Holden Equinox vs Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class

What's the difference?

Overlook the Holden Equinox LTZ-V and you could miss out on a practical, spacious and value-for-money mid-sized SUV. Concerned about Holden’s exit from Australia and how this affects servicing and parts? Well Holden has assured us that it will provide servicing support for 10 years following its closure at the end of 2020. If anything, you could be picking up a bargain and one of the last cars to wear a Holden badge.

The GLS450d impresses as an entry-level grade, as it’s a more family-friendly allrounder than the specialised AMG and Maybach variants. Its combination of a torque-rich diesel 48V hybrid drivetrain, air-cushioned suspension and plush interior are as well suited to luxury urban travel as they are to grand touring, where its heavy towing and generous load-carrying capabilities can shine. Whether it’s worth around $200K drive-away, only those who shop at the top end of town can decide.

Big cheesy grin grille? Check. Flowing curves? Check. Sharp creases? Check. Irregular shapes? Check.

The Equinox is a bit of a mishmash of design elements which doesn't win this reviewer over.

The sloping, broad grille bears more than a passing resemblance to the Cadillac family face, and hints at the Equinox’s American origins. In the United States the SUV wears a Chevrolet badge, although ours is built in Mexico.

The shape of the rear-side window is also a little jarring to me. If you want to see something you’ll never be able to unsee, take a look at my video above where I turn this mid-sized SUV into a small sedan. That sounds ridiculous but, trust me, watch it and be amazed.

How big is the Equinox? Just when you thought the design of the Equinox couldn’t get any more peculiar it does. The Equinox is longer than most of its rivals at 4652mm end-to-end but about the same width at 1843mm across (2105mm to the ends of the wing mirrors).

Telling the LTZ and the LTZ-V apart is tricky, but you can spot the top-grade Equinox by its sunroof and a metallic window garnish around the widows of the rear doors.

Inside is a premium and modern cabin. There’s a high quality feel here from the materials used on the dash, seats and doors, to the display screen which sits at an angle that’s perfect for my reach, although others in the CarsGuide office aren’t quite as enamored with it.

Many cars are dressed up at the front of the cabin, but lack the same treatment in the rear, and the Equinox is a case in point, with hard plastics used around the window sills and the back of the console.

This is an imposing vehicle in extravagant S-Class tradition, riding on an expansive 3135mm wheelbase and stretching more than 5.2 metres (5215mm) long and more than 2.0 metres (2030mm) wide with a turning circle that's nudging 13 metres.

However, it’s just under 1.8 metres (1798mm) tall, so there’s no clearance issues when accessing multi-storey carparks. And with its side-steps (or ‘running boards’ in nostalgic Benz speak) most adults can step rather than climb aboard, although passengers of shorter stature during our test noted that assist handles on the A and B pillars would be handy.

Central to its sophisticated chassis design is adaptive air suspension, which uses a pneumatic or ‘airbag’ form of springing with adaptive damping to continuously optimise ride comfort and handling response according to road conditions and driving dynamics (see Driving).

The GLS’s styling is clean and uncluttered with tasteful restraint evident in its chrome and satin-chrome highlights, yet it projects a majestic quality with its prominent four-louvre grille and elegantly spoked alloy wheels.

The spacious and sumptuous seven-seat interior is visually pleasing and practical, with a subtle blend of surface treatments, contrasting tones, lots of soft-touch surfaces and exposed stitching. This is combined (thankfully) with physical dials, switches and ‘piano key’ buttons to control numerous interior functions, in preference to distracting touchscreen prompts.

The Equinox’s greatest strength is its spaciousness and much of that comes down to its wheelbase.

See, the longer a car’s wheelbase the more room there is for the passengers inside. The  Equinox’s wheelbase is longer than most of its rivals (25mm longer than a CX-5’s) and that goes some way to explaining how, at 191cm tall, I can sit behind my driving position with plenty of knee room.

The longer wheelbase also means the rear wheelarches don’t cut far into the back doors, which allows for a wider aperture and easier access.

So, if you have young kids like me, they’ll find it easy to climb in, but if they’re really little the large opening will make it easy for you to put them into their car seats.

Headroom, even with the LTZ-V’s sunroof, is good in the back seats, too.

Cabin storage is excellent: the centre console bin is enormous, the door pockets are large; there are four cupholders (two in the back and two up front),

Even with all this extra room, however, the Equinox is only a five-seater SUV. Still, that leaves you with a large boot with cargo capacity of 846L when the rear row is up and 1798L with the second-row seats folded.

The Equinox has power outlets galore: three 12-volt sockets, a 230-volt power point; five USB ports (including one type C); and a wireless charging bay. That’s more outlets than any mid-sized SUV I’ve tested.

A flat floor in the second row, large windows and comfortable seats complete a well-appointed and practical cabin.

Really, the only reasons the Equinox doesn't score 10-out-of-10 here is the lack of a third-row seat, and sunshades or privacy glass for the rear windows.

Although it has a hefty 2655kg kerb weight, our test vehicle’s 3420kg GVM rating provides a useful 765kg of load capacity, which should comfortably absorb the combined weight of up to seven occupants and light luggage. Or with the third row of seating folded, five occupants and heavier luggage.

It’s also rated to tow up to 3500kg of braked trailer and with its sizeable 6920kg GCM (or how much weight it can legally carry and tow at the same time) it can carry its maximum load while towing its maximum trailer weight.

So, that’s commendable practicality, given it would be well suited to owners that need to tow large caravans, boat trailers, horse floats etc in style without having to compromise much (if at all) on either passenger numbers or luggage capacity.

Driver and front passenger space and comfort is exceptional, as you’d expect. Storage includes a large glovebox plus a bottle holder and bin in each door. The front of the centre console has two USB-C ports, wireless phone charging and heated cupholders, while the rear of the console has a large storage box with a third USB-C port and padded lid that doubles as a comfy elbow rest.

Even tall passengers in the second row of seating enjoy spacious comfort, given I’m 186cm and with the driver’s seat set in my position I have ample knee clearance, foot room and head space.

However, the central passenger must contend with a transmission tunnel in the floor and shoulder room would be squeezy for three large adults, which is okay for short trips but a maximum of two would be ideal for longer journeys.

The rear of the centre console also treats second-row passengers to a pair of USB-C ports, adjustable air-vents and a control panel that allows independent climate adjustment.

There’s also a large bin/bottle holder in each door plus storage nets on each front seat backrest. The centre seat backrest folds flat to allow long items (skis etc) to slot between the outer backrests. And it also serves as a fold-down armrest, containing two cupholders and a lidded slimline compartment that’s ideal for hidden phone storage.

The third row is uncommonly spacious, even for tall people, with padded armrests on each side containing cup holders and twin USB-C ports.

The carpeted rear luggage area has four load-anchorage points, a first aid kit and 12v socket. With the third-row seats upright it offers 355 litres of load volume, which increases to 1350 litres with the third row folded and 2400 litres (or 2.4 cubic metres) with both the second and third rows folded.

Our Polar White test vehicle, which is the base grade in the three-tiered GLS range, comes standard with a 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine with 48V mild hybrid technology, nine-speed automatic transmission, permanent all-wheel drive and active air suspension for a list price of $189,100.

This pricing is higher than comparative entry-level grades offered by the two marques which dominate sales leadership in this segment, comprising the BMW X7 xDrive40d M Sport ($179,500) and Lexus LX500d AWD ($158,700).

The GLS450d’s standard features include 22-inch AMG alloy wheels with Continental 325/40 R22 tyres and a collapsible spare, ‘AMG Line’ body styling enhancements, aluminium-look illuminated side-steps with non-slip rubber studs, multi-beam LED headlights and more.

Step inside the keyless interior and you’ll find ‘Hey Mercedes’ voice activation, fingerprint scanner (which memorises individual comfort settings for up to seven users), panoramic sunroof, heat-insulating dark-tinted rear privacy glass and the ‘Premium Plus Package’ that includes heating/cooling for the front seats, heated rear seats, head-up display, separate front/rear climate control zones, heated cupholders and more.

There’s also a concert hall-like Burmester surround sound system controlled by a central touchscreen with digital radio and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, plus wireless phone charging, multifunction Nappa leather sports steering wheel and USB ports front and rear.

Driver assistance includes the ‘Parking Package’ (360-degree camera, active parking assist and transparent bonnet), ‘Mirror Package’ (auto-dipping rear-view mirror and electric folding door mirrors with puddle lamp projection of the brand logo) and ‘Driver Assistance Package’ (blind-spot assist, exit warning, speed sign recognition, lane keeping etc) all included as standard equipment.

Of course, Mercedes-Benz offers numerous extra-cost options including a 3500kg towing package plus interior, exterior, suspension and wheel enhancements (including Nappa leather trim) for those who want their GLS with the lot, which can easily push the list price beyond $200K.

The Equinox LTZ-V has the most powerful engine in the Equinox line-up – a 188kW/353Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine.

The only other grade in the line-up to have this engine is LTZ, although it doesn’t have the LTZ-V’s all-wheel drive system.

It’s a powerful engine, especially considering that it’s just a four cylinder. Only a bit more than a decade ago V8s were making less power.

The nine-speed automatic transmission shifts slowly, but I found it to be a smooth unit at all speeds.

The GLS450d comes standard with a 3.0-litre turbocharged inline six-cylinder diesel producing 270kW of power at 4000rpm and 750Nm of torque between 1350-2800rpm.

This is paired with a 48V mild-hybrid system comprising a 48-volt battery (charged by regenerative braking) and an integrated starter-generator which provides both seamless engine stop-start and up to 15kW/200Nm of extra power and torque during acceleration.

A nine-speed torque converter automatic provides the choice of manual shifting using the steering wheel-mounted paddles, along with several selectable drive modes.

The active all-wheel-drive system continuously adjusts the engine’s torque delivery between front and rear axles (and individual wheels as needed) to maintain optimum traction and handling.

Holden says the Equinox LTZ-V all-wheel drive with the 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder and nine-speed auto transmission will use 8.4L/100km over a combination of open and urban roads.

My fuel test covered 131.6km, with 65km of that being city and suburban roads, while 66.6km were on the motorway almost entirely at 110km/h.

At the end of that I brimmed the tank with 19.13L of 95 RON premium unleaded which works out to be 14.5L/100km.

The trip computer disagreed and reported 13.3L/100km. Either way that’s a thirsty mid-sized SUV and it hadn’t even been carrying a full load of people or cargo.

Mercedes-Benz claims official combined consumption of 7.8L/100km and the dash display was showing 9.0 when we stopped to refuel at the completion of our 368km test, which included the usual mix of suburban, city and highway driving with up to five passengers at times and light luggage.

Our own figure, calculated from fuel bowser and tripmeter readings, was close at 9.5 which is outstanding sub-10L/100km economy for such a substantial vehicle in mostly metropolitan use. Therefore, based on our own consumption figure, you could expect a real-world driving range of around 950km from its 90-litre diesel tank.

The Equinox’s handling isn’t superb and the ride could be more comfortable, but this is an SUV with far more good points than bad.

Such as impressive power from that four cylinder engine, and an all-wheel drive system which provides excellent traction, to the good visibility, and a stack of safety features.

But while I can excuse the average dynamics, the 12.7m turning circle proved annoying in car parks. Not knowing you can make U-turns in the space provided is an anxiety you should only experience when driving a bus.

Five-point turns aside, the LTZ-V is easy to drive, with accurate steering providing good road feel.

It’s an enjoyable vehicle to drive, with multiple power adjustments for the seat and steering wheel combined with a large left footrest which provide supreme driver comfort and support.

The powerful and responsive turbocharged six-cylinder diesel and nine-speed auto are well suited to this application. The engine’s ample torque provides spirited acceleration from standing starts, taking only six seconds to reach triple-digit speeds.

This drivetrain would be well suited to heavy towing duties, given the 48V mild-hybrid system can contribute an extra 200Nm (in addition to the engine’s 750Nm), which raises the total theoretical torque output to almost 1000Nm.

The active air suspension provides a wonderfully cushioned ride that floats over bumpy roads, while maintaining excellent handling response and surprising agility. These commendable chassis dynamics, combined with the powerful and responsive drivetrain, makes the vehicle feel smaller and lighter than its dimensions and kerb weight would suggest.

Overall, it’s difficult to fault from a driver’s perspective, with the only exception being the voice activation function. This is often triggered by words or phrases other than ‘Hey Mercedes’ resulting in regular interruption of conversations. This needs some fine tuning.

The GLS does not have an ANCAP rating as it’s yet to be tested, but comes standard with a suite of passive and active safety features including nine airbags, auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection and junction assist, blind-spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition, head-up display, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keeping, adaptive cruise control with ‘distance assist’ (autonomously brakes/accelerates in heavy traffic), front/rear parking sensors, 360-degree camera and more.

There’s also two ISOFIX and three top-tether child seat anchorages in the second row, plus two more of each in the third.

The Holden Equinox is covered by a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty. At the time this review was published Holden was offering seven years’ free scheduled servicing.

But normally, the Equinox is covered by a capped price servicing program which recommends servicing annually or every 12,000km and costs $259 for the first visit, $339 for the second, $259 for the third, $339 for the fourth and $349 for the fifth.

So, how will servicing work after Holden closes down? In Holden’s February 17, 2020, announcement that the company will cease trading by 2021 it said that it would support Australian and New Zealand customers in honouring all existing warranties and guarantees, while providing servicing and spare parts for at least 10 years. The current seven-year free servicing offer will also be honoured.

The GLS comes with a five-years/unlimited km warranty (better than BMW and Lexus) and five years of roadside assistance. Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/25,000km whichever occurs first.

Mercedes-Benz offers capped-price pre-paid servicing packages with three, four or five-year terms. For example, the total upfront cost of the minimum three-year term is $4090, or an average of $1363 per service.