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Chevy Equinox and Land Rover Freelander
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By Matthew C. Keegan
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The sport utility market continues to expand despite higher thannormal gas prices. The reason? Because, thesedo-almost-everything-vehicles provide just what consumers want.Sure, sales are down right now, but they will recover as moreeconomical vehicles enter the mix. SUVs carry people, haulstuff, pull stuff, can go off-roading [okay, maybe not theEquinox], provide superior handling than many cars, etc.Fortunately, not all are gas guzzlers either. Chevrolet'sEquinox and the Land Rover Freelander are two that come to mind.Let's take a look at these two compact SUVs.
Chevrolet Equinox - I like the looks of the Equinox,Chevy's car-based SUV that is only slightly smaller than themid-size TrailBlazer. By car-based I mean a vehicle that handlesand drives more like a car and is actually built on a carplatform [like the Ford Escape and Toyota RAV4, for example].This means that the Equinox is built chiefly for the road, so ifyou want an off road experience you would need to opt for theTrailBlazer or get the Freelander. Okay, I digress.
The Equinox is available as either a front wheel drive or allwheel drive vehicle. Seating five passengers, the Equinox comesequipped with a 3.4L V6 that produces 185hp. The engine ispaired with a five-speed automatic transmission; no manualtransmission is available. A traction control system is standardwith the front wheel drive Equinox while all models comeequipped with ABS and electric steering. Standard equipment forthe Equinox includes power windows, power mirrors, and powerlocks with Remote Keyless Entry; AM/FM stereo and CD player withsix speakers; and air conditioning. The Equinox has received a 5star rating from the National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration for frontal crash and side-impact crash tests.Starting prices for the Equinox are very competitive withcomparable models in its class. Base MSRP for the FWD is justover 22K; 24K for the AWD.
Land Rover Freelander - The smallest of all Land Roversis the Freelander, a compact full time all wheel drive vehicleavailable as either a 3 or 5 door SUV. Unlike the Equinox, theFreelander has full off road capabilities as do every Land Rovermodel. The Freelander comes equipped with a Four-wheelElectronic Traction Control system; ABS; a 2.5L Quad Cam V6engine paired with a 5 speed automatic transmission; an AM/FMstereo/CD system with RDS radio; air conditioning; fog lamps; aperimeter security system; and much more. The Freelander, a fivepassenger vehicle, sells for a price starting at just over 27K.
The Freelander is produced in England while the Equinox is builtin Canada, In all, both the Equinox and Freelander representwell built compact SUVs with two different purposes: the Equinoxis built primarily for the highway and around town and has thestronger engine, while the Freelander is built for both highwayand trail.
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