Nothing really 'bad' to report. The vehicle went up and down the East Coast, including a trip to western MA (Six Flags) without incident. Here are my observations:
1.) Just before leaving, I finally did the 1st oil change @ 5664 miles. The vehicle would not go up my metal ramps without cracking the air dam but, as it turned out, I was able to reach underneath and remove the plug and filter with the vehicle still on the ground. Not too bad. The screw-on filter of the V6 was a little hard to grab onto with my strap wrench because it's recessed in a molded 'cavity' (drip edge), but it finally came off. Again, not too bad. The factory oil came out like black water (not too good), and maybe 1/2 quart low (5 1/2 Qts including the filter). I refilled with 6 Qts of Pennzoil Platinum Synthetic ($18.79 5Qt jugs). For the filter, I just threw in the SuperTech. Looked exactly like the A/C filter from the factory, just a different color (although I didn't cut them open to compare the insides).
2.) The ride was hard (harder than my Impala), but I got used to it. If the pavement was newish, the ride was very smooth, but any imperfections resonated right up through the driver's seat.
3.) The cruise control algorithm seems crude to me. Not 'bumpless' at all. Felt like the pedal was just being slammed down every time the road pitched upward, but then again this is what I pretty much had to do in order to get the engine to respond to upgrades. I didn’t ‘slam’ the pedal, but I had to push harder than just easing it in order to get it to move. Several Toyota Priuses blew my doors off going up fairly steep upgrades in New York and western MA.
4.) Fuel economy came out to 26 on the low end and 28 on the high end. Not too bad. Maybe my in-town number of 22 will start to increase now…
5.) I had bought a LeBra for this vehicle – something I’ve always used on my other cars whenever I take long highway trips. The Equinox has to be one of the worst vehicles to fit a LeBra onto. Not many good fastening points. The bottom section actually “fastens” up top by “clips” that fit UNDER a plastic panel where the headlight and fender meet. Not a solid connection. The clip doesn’t really snap onto anything! Also, around the wheel wells there are only a couple of plastic rivets to hold onto, so instead of the trustworthy clips, thin plastic eye-rings are used by LeBra. These seemed to work OK, but the bra had 3 and there were only 2 rivets to slip onto, so one was flailing in the wind. By the end of the trip I could hear the bra making tapping noises like I’ve never seen with my other cars. Maybe it was just the 3rd eye-ring, I’m not sure, but I could also see the hood piece vibrating even though I had pulled it as tight as I could.
6.) Windshield wipers had a hard time keeping up with some heavy rain. Even on the highest speed it seemed like they should’ve been able to go faster.
1.) Just before leaving, I finally did the 1st oil change @ 5664 miles. The vehicle would not go up my metal ramps without cracking the air dam but, as it turned out, I was able to reach underneath and remove the plug and filter with the vehicle still on the ground. Not too bad. The screw-on filter of the V6 was a little hard to grab onto with my strap wrench because it's recessed in a molded 'cavity' (drip edge), but it finally came off. Again, not too bad. The factory oil came out like black water (not too good), and maybe 1/2 quart low (5 1/2 Qts including the filter). I refilled with 6 Qts of Pennzoil Platinum Synthetic ($18.79 5Qt jugs). For the filter, I just threw in the SuperTech. Looked exactly like the A/C filter from the factory, just a different color (although I didn't cut them open to compare the insides).
2.) The ride was hard (harder than my Impala), but I got used to it. If the pavement was newish, the ride was very smooth, but any imperfections resonated right up through the driver's seat.
3.) The cruise control algorithm seems crude to me. Not 'bumpless' at all. Felt like the pedal was just being slammed down every time the road pitched upward, but then again this is what I pretty much had to do in order to get the engine to respond to upgrades. I didn’t ‘slam’ the pedal, but I had to push harder than just easing it in order to get it to move. Several Toyota Priuses blew my doors off going up fairly steep upgrades in New York and western MA.
4.) Fuel economy came out to 26 on the low end and 28 on the high end. Not too bad. Maybe my in-town number of 22 will start to increase now…
5.) I had bought a LeBra for this vehicle – something I’ve always used on my other cars whenever I take long highway trips. The Equinox has to be one of the worst vehicles to fit a LeBra onto. Not many good fastening points. The bottom section actually “fastens” up top by “clips” that fit UNDER a plastic panel where the headlight and fender meet. Not a solid connection. The clip doesn’t really snap onto anything! Also, around the wheel wells there are only a couple of plastic rivets to hold onto, so instead of the trustworthy clips, thin plastic eye-rings are used by LeBra. These seemed to work OK, but the bra had 3 and there were only 2 rivets to slip onto, so one was flailing in the wind. By the end of the trip I could hear the bra making tapping noises like I’ve never seen with my other cars. Maybe it was just the 3rd eye-ring, I’m not sure, but I could also see the hood piece vibrating even though I had pulled it as tight as I could.
6.) Windshield wipers had a hard time keeping up with some heavy rain. Even on the highest speed it seemed like they should’ve been able to go faster.
