2021 Chevy Equinox vs Subaru Forester

When drivers need a vehicle they can count on for daily drives and road trip adventures alike, they often turn to SUVs like the Chevy Equinox or Subaru Forester. These vehicles are built to handle all sorts of situations, so you can travel around Indianapolis, Fishers, and Speedway, IN, with ease.

So, which of these SUVs is a better choice for you? We’re here to answer that question at Andy Mohr Speedway Chevrolet. Let’s dive in and see how these two vehicles differ with this extensive 2021 Chevy Equinox vs. Subaru Forester comparison.

2021 Equinox vs 2021 Forester: Safety Capabilities

When it comes to your safety, the Chevy Equinox and Subaru Forester are loaded up with safety features meant to help you avoid potential accidents. These vehicles both come with standard Automatic Emergency Braking, which brings your vehicle to a stop if your car detects you’re coming up too fast on another vehicle.

The Chevy Equinox gives us some additional features that are truly unique, like the available Safety Alert Seat. This seat uses seat-bottom pulses to alert you to potential collisions. This feature is a convenient replacement to the traditional beeps that are overwise used to alert people to potential collisions.

Protecting Your Teen Driver

When shopping for a family SUV, you need to keep the future in mind. At some point, you’ll likely find yourself teaching your child how to drive, so many parents tend to like the peace of mind offered by the standard Teen Driver technology of the Equinox.

This technology is unique to Chevrolet and limits certain functions of your vehicle to make sure young drivers can stay focused on the road. Turn this feature on to make it easy to coach your new driver.

Thanks to this system, you’ll have a range of features you won’t find inside the Subaru Forester at all. For instance, the Equinox can generate an in-vehicle report card that details the performance of your teen driver. This will track things like the maximum speed, forward collision alerts, forward collision avoidance braking, and more, so you can identify areas your teen driver needs help with.

Additionally, you can set certain limits on the volume and speed or activate the Buckle to Drive feature to encourage your teen to only drive when buckled in. This feature will prevent them from shifting out of park for up to 20 seconds if the driver’s seatbelt isn’t fastened.

Equinox vs Forester: Interior Comfort and Capabilities

While on the road, you and your passengers will certainly enjoy having a comprehensive infotainment system. That’s why both the Equinox and Forester come with 4G LTE Fi-Fi® hotspot capability. While this feature comes standard on all 2021 Equinox models, it’s only available on higher trim levels of the 2021 Forester.

Even though both vehicles are available with an 8-inch display screen with integrated navigation, the Equinox offers a slightly larger standard system. With the standard 7-inch touchscreen Chevrolet Infotainment 3 System, you’ll have easy access to your favorite apps through Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™ capability and a voice command function that works with your smartphone.

The Forester comes standard with a smaller 6.5-inch screen, that offers a few of the same features. Still, it lacks the convenient voice command feature of the Equinox.

When it comes to comfort, you’ll find that both SUVs offer available features like:

• Heated front seats
• Heated rear outboard seats
• Heated steering wheel

They even both have available power programable liftgates to make it easy to open your cargo area. When your hands are full, though, you might prefer the available Hands-Free Gesture liftgate of the 2021 Equinox. Rather than juggling your groceries while you try to press a button on the door or on your key fob, this system will allow you to simply swipe your foot under the rear bumper.