They are dedicated, hard-knock, in-the-wild beasts of burden.Įquinox-type vehicles, by comparison, are city-suburban dwellers wearing cowboy and cowgirl outfits at a masquerade ball. They have locking differentials, thus guaranteeing that power flows to all four wheels simultaneously. Those transmissions have four-wheel low gears to help pull you through the mud and ease your ascents and descents on steep grades. But no one knowledgeable about driving off-road would dare take an all-wheel-drive vehicle, such as the Equinox or one of its rivals, on a trek over rocks and fallen logs, or across streams or through deep mud.įor that kind of travel, true four-wheel-drive transmissions are needed. In all-wheel drive, power is shifted from one wheel to another, most often through electronically controlled transfers, on the basis of algorithmic need - repetitively shifting power from slipping to gripping wheels, for example.Īll-wheel drive is good for running through moderate snow, traversing rain-slick highways or rolling over gravel. It is seldom used in full-size pickup trucks or SUVs.Īlso, there is the matter of all-wheel drive, which the auto industry, for marketing purposes, deliberately confuses with four-wheel drive. Like the Equinox, this week’s test vehicle, all have lighter, unitized construction in which the vehicle’s body, floor pan and chassis form a single rigid structure. That also can be said of Equinox rivals such as the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Saturn VUE, Ford Escape and Jeep Liberty - all of which have abandoned body-on-frame, truck-based architecture in pursuit of ride and handling more akin to family wagons and sedans. Although it is sold as a small SUV, it actually is nothing of the sort. The auto industry could save itself marketing headaches and money by firmly embracing station wagons.Ĭonsider the 2005 Chevrolet Equinox.

2005 chevy equinox value