Somebody Unknown

I've seen many dirt cheap 05 & 06 Equinox, some of which are in working order and rust free. I also know those years are known for horrible reliability specifically repeated head gasket failure is common. So I would like to know if there are any direct swaps that dont require an insane amount of wiring. If I could swap motor, trans, ecu, and harness or even less then that from an 08 or one of the reliable years I might become very interested. Another question I have is if I can find a decent 08 for cheap what kind of performance options will I have? Is turbo an option or should I just look at other platforms entirely? Anybody around here have 300+ horsepower launching in awd? I dont need quite that much but I am not interested in buying vehicles that are a dead end as far as performance mods are concerned. Thanks to anyone who responds in advance, I look forward to hearing from you guys.

ruley73

If you're looking for a vehicle to soup-up, the 2005-2009 Equinox isn't a good choice - regardless of year/engine/transmission. Installing a different engine in these vehicles will require extensive wiring mods and maybe even a SAFC depending on which engine you use. The Aisin transaxle used with the 3400 V6 is very reliable, but isn't designed to handle much more than the 250 HP. Aftermarket support is basically non-existent for this iteration of the Equinox. The 264 HP 3.6L V6 used in the 2008-2009 Sport models offers a substantial power upgrade. However, that engine and the 6-speed transmission it is mated to is plagued with major reliability issues.