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DETROIT -- I can see why the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox recently won Internet Truck of the Year. I recently had a week-long test drive in one and walked away really impressed.
 First, the Equinox is not a truck it’s a crossover utility vehicle. These days, if it’s not a car it falls into the truck category. And in this sense, the Equinox looked like a sport utility. However, it had the advantages of unibody (car) construction. I’ll get to those advantages later.
It was the gadgets or the technology; or the lack of both which lent itself to a certain pragmatism that impressed me. The bottom line is that I had a front-wheel-drive four cylinder powered Equinox that was more than enough utility vehicle for my needs.
Snow was everywhere but since front-wheel-drive is the next best thing to all-wheel-drive on slush and snow packed street, my test vehicle had no problems getting me around.
 My test vehicle was powered by a four-cylinder engine that made 182 horsepower and 172 pounds-feet of torque. With the flat terrain in these parts, that 182 horsepower was more than enough oomph. In an area with steep inclines, I’d opt for the 264 horsepower V6. But I don’t see the need for it in these parts.
Acceleration on the expressways was good, getting on and off was no problem and since I wasn’t trying to drag race with anybody, start ups from stop lights worked well, too. I just didn’t have any problems because of a lack of power.
What’s more, my Equinox’s four-cylinder engine gave the vehicle an EPA rating of 22 mpg in the city and 32 mpg on the highway. That’s one advantage of unibody construction. It saves weight and that aids fuel efficiency.
 My vehicle was quiet, it rode more like a car not a truck, it handled well, cornering was good and braking was exceptional. All of those attributes can be attributed to the Equinox’s unibody construction.
My Equinox had one option package; it was vehicle interface and it included a Bluetooth phone connections a leather wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, a remote vehicle starting system (this really comes in handy when its 20-degrees) and a USB port. That cost a pretty reasonable $500.
With the Equinox’s standard features, the vehicle just didn’t require a lot of options. There was no sun roof; but there was satellite radio, an adjustable second row seat with 60/40 split and a (manual) tilt telescoping steering wheel. And the audio system included an in-dash CD player and there cruise control and power where you’d expect it like the locks, windows and seats
 I particularly liked the cloth seats. Though they weren’t leather, there was nothing cheap about them. In fact, I preferred them to leather. They where grey with black dotted seating surfaces. There was subtle red French stitching on the door and on the center stack. Although I’m sure it doesn’t sound good, the look was nice.
And though the center stack was covered with silver satin, I hate the stuff; I thought it interesting that all the controls were right in front of me. There was no need to reach up or to look down; all I had to do was reach out for whatever control I needed.
The interior of the Equinox had an ambience of class that I’ve only found on some vehicles that cost twice as much. That reminds me; the best part of all was the total price of my test vehicle: $24,600.
That wasn’t bad. In fact, it seemed awfully reasonable to me.
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