Compare the2024 Subaru ForesterVS 2024 Chevrolet Equinox

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

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Forester have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Chevrolet Equinox doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Forester are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Chevrolet Equinox doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

The Subaru Forester has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Equinox doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Forester has standard Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Equinox doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Forester (except Base/Premium) offers optional Reverse Automatic Braking that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The Equinox doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Forester. But it costs extra on the Equinox.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Forester Premium/Sport/Wilderness/Limited/Touring’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Equinox doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

The Forester Touring’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Equinox doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Forester and the Equinox have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.

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

	Forester	Equinox
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Leg Forces (l/r)	248/368 lbs.	363/349 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	293	376
Leg Forces (l/r)	105/93 lbs.	264/236 lbs.

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

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 Subaru Forester is safer than the Chevrolet Equinox:

	Forester	Equinox
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	66	109
Chest Movement	.6 inches	1.1 inches
Abdominal Force	122 lbs.	195 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	246	288
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	121	377
Hip Force	673 lbs.	730 lbs.

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

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Subaru Forester is safer than the Equinox:

	Forester	Equinox
Overall Evaluation	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	107	131
Neck Tension	223 lbs.	290 lbs.
Neck Compression	67 lbs.	112 lbs.
Torso	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
Shoulder Deflection	.91 in	1.73 in
Shoulder Force	201 lbs.	312 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	1.5 in	1.69 in
Torso Deflection Rate	8 MPH	8 MPH
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Head Injury Criterion	544	733
Head Peak Forces	81 G’s	101 G’s
Neck Tension	45 lbs.	89 lbs.
Neck Compression	290 lbs.	491 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Torso Max Deflection	1.26 in	1.57 in
Pelvis	GOOD	GOOD
Pelvis Force	625 lbs.	669 lbs.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, and daytime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Forester the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 54 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Equinox last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.

Warranty

The Forester’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Equinox’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

Reliability

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Forester’s reliability 29 points higher than the Equinox.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Subaru vehicles are more reliable than Chevrolet vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Subaru 13 places higher in reliability than Chevrolet.

Engine

The Forester’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 7 more horsepower (182 vs. 175) than the Equinox’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Car and Driver the Subaru Forester is faster than the Chevrolet Equinox:

	Forester	Equinox
Zero to 60 MPH	8 sec	8.9 sec
Zero to 100 MPH	24.1 sec	26.8 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	8.7 sec	9.6 sec
Quarter Mile	16.3 sec	16.9 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	86 MPH	83 MPH

The flat cylinder configuration of the boxer engine in the Forester lowers its center of gravity, enhancing handling stability without compromising ground clearance. The Equinox doesn’t offer a boxer engine configuration.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Forester gets better mileage than the Equinox:

			MPG
Forester
	AWD	2.5 DOHC flat-4	26 city/33 hwy
Equinox
	FWD	1.5 turbo 4-cyl.	26 city/31 hwy
	AWD	1.5 turbo 4-cyl.	24 city/30 hwy

The Forester has 1.7 gallons more fuel capacity than the Equinox FWD’s standard fuel tank (16.6 vs. 14.9 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Forester has a gallon more fuel capacity than the Equinox AWD’s standard fuel tank (16.6 vs. 15.6 gallons).

The Forester has a standard locking fuel door which locks and unlocks with the power locks. The fuel filler door is not lockable on the Equinox. A locking fuel door helps prevent fuel theft and vandalism, such as sugar in the tank.

Transmission

The Forester has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Equinox doesn’t offer a CVT.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Forester’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the Equinox:

	Forester	Equinox
Front Rotors	12.4 inches	11.8 inches

The Forester stops much shorter than the Equinox:

	Forester	Equinox
70 to 0 MPH	167 feet	182 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	130 feet	135 feet	Consumer Reports
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	138 feet	145 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

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

The Forester Wilderness has a standard full size spare tire so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the Equinox; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

Suspension and Handling

The Forester has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Forester flat and controlled during cornering. The Equinox’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

The Forester Touring handles at .83 G’s, while the Equinox LT AWD pulls only .77 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Forester Limited executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Equinox LT AWD (27.3 seconds @ .63 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .59 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Forester’s turning circle is 2 feet tighter than the Equinox’s (35.4 feet vs. 37.4 feet). The Forester’s turning circle is 6.2 feet tighter than the Equinox RS’ (35.4 feet vs. 41.6 feet).

Passenger Space

The Forester has 8.4 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Equinox (111.6 vs. 103.2).

The Forester has 1.2 inches more front headroom, 2.4 inches more front legroom, .9 inches more front shoulder room, 1.1 inches more rear headroom, 1.9 inches more rear hip room and 1.7 inches more rear shoulder room than the Equinox.

The front step up height for the Forester is 1.7 inches lower than the Equinox (15.5” vs. 17.2”). The Forester’s rear step up height is .3 inches lower than the Equinox’s (17.25” vs. 17.5”).

Cargo Capacity

The Forester has a larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Equinox with its rear seat folded (74.2 vs. 63.9 cubic feet).

The Forester’s cargo area is larger than the Equinox’s in almost every dimension:

	Forester	Equinox
Length to seat (2nd/1st)	35.7”/69.9”	34.9”/67.4”
Max Width	51.2”	53.7”
Min Width	43.3”	40.7”
Height	34.8”	31”

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the Forester. The Equinox doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

Towing

Maximum trailer towing in the Chevrolet Equinox is limited to 1500 pounds. The Forester offers up to a 3000 lbs. towing capacity.

Servicing Ease

The engine in the Forester is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the Equinox. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because the accessory belts are in front.

Ergonomics

The Forester Premium/Sport/Wilderness/Limited/Touring’s front power windows both open or close with one touch of the switches. The Equinox’s front passenger window doesn’t close automatically.

To help drivers see further while navigating curves, the Forester has standard adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle. The Equinox doesn’t offer cornering lights.

The Forester’s standard automatic temperature control maintains the temperature you set, automatically controlling fan speed, vents and temperature to maintain a consistent, comfortable environment. The Equinox LS doesn’t offer automatic air conditioning.

Economic Advantages

Insurance will cost less for the Forester owner. The Car Book by Jack Gillis rates the Forester with a number “1” insurance rate while the Equinox is rated higher at a number “8” rate.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Forester is less expensive to operate than the Equinox because it costs $255 less to do the manufacturer’s suggested maintenance for 50,000 miles. Typical repairs cost much less on the Forester than the Equinox, including $4 less for a water pump, $648 less for a muffler, $151 less for front brake pads, $293 less for a fuel pump, $196 less for a timing belt/chain and $312 less for a power steering pump.

Recommendations

Both are recommended, but Consumer Reports® chose the Subaru Forester as its “Top Pick,” the highest scoring vehicle in its category, based on reliability, safety and performance.

Motor Trend performed a comparison test in its April 2019 issue and they ranked the Subaru Forester Limited five places higher than the Chevrolet Equinox LT AWD.

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