Toyota Kluger VS Holden Equinox

The Kluger is vastly more practical than many of its rivals despite them also being large and seven seaters. 

That’s because the Kluger’s use of space inside is excellent for storage, luggage and people. There’s thoughtful practicality everywhere. 

Take the Kluger’s dashboard, which doesn’t eat into the cabin too much and has built-in shelves running the width from front passenger to driver. 

And the centre console box with its roller door opening that reveals a wireless phone charger and below that deck is a huge hidden space.

There are cupholders in all three rows and generously sized door pockets.

Legroom in the second row is excellent and I can sit behind my driving position even though I'm 189cm tall.   

I could sit in the third row, but my head touched the roof and my knees were getting friendly with the back of the seat in front. As with most third rows in SUVs they’re best suited for kids.

Along with the wireless phone charger there are seven USB ports (five up front and two in the second row).

Three-zone climate control means the second row can set their temperature (this comes on the GXL grade, too), and the Grande adds sun blinds and privacy glass to the rear windows.

The rear doors also open tall and wide making entry and exit easy.

The tailgate opens high so there's less chance of bumping your head and it’s the gesture type which means you use a kick motion to open if your hands are full.

Boot space is excellent. The cargo capacity with the third row folded flat is 552 litres and with the third row up its 421 litres.  

You'll find five seats aboard the medium-sized Equinox SUV, and there’s no third-row option available in this particular shape. The US-designed and Mexican-built Equinox presents well enough when you jump aboard, with plenty of subtle and not so subtle curves, creases and folds adorning the front of the cabin. 

The ergonomics in current Holdens aren’t quite as resolved as they once were, given that its cars are now plucked from other markets rather than being designed from the wheels up for local use. The Equinox, for example, is sold in several other markets and this does lead to knock-on ergonomic differences as GM attempts to create a one-size-fits-most profile. 

For example, the indicator and wiper stalks are awkwardly positioned behind the steering wheel. The steering wheel itself is oddly parallelogrammed in its profile, and its very thick rim makes it more difficult for small hands to get comfortable with it. 

The seats themselves are very short in the base, too, and don't offer a lot in the way of lateral support. They’re also mounted high in the Equinox, pushing drivers and passengers towards the roof, while the sunroof that's fitted to the LTZ-V drops the headlining down to uncomfortably low levels, both front and rear, for taller occupants.

Luggage space is an excellent 846 litres, which beats the CX-5, Tiguan, Nissan’s X-Trail and Mitsubishi’s Outlander.

Both front and rear seaters are treated to heated and vented seats, while the second row can be dropped with the tug on the lever in the boot area. However, we found it necessary to pull out the weirdly large centre seat headrest in order to get an almost-flat cargo area of some 1798 litres (or one large mountain bike with wheels on) to work with. 

Second rowers get a pair of USB ports and a 12-volt charging point, and even though there’s a 230v household socket in the rear of centre console, we couldn't actually make it work with an Australian-spec plug. 

The door pockets are very small, and the front doors can only hold bottles in reality. It’s a similar story for the rear. There's a map pocket behind the passenger seat, but not behind the driver. There are two cupholders in a centre fold-down armrest, and there are also ISOFIX baby seat mounts on the outside seats.

A space-saver spare wheel resides under the boot floor, under what has to be noted as quite poorly executed plastic trimming. 

When it comes to rear seat occupants, three can sit across the second row quite comfortably, although as mentioned, rear headroom is a little compromised for taller passengers thanks to the sunroof.