Pros

• Luxurious inside.
• The user interfaces for touchscreens are simple and easy to understand.

Cons

• Most of the time, the optional price costs more for the class.
• Gradually speed up.
• Some rivals have more space behind the back seat than this one.

The way the Terrain is driven. Unfortunately, the Terrain’s base engine isn’t powerful, the transmission is slow, and the powertrain is focused on saving fuel, so it can’t speed up quickly. Invoice Pricing found it took 9.3 seconds to reach 60 mph, which is very slow.

This SUV is better in some ways. It’s easy to stop because there is a strong connection between leg pressure and real stopping force. Even though the steering is slow and squishy, it weighs up great at highway speeds, making the car more stable and giving you more trust. The Terrain is strong, well-balanced, and good at keeping body roll in check on winding trails. Even though the Terrain isn’t fast, it stays stable and calm when going around corners at a reasonable speed.

How lovely is the place to be? The Terrain is often hit by low-impact shocks, vibrations, and jostling on surfaces that aren’t perfectly smooth, like roads with bumps. Tire and noise are limited to a soft, dull hum on most road surfaces. The front seats are challenging but supportive, and they stay in place well for long trips. The back seats, on the other hand, are flat and feel thick.

The controls are simple, except for the four air mode buttons that aren’t needed. The middle vertical vents, on the other hand, need to move air better. It’s great that the seats can heat just the cushions or both the cushions and the backs of the chairs.

How is the inside? The inside of the Terrain is beautiful and well-thought-out, but many buttons are in awkward places that can’t be avoided. The Terrain’s most annoyingly awkward communication interface is also its weakest point.

Most drivers and guests should be fine getting in and out because the doors and seatbacks are low and wide. There are also a lot of ways to change the front seats. However, taller drivers may need the steering wheel to extend further. Because the dash is steeply sloped, visibility is low, making it hard to tell where the front is. You can see what’s going on outside through the front windows, except the windows on the back.

How does the tech work? The optional Bose sound system in the Terrain has surprisingly strong bass and crystal clear sound. The mapping system is also straightforward to use. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard ways to connect your phone, and they’re easier to use than GMC’s software. Still, the old way of doing things works excellent for people who need to start using Apple or Android.

There is a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot option on the Terrain. Coverage is the same as a cell phone, but setting it up is easy. Some safety features, like forward impact warning and lane keeping assist, are annoying, but not too much.

What’s the deal with the storage? The Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 have more enormous trunks than the Terrain (63 cubic feet when the back seats are folded down). On the other hand, a front passenger seat that folds flat is a helpful feature that lets you carry longer things (surfers and campers, rejoice!). A motorized liftgate and a low liftover height make it easy to load goods. You can store your things in various containers, trays, and pockets.

And there is plenty of room for forward-facing seats. The child safety seat pins are easy to find and connect to. If the driver and guests keep an excellent forward posture, rear-facing seats work well. The Terrain has a top harness for the back seat but not for the middle seat.

What kind of fuel economy does it have? According to the EPA, the 1.5-liter Terrain with front-wheel drive gets 26 mpg on the highway and in the city. This is lower than what the best small SUVs are called. It reached 28.4 mpg on our mixed driving test route but only 22.4 mpg after 600 miles of driving. As these results show, it will take a light touch to meet the EPA’s standards.

Should you buy the Terrain? We don’t think the Terrain is worth the price because it needs to offer more value. Even though it looks strong and isn’t too expensive, competitors like the CR-V provide the same or better features and flexibility and a smoother, higher-quality ride. This type of product usually comes with a warranty.

The ground is all over the place. It looks good at first glance, thanks to its sleek design, sharp (and quiet) interior, and cutting-edge technology. However, for this price, it rides and moves worse than a car in this class should. The Terrain stays in the middle of the pack because it doesn’t stand out and isn’t very fun to drive.

We agree with the SLT. The interior is better than the base trim because it has leather seats and more features. You should buy the Pro Safety Plus option with adaptive cruise control and more driving assistance features.

GMC models of land

There are four different styles of the 2024 GMC Terrain: SLE, SLT, AT4, and Denali. They all have a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine with a nine-speed automatic gearbox that makes 175 hp and 203 lb-ft of torque. The SLE and SLT grades come with front-wheel drive as standard, and all-wheel drive can be added as an extra. Both the AT4 and the Denali come with all-wheel drive as standard.