New Chevy Equinox Loses Crazy Amount Of Weight - Is It Enough?

[Gorehamj]

John Goreham
Contributing Writer, GM-Trucks.com
5-22-2017

Chevy announced today that the all-new Equinox will be 10% lighter than the outgoing model. The new design sheds an incredible 400 pounds compared to the previous generation. In automotive design that is an insane amount of weight to be cut.

 

The way GM did it was by starting with a fresh sheet of paper. The new Equinox is much more in the style of the Mazda CX-5, Subaru Forester, and other mainstream compact crossovers than the vehicle it is replacing, which was bigger in legroom and cargo area, but just a smidge. The real savings came from aa new platform and by using more high-strength steel. GM says the new Equinox, " ...body structure design was optimized with a mixed-material strategy for strength and low weight. More than 80 percent of the Equinox’s body structure is composed of high-grade steel materials, with high-strength steel comprising nearly 20 percent."

 

The benefits of lighter weight are better handling and lower fuel consumption. We have not driven a new Equinox yet. GM has not put any in our media fleet. However, we can comment on the fuel economy. We checked out the stats at the EPA's site for the old and new Equinox and the fuel economy gains are impressive. For example, the outgoing 2.5-liter AWD Equinox had an EPA-estimated Combined rating of 23 MPG. The new, 2-liter turbocharged Equinox has a 24 MPG rating. Much more power with a measurable fuel efficiency improvement. A better and more impressive comparison of the old base model is to the new 1.5-liter turbo, which earns a 26 MPG rating with AWD.

 

We could not help but check out the fuel economy of the segment leading CR-V while at the site. The bad news for GM is that the Honda earns a 29 MPG rating when equipped with its 1.5-liter turbocharged engine. 3 MPG is a big delta when comparing crossovers of this type.

[newdude]

GM's strategy from the training I've browsed in my spare time is to push the Diesel models as the fuel economy fighters. Diesel Nox' is estimated at 40mpg highway.

 

If you look at their two key competitors, the CRV and the Escape (FWD), the diesel estimate is 6mpg better than the CRV 1.5 turbo, and 10mpg better than Escape 1..5 turbo. The FWD Nox' with the 1.5 in FWD is middle field highway, and in AWD its right between CRV (33) and Escape (28).

[Gorehamj]

Good observation. It will be interesting to see what the diesel does once its official numbers come out.