Smart Motorist

General Motors Corp. released details about the more fuel efficient 2010 Chevrolet Equinox, set to publicly display at the Detroit auto show on next month. The new model is said to be 25% more fuel efficient than the previous model. This SUV is expected to hit the market on next summer to compete with Honda's CR-V and Toyota's RAV4. The new Chevy also incorporates direct-injection engines.

The 2010 Equinox offers direct-injection engines. GM said the 2.4-liter, four-cylinder model is expected to get 30 miles per gallon on the highway and 21 mpg in the city — a 25% improvement over the previous model. A 3.0-liter, six-cylinder engine increases horsepower from 182 to 255 and gets an estimated 25 mpg on the highway and 18 mpg in the city.

Why direct-injection engines?

The current version of the Equinox, with its 3.4-liter six-cylinder engine, gets 24 mpg on the highway and up to 17 in the city, according to Environmental Protection Agency estimates. These Chevrolet Equinox vehicles double the energy efficiency of a conventional model while using no gas and producing no emissions.

Direct injection is a state-of-the art engineering solution because it enables improved fuel economy and lower emissions without sacrificing power." Direct-injection engines put fuel directly into the engine's cylinder, rather than mixing it with air first, making the engine more powerful and efficient. GM said last week that such engines will be available in 38 of its 2010 models, up from 18 models in the 2009 model year.

Aimed squarely at the Ford Escape, Jeep Liberty, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Santa Fe, and Toyota RAV4, the 2010 Equinox is arguably the best looking vehicle in the segment and uses some of the most advanced technology under the hood. Equipped with the base 2.4-liter inline-four and front-wheel drive, the Equinox should be rated at 21/30 mpg, thanks to direct injection, a six-speed transmission, and a few aerodynamic tricks (Equinox boasts a 0.36 drag coefficient).

Chevrolet's Project Driveway program - the largest endeavor to put fuel cell vehicles on real roads - has reached several important milestones.  According to Chevrolet Vice President and General Manager Ed Peper, GM now has more than 100 vehicles out on the road, and will have logged 500,000 miles of fuel cell driving by Christmas.

The Project Driveway program began in Oct, 2007 and will run through the end of 2010.  Project Driveway puts Equinox electric vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells into the hands of drivers to gain real world experience and learning.   More than 3,400 individuals have driven the fuel cell Equinox; either in short drives at media programs or special events, or as part of longer loan.

The Equinox will join a growing roster of direct injected vehicles from GM, including the all-new 2010 Cadillac SRX crossover and 2010 Buick LaCrosse sedan, which, along with the Equinox, debut in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Interior and exterior:

Pulling design cues from the new Traverse, a good thing, the new Equinox adds a slightly more rugged appearance with taller, rounder headlight clusters, beefier fender swells and taller more truck-like taillight assemblies. The lower front valance incorporates nice large fog lights in the LTZ example shown,
while aluminum-like mock skid plates add a visual toughness front and rear. Chevy has also improved aerodynamic performance by moving the base of the windshield forward 75 mm (about three inches), which adds to the sporty look.

The Equinox has an electronically controlled six-speed transmission. GM's OnStar service and XM Satellite Radio come standard, and there's a remote-starting system that can also activate the heater or air conditioner and the optional heated seats.

The design of the Equinox draws from the Chevrolet Malibu sedan, a GM top-seller, and the Traverse, a larger crossover that went on sale recently. The rear row of seats in the five-passenger vehicle can move forward and back nearly 8 inches to improve legroom but also expand the rear storage to 31.4 cubic feet when the back row is pushed completely forward.

“The new Equinox blends function and style into a very sporty, yet upscale compact crossover,” said Ed Welburn, vice president of GM Global Design. “Both the exterior and interior surprise and delight with careful attention to detail.”

Though Chevrolet seems to have borrowed a page from the Honda/Acura playbook while designing the center stack controls, the buttons seem to be placed more intuitively, and using different color buttons for HVAC and audio controls shouldn't be too confusing. In an age of touch-screen infotainment systems, iDrive, COMAND, and MMI, the array of buttons and knobs seems a bit counterintuitive. We won't know for sure until we get a chance to spend some time behind the wheel.

The rest of the interior is quite nice and there is a variety of optional equipment to keep passengers happy. A plethora of storage options include a large glove box, a center bin large enough to conceal a laptop, and enough cup holders for the family. There's also elegant blue ambient lighting, which looks very upscale in the dark. Important offerings like Bluetooth phone connectivity, USB audio support, a DVD entertainment system in the rear, available hard drive-based radios, a rear-view camera, and a power, programmable liftgate allow customers to option the Equinox to be quite lavish.
Ref.:
http://www.automobilemag.com
http://car-reviews.automobile.com
http://www.usatoday.com
http://finchannel.com
http://autos.canada.com
http://www.motoring.co.za