Overheated AWD: 2022 Chevy Equinox RS Off-Pavement

If you've seen the channel before then you know we like to take all sorts of vehicles off the pavement, especially those that weren't really designed to do so. Here we take a look at the 2022 Chevy Equinox RS and it's rough road capabilities.
Engine Adventures strives to explore and test the AWD and 4WD systems of all crossovers, SUVs, and pickup trucks. To do this we test vehicles in real world environments in a way that allows viewers to cross shop and explore any vehicle they may be interested in learning about.
New videos every Friday at 6:30 A.M. MST and occasionally on Wednesdays.

[@gmsdnga]

Great video! We run our Nox's all over Utah off road!

[@EngineAdventures]

Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@giolats8179]

Great (on and off road) review, also great POV and external shots. And maybe the only reviewer who tests that awd so thoroughly in real world off road situations. And suprisingly it proved very capable of moderate off-roading. When the Hummer EV will be challenged?

[@EngineAdventures]

Great question on the Hummer EV, I'm not sure if/when one will make it out to me. I'm not big enough yet to be invited to the special events like the one they recently had for it.

[@kevinjoseph2906]

I love that turbo sound

[@EngineAdventures]

You don't hardly hear it inside, but I thought the same thing when I was editing the outside shots

[@natedog-zh3zy]

@@EngineAdventures ive never heard a stock turbo flutter that much it sounds so good

[@sherzodurdushev3463]

Good job. Iam from Uzbekistan and owing Equinox for 2 years. Great car for all road driving I can say. Tested it in snowy, rainy and other conditions - never let me down. Once climbed to 45 degree mountain hill with full load (5 person inside) and all electronic helpers on AWD also on - car climbed very easily and it seemed had much power on spare. frankly speaking- good choice as family and even a bit for offroad vehicle...

[@EngineAdventures]

Thanks for sharing your experience and glad you like yours!

[@callumfreebairn8082]

thanks. good suv🙂

[@EngineAdventures]

Thanks for watching!

[@johnkendall6962]

We have owned 4 Chevy Equinox. If I Took one of them where you did and showed my wife she would be looking for her gun. It's nice to know what it will do but not many Equinox owners are ever going to even try it.

[@EngineAdventures]

Never know the limits if you don't go beyond them! Thanks for watching!

[@johnkendall6962]

@@EngineAdventures LOL And even better if it breaks it's not on my dime.

[@donrainesoh]

About to take mine to cape lookout national seashore to do some beach camping. Hopefully I don’t have to dig myself out a ton.

[@EngineAdventures]

Let us know how it does!

[@dathyr1]

Interesting reviews of the Equinox AWD. I live in Illinois so I don't think I would be doing this kind of off road challenges. But we do have snowy conditions in the winter time. I would be interested in how deep of snow an AWD Equinox can mange to go through. thank you and take care.

[@EngineAdventures]

Thanks for watching and commenting! I only have these vehicles for a week so it's hard to test them in all conditions, I'd love the opportunity to drive one in the snow though!

[@tomtalker2000]

The Equinox and it's cousin the GMC Terrain. Actually do VERY WELL in the snow. The Terrain doing better because it has a dedicated dial too switch between normal AWD, Snow mode, & Off Road mode. The Equinox doesn't have this feature which honestly it should. However, what helps the most is the right set of tires. If this guy had put some Falken Wildpeak A/T Trail tires on this vehicle it wouldn't have struggled as much.

[@alanb3213]

I'd like to see some of these soft roaders with proper All Terrain tires, there not going to be a wrangler or a bronco but I think they would do better and in this case would have made it up the hill. Driving a Mustang gt with the standard all season tires compared to the Michelin PS4 is like night and day. Tires are the best mod for any vehicle

[@EngineAdventures]

Having the right tires for the terrain is very important, however these tests are about the AWD system's capability, not the tires. This is why I choose a rutted out hill to test on. This leaves two diagonally opposed wheels essentially in the air, meaning it doesn't matter what tires you have. The vehicles must transfer enough power to the two wheels with good traction. Some vehicles do well getting the power to the wheels that need it, but don't have low enough gearing. Others aren't able to brake the spinning wheels enough to get the power to the ones with traction.

[@sleeks9939]

True! proper tires would definitely help.

[@Bro_verland]

I just got an Equinox RS for my wife, I’m just curious if you know of any companies that offer off-road accessories such as lift kits and light bar brackets. I know it’s not a OR vehicle and I’ll save my trail boss for serious trails. But as a guy with the tick of having to lift and customize everything he touches, I’m really curious what’s out there.

[@EngineAdventures]

I'm not aware of any for the 2022, but someone watching might be.

[@kaan898]

it did as well as it did 🤞

[@rainygirl65]

But❤that view!!!! My goodness Gods love you

[@EngineAdventures]

Thank you! Utah certainly is a beautiful place!

[@wesleybandiera6364]

2.0 LTG would be much better ! bring it back GM !!

[@EngineAdventures]

That would be a good fit for the RS version!

[@wesleybandiera6364]

@@EngineAdventures nailed it 👊

[@tomtalker2000]

I think if you had some Falken Wildpeak A/T Trail tires. You wouldn't have had that much of a problem. Tires in this type of off roading make ALL the difference. Chevy actually has a pretty competent AWD system. It's the tires that are killing this test. At least in my opinion it is.

[@EngineAdventures]

Thanks for watching and commenting! Having the right tires for the terrain is very important, however that's not what's being tested here. The hill has places where two diagonally opposed tires are essentially in the air. The vehicle has to be able to transfer enough torque to the tires with traction to make the climb. I'm not saying the Equinox is bad, the AWD system is great for bad weather conditions and well maintained dirt roads, it's just not meant for this.

[@jackt6112]

I'm sold. It appears that this system would be much more forgiving of tires not quite the same diameter for fuel efficiency, tire wear, and wear on the AWD because with the AWD off, it takes a lot to get anything to go to the rear wheels. With those that send a constant 60/40 or some ratio, that is not the case. I'll have to learn about stability control.

[@EngineAdventures]

Interesting, thought that I hadn't considered. Thanks for sharing!

[@teresacurry9936]

I decided against buying an Equinox and bought a Colorado. I did not feel it would do that well in snow. Glad I am driving a truck!!

[@EngineAdventures]

The Colorado is a great little truck! My guess is that the Equinox would do just fine in most cases on snowy roads, this test hill is steeper and more difficult than it looks!

[@bradhaines3142]

trucks are usually one of the worst offroaders, no weight on the rear end so worse traction than a similar suv

[@EngineAdventures]

I googled it, because the midsize trucks aren't nearly as front heavy as the fullsize (especially diesels) Chevy actually lists the weight distribution as 57/43 for the crew cab 5'2" bed with the 3.6 V6. Not too bad. What surprised me more is that Chevy lists weight distribution on their spec sheet.

[@TheOtherGuy-OverThere]

my 2001 Silverado 2500hd 8' bed regular cab is easily the best winter vehicle I've ever owned. No contest at all. When it was snowing I'd put it in 4WD. I've driven in crazy blizzards with that thing, and with bald af tires too. The clearance, with the decent tire size and 4WD made driving through colossal mounds effortless. Would not have been able to do nearly as much with my shiny 2018 Equinox. Small tires and not enough clearance.

[@diegorojasg4708]

Equinox Activ 2025 con transmisión CVT. Es recomendable.???? Pienso comprar.

[@EngineAdventures]

I haven't had a chance to test one of those yet, so I can't give you a good opinion.

[@zero2sixty244]

14:20 that turbo noise

[@EngineAdventures]

Too bad you can't really hear it inside!

[@natedog-zh3zy]

14:18 Is that stock turbo flutter on a CHEVY EQUINOX?? sounds so cool

[@EngineAdventures]

Yup, I love it. It's like a 60's pickup truck though, it sounds great, but it's speed doesn't match the sound.

[@TheOtherGuy-OverThere]

Yeah, they started putting turbos in since 18. My 2018 is turbo'd. Can't really hear it from inside the car though.

[@rondail5675]

Good review. I think you pushed the vehicle to it's limits. Equinox is not an off-road vehicle.

[@EngineAdventures]

Thanks for watching and commenting! It certainly isn't an offroader, which is why I'm surprised it did as well as it did.

[@gmsdnga]

I beg to differ dude, you should see Utawesome Performance's Lifted Equinox sending it at Sand Mountain-

[@lukethief]

Sheeeeeesh

[@haroldbeauchamp3770]

I’m fairly surprised how well this did off road considering it’s not an off road vehicle nor is it remotely marketed as such. Comparatively speaking, I wonder how this would be against the GMC Acadia AT4. Similar awd systems, would the AT4 overheat as well? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen an AT4 reviewed off road. So who knows.

[@EngineAdventures]

I haven't had too many GMC SUVs or Cross Overs for some reason. You'll definitely see it off-road if I get the chance to drive one.

[@tomtalker2000]

Actually the Acadia is bigger. The GMC Terrain would be a better comparison. Considering all of the AWD Terrain's have a more sophisticated AWD system than the Equinox does. With standard AWD, snow mode, and off road mode you can switch from a dial on the AWD Terrain.

[@user78405]

remember it only do good at 6 ft off the ground but not bad

[@EngineAdventures]

Compared to past crossovers it did really well, it's about on par with new ones, so definitely not bad!

[@rainygirl65]

Will not keep up with my 97 ZJ stock

[@EngineAdventures]

Probably not, but the ZJ doesn't have any form of limited slip correct? That's the only area this might perform a little better.

[@brentneves3602]

With off-road tires, you would have made it

[@EngineAdventures]

Nope. Having the right tires for the terrain is important for many reasons. The two main points of my steep hill climb test are low end torque and the ability of the vehicle to transfer power to the wheels with traction. If all 4 wheels are spinning at nearly the same speed, then I'll concede that tires may have been the issue. However, with two wheels essentially in the air, this vehicle couldn't get enough torque to the other two wheels with decent traction to make the climb.

[@brentneves3602]

@@EngineAdventures well that kinda sucks, because I'm picking up my brand new, 2023 Equinox Premier awd tomorrow, but we mostly need the awd for winter, as we live in northern Canada 🍁 hopefully it is capable in snow.

[@EngineAdventures]

Ohh yeah, I'd think it would do great in the snow and ice on paved roads. As you mentioned, the right tires will make a big difference. The only areas it will have challenges are really steep and slick hills, but even then I doubt you'll ever have any issues. This test is a little extreme (it's meant to be that way, if everything can make it up the hill, then the test isn't hard enough) and most vehicles without a low range transfer case either really struggle or can't make this climb. For example, Subarus are great winter weather vehicles, but the Outback I tested barely made it up the easiest line on the hill, and that was before the hill got really torn up like it is now.

[@brentneves3602]

@@EngineAdventures awesome, thanks for your feedback

[@f50koenigg]

Chevy awd sucks in comparison to Ford and Acura

[@EngineAdventures]

Not really, just depends on the vehicle and it's intended purpose. The Blazer RS has pretty much the same setup as the SH-AWD Acura uses.