2021 Chevy Equinox vs Toyota Rav4

The Equinox features a striking exterior, offering aerodynamic sculpting and accents that combine style and function. This five-seat compact SUV offers tremendous rear-seat legroom and ample headroom that allows tall adults to sit comfortably. The front seats will keep you supported on a long drive with its well-shaped seats. It is mixed in its interior quality because of hard plastic surfaces, but soft-touch accents are also present. Standard features included are cloth upholstery and four-way manually adjustable front seats. Standard and available features on the LT and Premier trim include leather upholstery, eight-way power-adjustable front seats, heated and ventilated fronts, heated rear seats, heated rear seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a heated steering wheel, and driver’s seat memory seat. Optional Sport and Midnight Edition available on the LT trim offers unique gloss-black exterior trim pieces, an auto-dimming rearview mirror and special black alloy wheels. You will get about 30 cubic feet behind the rear seats and around 64 cubic feet with the second row folded down. The Equinox comes in four trim levels: L, LS, LT, and Premier. Starting price is $23,800 for the Equinox L and ranges to a starting price of $31,400 for the Premier.

The Toyota RAV4 seats up to five people with comfortable seating and ample front- and rear legroom even for tall passengers. It offers quality cabin materials with a modern design, cloth upholstery, a six-way manually adjustable driver’s seat, and a four-way manually adjustable passenger seat. You can upgrade to additional features, including an eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, synthetic leather upholstery, a heated steering wheel, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. The RAV4 gets 37.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seat and 69.8 cubic feet with its back seats folded down. It comes in six trims: LE, XLE, XLE Premium, Adventure, Limited, and TRD Off-Road model. Pricing starts at $26,150 for the LE trim and ranges to $35,880 for the TRD Off-Road trim.

The Equinox offers plenty of driver’s assistance features to feel confident on the road. A lot of features are standard on all trims, but you’ll need to move up to the LT and Premier trim to get the available Confidence and Convenience packages that include added safety and convenience features; such as a power liftgate and a universal garage door opener. Standard features include forward collision warning, pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, following distance indicator, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, automatic high-beam headlights, rearview camera, Teen Driver system, and Rear-seat reminder. The Chevrolet Infotainment 3 system comes standard with some great technology features. The L and LS offer the standard features and the LT and Premier add a little bit more. Standard features on all trims include a 7-inch touch screen, Apple CarPlay, four USB ports, a Wi-fi hot spot, Bluetooth, voice recognition, and a six-speaker stereo.

Standard safety features on all RAV4 models feature a rearview camera and Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 bundle of technologies. Included in this bundle are pre-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, pedestrian detection, and lane departure warning. Additional standard advanced safety features include adaptive cruise control, automatic high-beam headlights, and road sign recognition. Available advanced safety features include surround-view parking camera system, front and rear parking sensors, blind spot monitoring, rain-sensing windshield wipers and rear cross traffic alert. An easy-to-use 7-inch touch-screen infotainment system comes standard with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Amazon Alexa integration, a Wi-Fi hotspot, Satellite radio, a USB port, Bluetooth and voice recognition are also standard. You can upgrade to an 8-inch screen, four additional USB ports, an 11-speaker JBL premium stereo, and navigation. Other available features include a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, proximity keyless entry, and push-button start.

Equinox dropped its more powerful 2.0-liter engine this year, making the only power the Equinox offers for this model year a 170-horsepower 1.5-liter turbocharged engine and a six-speed automatic transmission. The transmission shifts smoothly, but acceleration is a bit lackluster in its only engine. The Equinox delivers a comfortable ride and takes turns with composure. Opting for larger wheels, will give you a jittery experience, especially over large bumps in the road. Some class rivals are more agile and athletic. The Equinox will tow up to a maximum of 1,500 pounds with its only engine; and front-wheel drive is standard and all-wheel drive is available on all trims. Fuel economy is estimated at 26/31 mpg city and highway.

The Toyota RAV4 comes standard with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that produces 203 hp and 184 pound-feet of torque and comes with an eight-speed automatic transmission. This transmission delivers a well-balanced handling with smooth and timely shifts, and the engine supplies plenty of power and gets up to highway speeds with little effort. Front-wheel drive is standard, with two optional all-wheel-drive systems. Its base engine provides the RAV4 with the ability to tow 1,500 lbs. Its estimated fuel economy is 28/35 mpg in the city and on the highway.