You no longer need a crystal ball or a drinking buddy at GM to know how America’s next Chevrolets and Buicks are going to look. You just need to keep tabs on what’s happening in China, where the future designs and facelifts always seem to crop up first.
Take the Chevy Equinox, which in its current combustion-engined North American form is the kind of functional but bland SUV that does its job but is otherwise entirely forgettable. But last month, thanks to photos and information on China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology website, we learned that GM’s replacement for the now six-year old Equinox is a much more appealing SUV with a square jaw, tighter waste, fashionable split headlight design and a heap more attitude.
Related: New 2024 Chevrolet Equinox For China Looks A Lot Different (And Better) Than Ours
And that was just the regular Equinox. Now thanks to the same Chinese government website we’ve been granted a sneak look at the sportier RS version that turns up the aggression another notch. The RS cosmetic package appears to bring a new grille with corrugated-style horizontal bars and a silver-colored element to the lower bumper, and one of the cars pictured goes even further with a mean black grille surround and metal-effect rear bumper insert.
There are new wheels that are bigger (up to 19-in as seen in the images, though a data sheet lists 17s as standard) and finished in a mix of black and silver, a set of black rails on the roof, and the RS also gets a pair of incredibly wide, slim exhaust tailpipes. The changes aren’t huge but they’re definitely noticeable.
The RS’s wheelbase is obviously identical to the ordinary version’s at 107.5-in (2,730 mm), and a 183.5-in (4,661 mm) length means the sportier bumper adds just 0.3-in (8 mm) to the footprint. Those dimensions are also almost identical to those of the current U.S. Equinox, though the Chinese model is 2.4 inches (59 mm) wider and almost 2 inches (50 mm) taller, which should improve interior space.
Improving performance versus China’s base 2024 Equinox is a 33 percent hike in engine capacity. While the stock SUV contents itself with a 1.5 ICE motor rated at 170 hp (127 kW / 173 PS), the RS upgrades to a 2.0-liter inline four making 228 hp (170 kW / 231 PS). That lifts the top speed from 118 to 131 mph (190 to 210 km/h).
GM North America hasn’t confirmed that this new Chinese Equinox is the same version we’ll get in the U.S. and Canada when the current car is pensioned off. Chevy has already revealed the Equinox EV, which is an entirely different vehicle, but it seems unlikely that GM would abandon the ICE SUV market so don’t be surprised to see this car in U.S. showrooms for the 2025 model year.
