Don’t look for performance specs. There aren’t any. Don’t look for lurid images of this thing sliding around a sweeping right-hander. There aren’t any of those either. We just drove it ordinary like you would most of the time, but if you’re reading MaxChevy, we know you’ve got a strain of cayenne in your veins. The object was to experience a vehicle equipped with the 3.6-liter DOHC engine coupled with the new 6-speed automatic. The rest of it was just coincidental.
When Tony Sheffler’s Interstate 1 (logistics specialist for GM’s Southeast Region) crew arrived one day in a Saturn Vue Redline (equipped as above) they were using as the chase car. We said that we’d like to try one. Although he would have gladly given us the Vue, he knew it would not see a drop of ink. Since this is not MaxSaturn.com, Tony mulled it for about second and dispatched the Equinox Sport, clearly a Bow Tie product.
What vexes us is the intended market for the Sport. Do the usual young mother suspects apply? Maybe it’s meant for young male singles that need their space. According to
thecompany line, “it’s for performance enthusiasts from all walks of life.”
Wherever the target audience is, they will find a pleasing, even rambunctious utility vehicle that will burn rubber with the best (albeit from the wrong end), is nimble and fun to get stupid with (manual shifting is cool), and not beat you up too badly at the fuel station.
At a GM tech seminar four years ago, we’d seen a north-south oriented 3.6-liter with twin turbos attached to it. At that point, the normally aspirated engine was a European-only dig. Now it’s turning up here in the Caddy CTS with 302hp. We had experienced a similar motor years before in a 3.2-liter version that “powered“ the chubby Cadillac Catera. Though now sourced from Japan, the new iteration proves light years better in a vehicle that carries about the same weight as the ill-fated Caddoo. Although our tester was a front-wheel driver, the Equinox is available with all-wheel drive system that adds about 100 pounds to the curb weight.
