths they went to in making the little 1.5T in the first place.
Is that an Auto Stop/Start defeat switch I see in the middle of the center console?
Here is a better look for you:
https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/2021-chevrolet-equinox-109-1580945847.jpg
That’s a great pic of the dash. I really like that dash a lot and the screen is very well integrated. I love that they are putting the defeat switch for the start/stop.
Hopefully they increased the size and placement of the AWD push button or made it automatic on slippage ,on my 2018 2.0 Lt, AWD built in Ingersoll Ont. it’s dorky and small on the consul and hard to see at night Or gloves behind the shifter !
Yes, it is. There is also a different 2.0 Turbo, which I think is the same one that Cadillac has been using for the last couple years.
I really like the look of it!
The low res shots don’t really do much for the car. Higher Res show it better and I do like the front end.
https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/2021-chevrolet-equinox-110-1580945844.jpg?
Agreed on the interior needing to be better now.
The current 2020 Chevrolet Blazer looks better; I guess anyone who agrees with this assessment should run down to their Chevy dealership and get one now before the big facial changes are made.
The auto start stop defeat switch is on the dash, right next to the hazard flashers.
So glad it has that disable feature now.
Hopefully gm still uses the 2.0 litre LTG ENGINE for the new 2021-2022 model talks of a different 2.0 L SY engine a little less hp and and in torque but apparently more refined I guess we have to wait and see