Drew Dowdell

No disappointment. Simply stating a fact, though I may have caused some confusion as I was only referring to build quality. The GMC does feel more upmarket because the most visible materials inside are more upmarket, if only in look.

More standard features, but higher base price, on the Terrain. Interior wise, you get a faux leather stitched dash not available on the Equinox. Other than that, if your eyes prefer blue interior ambient lighting, get the 'Nox. If you prefer red, get the Terrain. Quality wise, they are equals. Most of the difference is in the look of the exterior and really just which of the two you prefer.

I've always operated under the assumption that you were certifiable.

What do you mean "maybe"?

While reducing carbon in cars is desirable, the real crux for me is getting us off of foreign fuels. I don't care how my car is powered as long as it's clean, relatively inexpensive, the money doesn't go to some middle east country that would like to kill us, and the performance is within expectations. We can do all of that using biofuels.

The Equinox is clearly aimed at the CR-V and RAV-4. It's a bit too large to be directly compared with the Escape. The Terrain is the same exact size as the 'Nox but aimed at people who consider the CR-V looks to be too wussy. From the outside, the Terrain looks bigger but isn't. The Terrain is for the guy who really wanted an H3 but couldn't convince his wife to go for it. It does look more upscale than the Equinox even though the SLE-2 I'm driving is $5k less than the LTZ I had. It's worth it to have both because the designs seem to be so polarizing. Well on the Build-Your-Own site I could only get it to up to $38,180 including destination charge. Not having a loaded model, I can't say for certain that I think it's worth that much. However, I will say that the $31k Equinox I just had felt every bit worth the money and it wasn't even AWD, nor did it have a full NAV or infotainment system or the big wheels. It's just that solid of a vehicle with an interior to match. The interior of the Terrain is slightly more upscale in that it has faux leather stitched dash and more chrome. The cloth seats (I haven't inspected cloth seats in an Equinox) are unlike anything I've seen before in a vehicle.

Same concave hood, similar fender lines

For comparison

Unfortunately, I don't have any long trips planned this time around. I can tell you that I had 4 bundles of wood and 6 12"x12"x3" paving stones in the back and there was no difference. we've been in the high 20s / low 30s since I've had it. Not really cold enough to have any issues. Idle is one of the few places you can feel that it is a 4 cylinder just from the little bit of vibration through the steering wheel...but it's nothing compared to the CR-V. I'm going to do a more detailed writeup of the Eco-Mode, but one of the things Eco-Mode does is drop the idle by 100rpm.

"Five point slow" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

That needs to go on a t-shirt

That'll teach ya. Set up your profile. Happy Birthday.

Not all Japanese companies but Japanese companies in general, put much more weight on saving face. If Ford were interested in saving face, they wouldn't have built the Pinto in the first place. Toyota has been very vocal about blaming everyone except Toyota whenever one of these stories breaks. Look at the engine sludge thing. Sony did the same thing with their battery fires and the rootkits they installed on peoples' computers. Honda on the other hand, when the transmissions started failing in the Odyssey and TL, sucked it up and extended the warranty on the transmissions on those vehicles to 100k miles. Sure, they did it quietly, but they didn't go issuing media statements first about how the driver was abusing the car or had failed to maintain it properly.

2050rpm in Eco mode. I didn't get long enough to try it not in eco mode to see if there was any difference, though I doubt there would be.

Ugh. The few episodes of Queer As Folk that I watched made me want to give up being gay.

Woops, sorry I hadn't made the album public.

Wonder if it was gearing.... Mom's 94 Bonneville would get that same 33mpg highway.

The I4 will break the front tires loose from a dead stop. Throttle tip in is great. It feels rather spunky around town. If AWD wasn't an absolute requirement for me, I could be perfectly happy with the I4 model. The sound is very sedate under normal conditions, but put your foot in it and you'll get an almost V6 like growl. The steering is very light at parking speeds and much tighter above that. I want to go further with the evaluation before I comment more on that. Braking is very firm. The reverse camera is great. The picture shows up on the left side of the center rear view mirror allowing you to look at either the screen or the mirror with just a very minor shift of your gaze. Pioneer audio...I'll get back to you on.

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I got the window sticker up

I'll see if I can to a headlight comparison shot with the 2004 CR-V

They seem great. Leagues better than my CR-V daily driver. The fogs seem especially bright.