2013 Chevrolet Equinox 3.6-Liter V-6 First Drive: More Power and New Shocks Aren’t Enough to Move to the Head of the Class

2013 Chevrolet Equinox 3.6-Liter V-6 First Drive: More Power and New Shocks Aren’t Enough to Move to the Head of the Class:

Within the past year, both the Honda CR-V and the Ford Escape—two 800-pound gorillas in the compact-crossover segment—have been completely redesigned. (The Toyota RAV4, a multiple comparison-test winner, will get a reboot soon.) But with no full do-over on the docket just yet for its handsome but ho-hum Equinox, Chevy clearly still had to make a move. Honda has never offered a V-6 in the CR-V and the 2013 Escape went exclusively four-cylinder (albeit with two optional turbo’d engines), and Mazda’s CX-5 is packing the least powerful four-banger in the segment, despite being brand new. For Chevy, then, getting rid of the 264-hp, 3.0-liter V-6 would make sense, right? Except it bucked the downsizing trend and replaced the 3.0-liter with a 301-hp, 3.6-liter direct-injected V-6. Wait, what? (more…)


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