Quick Drive: 2018 GMC Terrain

The compact crossover segment is red hot and GMC was smart to redesign their crossover at just the right time. We recently sampled the redesigned Terrain and came away quite impressed.

With a thorough redesign inside and out, the Terrain looks sleeker, smoother, and more modern than the boxier previous generation. Under the hood of our tester was a 2.0L turbo engine, the most powerful of the three different turbocharged four-cylinder engines available.

We found the engine to be quite peppy and smooth, generating lots of power early on and shuffling through the nine transmission gears smoothly. Speaking of gears, the gear selector which GMC calls Electronic Precision Shift, is now a row of buttons and pull switches mounted vertically on the center console. We quickly concluded that we absolutely love them. They respond instantly and  work beautifully when completing a three-point turn.

The inside is gorgeous, with brown leather, well-padded seats, a boatload of technology and very comfortable seating for five adults. The rear seat offers generous legroom.

All the latest infotainment gadgets are on board, but we were disappointed to see automatic cruise control missing, a feature that’s standard on some competitors or at the very least offered. We’ll bet it’s coming very soon.

Overall, the Terrain feels like a solid, well-engineered crossover with a smooth ride and well-calibrated steering feel. We were thoroughly impressed.