Not a car for every terrain

Naming a car Terrain conjures up images of toughness. It sounds like a vehicle equipped to tackle anything the road puts in its way, which in the case of GMC’s latest compact SUV is true of tarmac and rocky tracks, but anything more and it goes into meltdown.

I quickly discovered that sand is this car’s biggest enemy; it doesn’t know how to cope and proceeds to dig itself in, rather than glide over it. Granted, the car is an all-wheel drive and not a four-wheel drive, but even so I would expect more oomph from a GMC than the Terrain had to offer.

From the outside, the Terrain looks uninspiring. The wheels and metallic paint make the car pleasing on the eye, but there are virtually no distinguishing features on the body and the grill and huge headlights could have been more inventive.

Step inside and the seats are very comfortable, making long journeys more bearable. Even after a two-hour drive, I felt like I could have kept going, and the car’s great visibility added to the comfort factor. The handbrake is quirky thanks to its easy-to-grip oval-shape, which shows that there has been thought in the design aspect. Meanwhile, the double central compartment also helps, with a tray under the armrest for loose parking metre coins and a deeper box underneath to store sunglasses and CDs.

The control panel, while easy to navigate, does look clumsy however. There are too many buttons to control the radio and air conditioning, so it is much easier – and safer – to adjust the volume of your music from the remote controls on the steering wheel. However, the three circular air conditioning fans add a bit of fun to the dashboard and make it appear less two-dimensional.

As the newest member of the GMC family, the Terrain has a lot to live up to and while it looks good on paper – 3.2 litre, 223bhp and a top speed of 203kph – this does not translate so well into the drive.

GMC has a history in the Middle East. The 1973-91 Suburban went huge distances across deserts transporting families and livestock from one Bedu camp to another. But  the target market is now parents doing the school run and from its performance on the test drive I can see why.

Although it is a compact SUV, the space is deceptive from the outside. Passengers in the back have good legroom and the boot has ample capacity for a family-load of luggage or shopping, despite its narrow profile. This is something the designers are particularly proud of, as it does not take up any more room than a mid-size passenger car, making it easier to park outside busy malls.

And with a fuel efficiency of just 11.6 litres per 100km, it’s easy on the family budget too. Plus it cruises well at 120kph and high speeds do not faze it. But sometimes I wondered whether the car would make it to those top speeds in the first place.

Pulling onto the highway the car naturally drops down the gears to get more power, but in doing so it sounded like it was screaming at me to take my foot off the gas. It quietened down once it was back in top gear but it didn’t like the force I exerted to get it there. It only takes 8.8 seconds to reach 100kph, which is definitely commendable, however, it is much happier in a gentle driving mode around Jumeirah.

But as nippy as this car is on the emirate’s roads, it is the off-road tracks that prove it is not a pure city dweller. This car is a lot of fun when it is cruising over terrain it likes. No matter how big the rocks or uneven the road surface are, the Terrain glides over them with ease. And because it is not very wide, it can manoeuvre itself down ravines where other full-size SUVs would struggle. The only downside is how low the car is to the road, which makes some tracks a bit tricky because there is a risk of scraping the exhaust.

Its 223bhp is quite hefty for a car of this size and when coupled with its automatic ability to shift from front-wheel drive to a 50:50 front-to-rear axle ratio, it instantly has the extra power needed to haul itself up crevasses. This is also where the multiple suspension systems come into their own, helping it deliver a reasonably smooth ride on uneven surfaces.

At an entry price of just Dh88,000 (increasing to Dh118,000) the Terrain is competitive compared to others such as the Honda CRV, but it needs this to lure customers away from manufacturers who have already proved their status in this market.

As the only compact SUV in GMC’s fleet it is not a bad start, but a more powerful engine and a car that has four-by-four mode rather than  all-wheel drive would no doubt make it more appealing for residents of the UAE, who need the space but also have an infinity for desert driving.

But then again, perhaps this is why it is called Terrain and not All Terrain.