Review: 2010 GMC Terrain SLT2

The once mighty General Motors is trying to reinvent itself after a near-collapse. Part of their revival approach is to produce bread & butter cars which sell in large volumes such as pickup trucks, sedans and smaller cross-over utility vehicles which have become modern day stationwagons. I have recently spent a weekend with one of those cross-overs, a mildly equipped GMC Terrain.

First off, I don’t understand why GMC even exists. GM killed a number of its brands yet decided to keep the GMC brand, which offers blatantly re-badged Chevrolets.  The Terrain may be somewhat of an exception as all of its invisible bits are shared with the Chevy Equinox but the Terrain wears a distinctive sheet metal. I guess in theory the GMC brand is suppose to be a more premium brand than Chevy, but if that is the case, pickup trucks aside, where does that put Cadillac?

My Terrain was equipped with the 182-hp/172-lb-ft four cylinder engine. While those numbers seem impressive, the Terrain feels underpowered. There is little off-line power and highway passing comes with a lot of drama. The engine also makes all the wrong noises, even at idle. The insult to injury is the fact that on my 500-mile weekend I struggled to achieve 22-mpg; I’ve seen bigger V6-powered SUVs get a better number on a similar drive. I would bet that a V6 version of the Terrain would probably too have achieved similar economy while being more refined. Get the V6.

I was surprised by how nicely the Terrain handled. Chassis engineers did a good job there; in highway lane changes, ramps and quick maneuvers the terrain remained leveled and composed. Unfortunately, driving across Manhattan on 47^th Street was not as pleasant.  The ride was way too stiff and all bumps and potholes were transmitted to the inside.

The Terrain is interesting looking and I like the square front end but the fender flares are a bit much. It almost looks like a Hummer H3 from some angles but it’s fighting its proportions and car-based roots. The end result is that the Terrain looks a bit like a midget on steroids and no one will ever mistake it for anything else. Having said that, the Terrain is not ugly, it’s just different.

At first glance the interior looks very nice and comfortable. There are many storage areas and well placed cup-holders. I am not a fan of the sea-of-buttons dash design, which many manufactures seem to implement now, with Honda being their leader. In the Terrain the design is further flawed by having all kinds of buttons clustered together in the dash; HVAC, radio, heated seats, power door locks, and even hazard lights are all there in the same area. This could certainly be improved upon.

The Terrain does offer one significant (in my option) feature that is mostly absent in other cars of this class, and that is a sliding rear seat. This is handy when driving by yourself with a child; it allows you have them closer to you, within an arm’s reach. It also allows to maximize trunk space or offer generous rear seat legroom to passengers when slid all the way back. All SUVs should have this.

Other random likes and dislikes:

Likes: Rear view camera in mirror HVAC fan speed lowers itself when a BT phone call is placed Remote start Power tailgate with two height opening settings

Dislikes: No headrest for rear middle seat passenger No power tailgate button on the key Weak headlights Rear armrest cup-holders located in the middle of the armrest, unreachable by a kid sitting in a toddler seat.

Conclusion:

I ended up with mixed feels about this vehicle. One way to look at it that the Terrain is light-years ahead of the GMC Jimmy and Oldsmobile Bravada that my father-in-law used to own. Another way is to compare it to its main rival and sales leader, the Honda CR-V. All the dimension and performance numbers look pretty similar but similarly equipped the Honda comes in at almost four grand less. While the GMC may be ahead in gadgets but it falls short finish; Hondas just feel like they are screwed together better and have generally a nicer feel to everything from the radio knob to the sound of the engine.

I am a big supporter of General Motors and I really want to see them succeed and make quality products. However, that also makes me their critic and for the longest time I have been frustrated with the fact that most of their products are just good, whereas they could be great. Vehicles such as the Terrain are a step in the right direction but where they should be leading, they are merely becoming competitive.