Compare the2022 Chevrolet EquinoxVS 2021 Toyota 4Runner

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the Chevrolet Equinox’s rear seat shoulder belts have child comfort guides to move the belt to properly fit children. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages children to buckle up. The Toyota 4Runner doesn’t offer comfort guides on its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Equinox are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The 4Runner doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests front crash prevention systems. With a score of 6 points, IIHS rates the Automatic Emergency Braking in the Equinox as “Superior.” The 4Runner scores zero, and is rated by the IIHS as having no effective frontal crash prevention.

The Equinox LT/RS/Premier offers an optional Surround Vision to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The 4Runner only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

The Equinox’s optional blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. The 4Runner doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Equinox’s optional cross-path warning system uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The 4Runner doesn’t offer a cross-path warning system.

For better protection of the passenger compartment, the Equinox uses safety cell construction with a three-dimensional high-strength frame that surrounds the passenger compartment. It provides extra impact protection and a sturdy mounting location for door hardware and side impact beams. The 4Runner uses a body-on-frame design, which has no frame members above the floor of the vehicle.

Both the Equinox and the 4Runner have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available all wheel drive.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Chevrolet Equinox is safer than the Toyota 4Runner:

	Equinox	4Runner
OVERALL STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	159	267
Neck Injury Risk	17%	47%
Neck Stress	190 lbs.	438 lbs.
Neck Compression	10 lbs.	54 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	363/349 lbs.	488/468 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	3 Stars
Chest Compression	.6 inches	.7 inches
Neck Injury Risk	26%	57%
Neck Stress	153 lbs.	271 lbs.
Neck Compression	51 lbs.	58 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	264/236 lbs.	453/353 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Chevrolet Equinox is safer than the 4Runner:

	Equinox	4Runner
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	MARGINAL
Restraints	GOOD	GOOD
Head Neck Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Head injury index	86	142
Peak Head Forces	0 G’s	0 G’s
Steering Column Movement Rearward	0 cm	12 cm
Chest Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Hip & Thigh Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Femur Force R/L	.7/.1 kN	3.9/2.4 kN
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L	0%/0%	1%/0%
Lower Leg Evaluation	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Tibia index R/L	.47/.51	.95/.85
Tibia forces R/L	1.2/.2 kN	5/2.9 kN

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Chevrolet Equinox is safer than the Toyota 4Runner:

	Equinox	4Runner
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Chest Movement	1.1 inches	1.1 inches
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
Max Damage Depth	13 inches	20 inches
HIC	377	507
Spine Acceleration	40 G’s	43 G’s
Hip Force	730 lbs.	895 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the Equinox, with its four-star roll-over rating, is 6.1% to 8.2% less likely to roll over than the 4Runner, which received a three-star rating.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its available headlight’s “Acceptable” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Equinox the rating of “Top Pick” for 2021, a rating granted to only 119 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The 4Runner is not a “Top Pick.”

Warranty

The Equinox’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the 4Runner’s (6 vs. 5 years).

There are over 2 times as many Chevrolet dealers as there are Toyota dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Equinox’s warranty.

Reliability

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Equinox third among compact suvs in their 2020 Initial Quality Study. The 4Runner isn’t in the top three in its category.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2020 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Chevrolet vehicles are better in initial quality than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Chevrolet third in initial quality, above the industry average. With 36 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is ranked 19th, below the industry average.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Equinox gets better fuel mileage than the 4Runner:

			MPG
Equinox
	2WD	1.5 Turbo 4-cyl.	26 city/31 hwy
	4WD	1.5 Turbo 4-cyl.	25 city/30 hwy
4Runner
	2WD	4.0 DOHC V6	16 city/19 hwy
	4WD	4.0 DOHC V6	26 city/19 hwy

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Equinox’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. (Start/Stop isn’t accounted in present EPA fuel mileage tests.) The 4Runner doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

The Equinox has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The 4Runner doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Chevrolet Equinox higher (7 out of 10) than the Toyota 4Runner (3). This means the Equinox produces up to 24.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the 4Runner every 15,000 miles.

Transmission

A six-speed automatic is standard on the Chevrolet Equinox, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a five-speed automatic is available for the 4Runner.

Brakes and Stopping

The Equinox stops much shorter than the 4Runner:

	Equinox	4Runner
70 to 0 MPH	161 feet	201 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	119 feet	138 feet	Motor Trend
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	141 feet	145 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

The Equinox LS/LT’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 65 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the 4Runner’s standard 70 series tires. The Equinox’s optional tires have a lower 50 series profile than the 4Runner Limited/Nightshade’s 60 series tires.

The Equinox has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The 4Runner doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

Suspension and Handling

For superior ride and handling, the Chevrolet Equinox has fully independent front and rear suspensions. An independent suspension allows the wheels to follow the road at the best angle for gripping the pavement, without compromising ride comfort. The Toyota 4Runner has a solid rear axle, with a non-independent rear suspension.

The Equinox Premier AWD handles at .86 G’s, while the 4Runner TRD Off-Road pulls only .71 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Equinox Premier executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.8 seconds quicker than the 4Runner TRD Off-Road (27.7 seconds @ .61 average G’s vs. 29.5 seconds @ .55 average G’s).

Chassis

The Chevrolet Equinox may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 1150 to 1300 pounds less than the Toyota 4Runner.

The Equinox is 7.1 inches shorter than the 4Runner SR5, making the Equinox easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Unibody construction lowers the Equinox’s center of gravity significantly without reducing ground clearance. This contributes to better on the road handling and better off-road performance and stability. In addition, unibody construction makes the chassis stiffer, improving handling and reducing squeaks and rattles. The 4Runner uses body-on-frame design instead.

The front grille of the Equinox offers available electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The 4Runner doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Equinox uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The 4Runner doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Passenger Space

The Equinox has .7 inches more front headroom and 7 inches more rear legroom than the 4Runner.

Cargo Capacity

The Equinox has a much larger cargo volume than the 4Runner with its rear seat up (29.9 vs. 9 cubic feet).

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Equinox easier. The Equinox’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 28.6 inches, while the 4Runner’s liftover is 30.7 inches.

Pressing a switch automatically lowers the Equinox LT/RS/Premier’s rear seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The 4Runner doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

To make loading and unloading groceries and cargo easier, especially for short adults, the Equinox (except LS) offers an optional power liftgate, which opens and closes automatically by pressing a button, or on the Equinox Premier, by just kicking your foot under the back bumper, completely leaving your hands free. The 4Runner doesn’t offer a power liftgate.

Towing

The Equinox can be flat towed on all four wheels (dinghy towed), allowing recreational vehicle owners to bring it with them on the road. When they reach their destination, the Equinox can be unhitched and driven around locally. The 4Runner can’t be towed flat on the ground.

Servicing Ease

The Equinox has a maintenance free battery for long life without checking the battery’s water level. The 4Runner doesn’t have a maintenance free battery, so the water level in the battery’s cells must be checked often to prevent damage.

An Oil Life Monitor is standard on the Equinox to save the owner time and money by calculating maintenance intervals for oil changes based on actual driving conditions. This takes the guesswork out of keeping your vehicle in top condition and helps it last longer. Toyota doesn’t offer a maintenance reminder on the 4Runner.

Ergonomics

The Equinox offers a remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The 4Runner doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

The engine computer on the Equinox automatically engages the starter until the car starts with one twist of the key and disables the starter while the engine is running. The 4Runner’s starter can be accidentally engaged while the engine is running, making a grinding noise and possibly damaging the starter and ring gear.

The Equinox Premier’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The 4Runner doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The Equinox’s instruments include an oil pressure gauge and a temperature gauge - which could save your engine! Often ‘idiot lights’ don’t warn you until damage has been done. The 4Runner does not have an oil pressure gauge.

The Equinox’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The 4Runner’s parking brake has to released manually.

The power windows standard on both the Equinox and the 4Runner have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Equinox is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The 4Runner prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Equinox’s available exterior PIN entry system. The 4Runner doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system.

The Equinox’s power window, power lock, power mirror and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The 4Runner’s power mirror and cruise control switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Equinox has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the 4Runner only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Equinox’s available headlights were rated “Acceptable” by the IIHS, while the 4Runner’s headlights are rated “Poor.”

The Equinox has a standard automatic headlight on/off feature. When the ignition is on, the headlights automatically turn on at dusk and off after dawn. When the ignition turns off, the headlights turn off after a delay timed to allow you to securely get to your front door. The 4Runner has an automatic headlight on/off feature standard only on the Limited/TRD Pro/Nightshade.

The Equinox’s power mirror controls are mounted on the armrest for easy access. The 4Runner’s power mirror controls are on the dash where they are possibly hidden by the steering wheel and are awkward to manipulate.

When the Equinox Premier is put in reverse, both rearview mirrors tilt from their original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirrors into their original positions. The 4Runner’s mirrors don’t automatically adjust for backing.

The Equinox Premier’s standard rear view mirror and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The 4Runner offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

Both the Equinox and the 4Runner offer available heated front seats. The Equinox Premier also offers optional heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated second row seats aren’t available in the 4Runner.

On extremely cold winter days, the Equinox’s optional (except LS) heated steering wheel provides comfort, allowing the driver to steer safely and comfortably before the vehicle heater warms up. The 4Runner doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Chevrolet Equinox Premier has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The 4Runner doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

The Equinox Premier’s optional Automatic Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The 4Runner doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Economic Advantages

Insurance will cost less for the Equinox owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Equinox will cost $370 less than the 4Runner over a five-year period.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Equinox is less expensive to operate than the 4Runner because typical repairs cost much less on the Equinox than the 4Runner, including $152 less for a water pump, $139 less for a starter and $859 less for a timing belt/chain.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Chevrolet Equinox will be $774 to $1780 less than for the Toyota 4Runner.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends the Chevrolet Equinox, based on reliability, safety and performance. The Toyota 4Runner isn't recommended.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Equinox second among compact suvs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The 4Runner isn’t in the top three in its category.