Chevrolet Equinox SUV hits all the 'just right' notes

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews also can be seen in the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News magazine published monthly out of Folsom, California.

Sacramento, California -- Somehow, the Chevrolet Equinox sport-utility vehicle escaped my attention for years.  I simply never got behind the wheel of one until recently.

And I discovered that my extended separation from the Equinox was something to regret. Reason: I had an extraordinarily enjoyable week in my 2019 Equinox AWD LT 2.0T tester. It was the proverbial "Goldilocks" motor vehicle as everything was just right.

Let's start with looks: Smooth, shapely and a grille that was not the approximate size of North Dakota, as SUV grilles are likely to be these days.

The vehicle size is right: not gargantuan but also not compact.  It handled very much like a midsize sedan.

Performance was excellent with the 2-liter, four-cylinder turbo rated at 252 horsepower, which was enough to make the Equinox a muscular freeway performer and a quick-responding downtown dodger.  Linked to a nine-speed transmission, the Equinox moved with easy, quiet and firm efficiency.

I received the Equinox during a week where I had to pack it up with serious cargo, and the SUV easily swallowed up all the boxes and materials that were spread out on my garage floor.  That's no surprise, given the 63.5 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seats folded.

When the rear seats are up, there's plenty of room for adults of all sizes.  Passengers commented on that ... and the smoothness of the ride.

My tester was packed with owner-pleasing perks, including a power sunroof, a solid navigation system with an 8-inch screen, remote vehicle start, a power rear liftgate and leather touches all around inside.  Even with the generous package of goodies, the bottom line on the tested Equinox was a still-reasonable $36,580.  Frankly, one would expect to pay $40,000-and-up for a similarly equipped sport-ute.

Fuel mileage was pretty good at 22 miles per gallon in the city and 28 mpg on the highway.  A list of five-star safety ratings was topped by a max five-star overall vehicle score from government crash testing.

For someone who looks for problems in test vehicles from the moment I step into a tester, the Equinox left me empty-handed.  Maybe that's why Chevrolet has sold some 2 million Equinox SUVs over the years, making it the second-best selling Chevy model behind the Silverado pickup.

Sounds just right to me.