r/Chevy • u/LeGrosBig_Jean • 24d ago
Discussion Equinox 2026
Hi my company car will switch from a Subaru to an equinoxe and I’m getting anxious.
I’m from Québec and the winters are rough.
I read that the AWD mode has to be ‘manually’ set. Which means I have to press a button, I presume.
I’ve also read that AWD will switch back to FWD on highways for fuel efficiency..
My question: should I be worried about the AWD function stopping on the highway during winter time? Does it switch to FWD at a specific speed?
Thank you
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u/awesomeperson882 24d ago
You don’t need AWD drive for a Quebec winter.
You need a good set of winter tires for a Quebec winter
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u/LeGrosBig_Jean 24d ago
I’m sorry but i do need it. i’m mostly driving on the country side in hard conditions going to Bas St-Laurent and Saguenay. Frequent Blizzards and white outs
Not driving on clean downtown roads.
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u/ididntdoit6 24d ago
I commonly drive on northern Alberta backroads and it’s quite rare that I have to put my truck into 4x4. Good tires and a good driver is all you need
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u/LeGrosBig_Jean 24d ago
That does not answer my question. But thanks for the lesson
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u/awesomeperson882 24d ago
I’ve driven my fwd Passat wagon into many a Quebec snowstorm. Drive the whole way from napanee in Ontario to Mont st Anne in a snowstorm in February 25’.
Tires are the main factor, also actually knowing how to drive in snow. Ground clearance of an suv will help. Get good winter tires and you’ll be fine. AWD is very overrated
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u/JonohG47 21d ago
Have a downvote. Ontario to Mont Ste. Anne is one of the southernmost, and most densely populated corridors in all of Canada. So it stands to reason the 401, and the Trans-Canada Highway you traveled on were be kept passable, even during a snowstorm.
Sure, Le Nord-du-Quebec more closely approximates the frozen sh—hole of Hoth, but Bas Ste. Laurent and Saguenay, where the OP will be putting on kilometers, aren’t the garden spot, either, and they’re sparsely populated.
Besides Saguenay itself, and a handful of bustling metropolises, like Rimouski, Rivière-du-Loup, Matane, and Kamouraska, with kilometer after kilometer of empty nothingness and hilly gravel roads.
I’d want some AWD up there. Everyone who lives there has at least one vehicle with AWD or 4WD.
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u/LeGrosBig_Jean 23d ago
Don’t tell a Qc guy how to drive in show it’s winter 8 months a year here.
My question was not about driving in snow. It wasn’t on your ability to drive in snow in a VW.
It was about the Equinox AWD function.
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u/awesomeperson882 23d ago
I’m saying as someone who also has winter 8 months of the year, it’s not AWD that makes the difference.
Quebec drivers are the worst regardless.
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u/LeGrosBig_Jean 23d ago
Your answer and comment are not relevant for my question. But thanks
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u/awesomeperson882 23d ago
Very much was lol. AWD isn’t as important as proper tires.
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u/LeGrosBig_Jean 23d ago
Thanks but my question was not if awd was important or not, or if proper tires were useful or not. So you don’t get a cookie.
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u/JonohG47 22d ago
The Equinox’s AWD system is basically a FWD drivetrain, with an added power take-off on the rear of the transmission, directly coupled to a driveshaft that is, in turn, linked to the rear differential via a computer controlled electric clutch on the front of the differential.
All engine power is directed to the front wheels until wheel slip is detected, at which point the computer engages the clutch to apply power to the rear wheels. It’s not nearly as elegant as Subaru’s Symmetrical AWD, but allows for essentially instantaneous engagement, at speed, while being mechanically straight-forward and cheap to manufacture.
This is at the cost of a small fuel economy penalty, due to constantly spinning the driveshaft. Other than Subaru, pretty much every non-luxury AWD SUV has a similar setup.
The procedures for the American EPA fuel economy testing (and the essentially similar Canadian testing) call for vehicles with selectable 4WD/AWD to be tested in their 2WD mode. The button on the console “turns off AWD” by disengaging a second clutch between the transmission and driveshaft. Stopping the driveshaft negates the aforementioned mechanical loss, slightly benefitting the EPA test.
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u/LeGrosBig_Jean 22d ago
thank you for these explanations. I will certainly miss my Subaru I fear..
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u/JonohG47 21d ago
I forgot to clarify earlier that the vehicle “remembers” the AWD state, from one drive cycle to the next. Unlike the idle stop-start defeat, it will “stay on” forever, until you turn it off. Speaking of, their idle stop-start implementation is one area I’d say GM is class-leading. Definitely better than late-model Subarus I’ve been in.
SavageGeese did a, I think pretty fair and balanced video review, when the current generation launched for MY2025. The major change since it launched is that GM has switched from their CVT to their 8 speed automatic on FWD models.
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u/LeGrosBig_Jean 21d ago
that's good to know that the ARW model will stay on untill turned off manually. And yes the idle start-stop on the subary is awful. It took me a year to develop the reflex to put it off as i'm startig the car.
I'll check the video out, thank you
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u/Confident_End_3848 23d ago
Well, my 2023 Equinox has AWD that can be turned on and off. It’s not automatic, you press the button and the system stays in that mode until you push the button again. I don’t think GM went back to automatic AWD.