Holden Equinox vs Mahindra XUV700

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.

We love a car which subverts expectations, and for the most part, the XUV700 has managed to. It feels like the brand has leapt over a few steps when it comes to design, quality, and particularly drivability, which bodes well when you combine it with a bargain price, a good equipment list and solid packaging.

The question is: Does the Australian market have room for yet another value player in a space already so well occupied by Chinese newcomers? Only time will tell.

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.

The XUV700 is a clean-sheet design on an all-new platform and it shows. There are still echoes of the past in this SUVs bodywork, with the raised rear haunches and traditional Mahindra-shaped grille, but it feels like it’s taken a massive leap into the 21st century this time around.

It has a strong modern flavour and presence on the road, which doesn’t feel more than a generation behind like previous Mahindra offerings. Gone are the awkward curves and frumpy edges of its predecessors, and instead we’re welcomed by a more refined face, nipped and tucked rear with sporty touches, tough haunches and a contemporary overall look.

Inside the most dramatic upgrades have been deployed, including the impressive digital suite, seemingly decent software with a quick, responsive, and customisable instrument cluster, a new more attractive steering wheel, and a much smoother flow and coherency to design which we haven’t seen before from the Indian giant.

There are only a handful of areas, like the dorky elongated shifter, some hard plastics in the doors and atop the shapely dash, and the manual handbrake in the base car to remind you of its bargain price-point and origins.

It’s nice these attributes unite for an uncontroversial and modern overall feel, and quality is feeling on-par, but it’s also hardly original.

The headlights and steering wheel look like they could be worn by any Renault, the tail-lights look like they belong on a Nissan, and the dual-screen dash and door-mounted electric seat controls are clearly meant to emulate Mercedes.

Actually, one for the switchgear nerds, the function stalks are from the SsangYong parts bin, a holdover from when Mahindra owned the Korean automaker. Still, if you’re going to take inspiration, I can think of worse places to take it from, and it’s frankly remarkable all these pieces of inspiration fall together so well.

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.

Low-cost options in the mid-size SUV space usually get a bunch of basic stuff wrong. Laggy, ugly software, for example, is prevalent in the MG HS, while clumsy switchgear takes away from the Haval H6, and a particularly awkward driving position is notable in the LDV D90.

Mahindra’s XUV700 does not fall into these traps. The front seat feels spacious and airy, the seating position is high but not unsettling, and the thing which took me aback the most is the way everything works.

It’s a little annoying the base car gets no telescopic adjust and misses out on a second bottle holder because of the manual handbrake, but other than this, the ergonomics in the cabin are solid. A centre dial, for example, can be switched from navigation controls to function as a volume dial if desired, and there are plenty of shortcut buttons for the multimedia and the dual-zone climate making it a breeze to adjust things on the move.

For storage there is a large bottle holder and map pocket in each door, a large bottle holder (two in the case of the AX7L) in the centre, a bay under the climate unit good for phones and wallets (it is a wireless charging pad in the AX7L), and there’s a deep armrest console box between the front occupants.

The second row is also airy and spacious, with a nearly flat floor making even the centre position seemingly suitable for an adult. Behind my own seating position I had plenty of space at 182cm tall, and there are a set of adjustable air vents plus a slot for a phone, a USB-C charging outlet, and large bottle holders in the doors.

The third row? It’s not bad, but I’ve sat in better. The left-hand side second-row seat folds up and rolls forward, making access better than some of its rivals, but behind the second row my knees are hard up against the seat in front, and my head is touching the roof. There’s decent amenity; a bottle holder on each side and an adjustable air vent with a fan controller, but this is a space best left for kids.

Mahindra doesn’t have an official boot capacity number to give us yet, but predicts it will be over 700 litres given the dimensions. With the third-row folded it looks cavernous, but with it deployed you’ll be lucky to get a day bag in behind.

For those interested in towing, the XUV700 can tow a 1500kg braked trailer (750kg unbraked) and there’s halfway decent ground clearance, at 196mm.

This car has its work cut out for it because the precedent for Mahindra SUVs in Australia isn’t great.

Back in 2018, this car’s predecessor, the XUV500 arrived to lacklustre reviews despite its similar market positioning. Back then, low-cost alone wasn’t enough to crack Australia’s heated mid-size SUV market, but now Mahindra is promising its all-new generation product is different and ready for a more global audience.

The pricing for the XUV700 is immediately impressive. Starting at $36,990 drive-away for the entry-point AX7, this car is now officially Australia’s cheapest seven-seat SUV, and this hasn’t come at the expense of standard equipment.

The price includes 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, dual 10.25-inch screens for the multimedia and digital instruments, wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, synthetic leather interior trim, a six-way power adjustable driver’s seat, dual-zone climate control, push-start ignition, and even a panoramic sunroof.

Stepping up to the top-spec AX7L which commands a $3000 premium ($39,990 drive-away) adds some missing safety equipment like a blind spot view monitor, a more advanced adaptive cruise system (able to come to a full stop and re-start), as well as a 360-degree parking camera.

This version also scores electronically retracting door handles, a premium audio system, and a wireless phone charger.

Bizarrely, it also adds a seventh airbag for the driver’s knee and a telescopically adjustable steering column, and swaps out the manual lever handbrake for a digital switch.

These are things which would normally be expected as standard on many of its rivals, and it’s a shame to see safety items, particularly airbags, behind a paywall.

Regardless, the fact this car manages to significantly undercut established rivals like the entry-level seven-seat Nissan X-Trail, Mitsubishi Outlander, Honda CR-V and even the cut-price LDV D90, while providing similar equipment levels is pretty impressive.

There are no options for now bar several accessories. All five colour options are free, and Mahindra says there’s more to come in terms of spec levels and interior options if all goes well.

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.

There’s just one engine for the XUV700 for now, a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder designed in-house at Mahindra.

Power outputs are comparatively impressive at 147kW/380Nm, especially when lined up against the old 2.5-litre non-turbo units powering some rivals.

The power is channelled to the front wheels via a six-speed Aisin-sourced traditional torque converter automatic. For a keen driver this is preferable to a CVT or a dual-clutch, so this sits well with us.

Overseas there is also the option of a 2.2-litre turbo-diesel (136kW/450Nm) with all-wheel drive, but this is yet to materialise for the Australian market.

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.

Efficiency is officially rated at 8.3L/100km for both XUV700 grades, which is not bad but not great. Understandable for an SUV which weighs in excess of 1800kg powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine.

We didn’t pull an as-tested fuel number this time around as we were hopping in and out of different vehicles, so standby for a more detailed analysis when we have one for a week-long follow-up test.

The fuel tank comes in at 60 litres, for a theoretical range of roughly 723km.

Hoping to hold out for a hybrid? Don’t. Mahindra isn’t working on one. Look to its incoming fully-electric BE sub-brand instead.

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 good. Surprised? Me too.

The XUV700 is good to drive in a fundamental way which is not the case for its Chinese rivals. There’s no impending feel of understeer or clumsy dynamics on show. The XUV700 is controlled and solid on the road, with a surprising level of refinement in the cabin.

Visibility is plentiful, and while power from the turbo engine isn’t quite as urgent as the figures initially suggest, it’s more than enough for a family commuter. Even the six-speed transmission is smooth and unobtrusive, unlike many dual-clutch or CVT options in this space. There isn’t even any noisy engine surging, with the unit here feeling refined and distant.

It’s almost ready to duke it out with more established rivals, but there are still flaws. The steering, for example, is very light. This will make it easy to control in low-speed parking situations, but it lacks any kind of feel or feedback at speed.

The ride is comfortable, perfect for its family intentions. Mahindra utilises a multi-chamber system here to achieve unusually competent response over a host of different surfaces, especially rare for a vehicle at this price or in this category. Everything comes at a cost, though, and the cost of this system is a fair bit of body roll in the corners, and a bouncy nature over undulations. 

Fundamentally, though, this car is solid. Nothing proved this more than the brand letting us drive its family SUV on a track at speed. What seems like a silly stunt is an important vote of confidence in the way this car handles, because it’s at track speeds and conditions where all the ugly characteristics will come to the fore.

While it’s certainly no track hero, what was most impressive is despite its rolly suspension and ultra-light steering, there were no major red flags about this car which stood out. It’s solid, and Mahindra knows it. I’d dare MG or GWM to do the same with the HS or H6.

What does all this mean for you? The car has safe road holding and confident dynamics, as well as the comfort for your family. It’s not as razor-sharp as the Japanese or Korean competition, but it’s better than all of its low-cost rivals.

At least on paper, the XUV700 does well. Standard active equipment includes auto emergency braking (a first for the brand, which we were given the opportunity to test on a dummy - it definitely works), lane keep assist with lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, and traffic sign recognition.

Only the top-spec AX7L gets stop and go function for the adaptive cruise, a 360-degree parking camera suite, and a laggy low-framerate blind spot camera in place of an actual blind spot sensor system, the latter being the standard throughout the industry.

The side curtains extend all the way to the third row, although, oddly, the AX7L is the only one to get a seventh airbag (for the driver’s knee).

The verdict is out on this car’s actual crash performance until it secures an ANCAP rating, which it is yet to do.

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.

Seven years of warranty is a good start, and has Mahindra joining an increasingly large club of challenger brands which are following in the footsteps of Kia by offering above-average coverage in this department. Mahindra’s version only covers the first 150,000km of distance, but there’s seven-years of roadside assist, too.

At the time of writing, Mahindra was yet to land on service pricing. This could be the last piece of the puzzle for some buyers. The XUV700 needs to be serviced once every 12 months or 10,000km.