So we just completed an 800 or thereabouts mile road trip to the Smoky Mountains. This vehicle is amazingly comfortable for long trips. The sound system makes the ride enjoyable, we used Onstar turn by turn GPS navigation - excellent! The seats were uber comfy and the thing rode like a sedan, and the bigger wheels ate up the construction damaged pavement like a Caddy on glass. Another nice feature is that the 6 spd trans was at home in the hills as you enter Tennessee from Kentucky, and the manual gear selection for engine braking going back down was great too.
But this thing will also handle pretty well considering its moderately substantial girth. If anyone has ever taken the trip from Pigeon Forge to Cades Cove along the 441 (I think…), you know it gets pretty twisty and the rock walls can be literally on the edge of the shoulderless road. Face a rock wall switchback with a Turbo-Diesel dually coming at you, and you can find yourself wishing you had a sub-compact versus a mid sized crossover SUV in a hurry. But honestly the Terrain was rather sporty on the mountain road. It never made me nervous, it was very responsive, communicated VERY well what the road was doing underneath us, and was actually pretty fun to operate in the mountains. Put a set of summer tires on and dump the spare and other dead weight, and this thing might actually surprise some folks if there was a clock running.
I am very happy with how the vehicle behaved. We averaged 25.7 mpg, so we didnt do too bad on fuel. It had tons of room for our gear (myself, the missus, and our nephew). It was fun to drive and was comfortable to boot! A+ GMC, well done.
