The 2011 Honda CR-V.

The 2011 Chevrolet Equinox.

The 2011 Honda CR-V and 2011 Chevrolet Equinox are two of the major players in the small SUV segment. Offering great gas mileage combined with the spaciousness, height and all weather capability of SUVs, the 2011 Equinox and CR-V are both great suburban, rural or urban vehicles. Basically, both the CR-V and Equinox can do just about everything you’d ask of them, so the question is: which is better?

The 2011 Honda CR-V starts at $21,895 and the 2011 Chevy Equinox starts at $22,995, so the belief that an imported car necessarily costs more doesn’t hold true here. For the extra thousand dollar start price, the Equinox comes with a power driver’s seat, satellite radio and Onstar, but other than that, the starting features are basically identical.

The 2011 CR-V comes with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine rated at 21-mpg city and 28 mpg highway. The all-wheel drive model, which starts at $23,145, gets mileage ratings of 21 city and 27 highway. The 2011 Equinox with it’s own 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine gets 22-mpg city and 32-mpg highway. With all-wheel drive, which starts at $24,745, the Equinox gas mileage drops to 20 city and 29 highway miles per gallon. The CR-V engine makes 180-hp and 161 lb-ft of torque while the Equinox makes 182-hp and 172 lb-ft of torque.

Heated leather seats, bigger wheels, dual zone climate control, Bluetooth connectivity, navigation and sunroof are all available options on both the 2011 Honda CR-V and 2011 Chevy Equinox. The Equinox also has the option of parking assist and a rear seat DVD player, neither of which can be ordered on the CR-V.

2011 Honda CR-V Dashboard

2011 Chevrolet Equinox Dashboard.

Inside, both the CR-V and Equinox have plenty of room to hold just about whatever you need. Both have seating for five or over 60 cubic feet of cargo space. The 2011 CR-V and 2011 Equinox both have 40.9 inches of front headroom and 41 inches of front leg room. The 2011 CR-V has a slightly roomier front seat area with 55.9 inches of front hip room to the Equinox’s 54.6. In the back seat, the 2011 CR-V has 38.6 inches of head room, 38.5 inches of leg room and 54.6 inches of hip room. The 2011 Equinox has 39.2 inches of head room, 39.9 inches of leg room and 51.1 inches of hip room in the rear. With the rear seats in place, the 2011 CR-V has 35.7 cubic feet of cargo space and the 2011 Equinox has 31.4 cubic feet of cargo room. The 2011 Honda CR-V has 72.9 cubic feet of cargo room with the seats down, compared to 63.7 cubic feet of cargo space in the 2011 Chevrolet Equinox.

So despite their almost identical spec sheets, there are two areas where the CR-V wins and one where the Equinox does.  The Honda CR-V gives buyers 9 extra cubic feet of cargo room and costs about a thousand dollars less than the more fuel efficient Equinox, not taking into consideration Honda or Chevrolet sales incentives.