4/1/2023 0 Comments 2018 equinox![]() But somehow the Equinox has 39.7 inches of rear-seat legroom. Losing those soft, squishy rubber bushings means there’s now a solid base for the suspension to react against, and engineers say that direct connection into the body structure improves steering feel too.Ĭhop out a healthy chunk of wheelbase and one might expect legroom to suffer. The Macpherson strut front suspension cradle is now anchored to the frame in six positions instead of four with a stiffening bar running across the structure too. To preserve ride quality, boost handling performance and add steering precision, the team hard-mounted both the front and rear suspension subframes. “Because now they can use the tuning elements to really dial in the suspension for ride and handling.” “When you provide an architecture that’s torsionally stiff it takes the handcuffs off the engineers,” says Cieslak. Stiffness is way up-by around 20 percent. That trimmer platform is engineered with a smarter, more complex matrix of high strength and ultra-high strength steels along with a heavy use of structural adhesives. The chassis by itself is 150 pounds lighter and has a 5.2 inch shorter wheelbase too. To bring the Equinox in line with the competitors, the redesigned 2018 model is 400 pounds lighter and 4.7 inches shorter than before. We had to re-proportion and right-size the vehicle.” “It (the old model) was not relevant in terms of size. We spent a great deal of time benchmarking the competition,” says vehicle chief engineer Mark Cieslak. “It’s a fierce market, there’s no question. Remember them? Today, only GMC’s Terrain shares mechanicals. Way back then, the architecture underpinned the dearly departed Saturn Vue and Pontiac Torrent. The Equinox has been riding on the same GM “Theta” platform since 2005. Even ancient, at least in automotive years. That’s a strong number, but it’s far off the number of Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Nissan Rogue utes that moved off lots. Still, Chevy found garages for 242,195 of them. ![]() Last year, in the heart of a tremendous bull market for compact crossovers, the model took a 12.8 percent hit. The roomy Equinox SUV has always been a solid seller for Chevrolet, but it’s not a benchmark for either sales or execution. ![]()
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