I enjoyed reading your review, and I affirm your assertions on the Equinox.
The dealer gave me one as a loaner when my car was in for service for 6 days. I had a FWD 2019 Equinox LT with the 1.5l engine, and lane keep assist, blind spot alert, and the forward collision avoidance features. The Equinox had 441 miles on the odometer when I picked it up. It had around 900 by the time I returned it.
Having never been in an Equinox ever in my life, I was really impressed by the technology and the ergonomics of the vehicle. The power was anemic - no doubt - but the engine was really quiet, the shifts were smooth, and the gas mileage was impressive. I averaged 29.8mpg over the 6 days I had it. I reset the trip when I picked it up for my own knowledge and reset it each time I added gas.
Fun fact: You can turn OVERRIDE the Engine Stop feature quite easily: Place the gearshifter in the manual shifting position, press up on the shift button until you have selected gear 6, and the car will drive completely normal as if it were in D but not shut off at lights. Thankfully I discovered this on my first day of having the car, because Engine Stop drives me nuts.
All in all, I would recommend this vehicle too. I would consider it one day if they made a hybrid or plug-in hybrid version of it (sorry, my heart is in EV's). It was really nice.