Carl Black Of Roswell News/Events Blog

Two premium upgrade options are new to the 2013 GMC Terrain: the Denali trim package and a 3.6L V-6 rated at 301 horsepower. Well, make that three options—you could get both.
There isn’t much subtlety to the Denali trim. The signature chrome grill is anything but shy, and exclusive 19” wheels accurately reflect the longing stares and dropped jaws of onlookers. Inside the cabin, contrast stitched leather with the embossed Denali logo and wood trim accents create a premium look and feel. Soft touch materials run throughout the dash and doors, with accent lighting showing off the meticulous details. Innovative safety features Forward Collision Alert, Lane Departure Warning, and Side Blind Zone Alert use small visual and audible cues to let you know where potential dangers are, giving you the time to react accordingly and keep the chrome unscathed. And Rear Cross Traffic Alert will let you know when a gaping onlooker creeps up for a closer look.

For an extra kick in engine power, The 3.6L V-6 is rated at 301 horsepower and manages 24 mpg on the highway. With 14 percent more horsepower and 22 percent more torque, noticeable gains in acceleration clearly set it apart from its 3.0L predecessor. The upgraded engine makes the Terrain Denali is capable of 6.7 second zero to sixty times. It’s equipped with Variable Valve Timing (VVT), perfect for high-power, low-speed situations like trailering or steep inclines. The Direct Injection system injects fuel at over 2000 psi, ensuring an even mixture in the compression chamber.
The GMC Terrain Denali the rugged crossover full of big ideas. The longest wheelbase in its class allows for the head room and leg room of a full size SUV, without the extra weight. MultiFlex seating slides 8 inches back for best-in-class rear passenger leg room, or all the way up for 31.6 cubic feet of cargo space. Folded down, the cargo space shoots up to 64 cubic feet, plenty of space for big boxes or bulky furniture.
While the Terrain comes nicely equipped from the factory (the sunroof is standard), there’s a certain beauty to adding premium features to professional grade. The 2013 GMC Terrain Denali has everything—power, capability, and luxury all in one.

The Denali has gone to the gym, bulked up, and demands that its big brothers Yukon and Sierra show a little more respect. With a more powerful 3.6L V6 engine and new luxury features, the Terrain Denali establishes its distinct place in the GMC family.

Its newfound strength doesn’t come at the expense of its efficiency. The new engine holds the same EPA-rated fuel economy as its predecessor at 24 highway mpg, but offers 14 percent more horsepower and 22 percent more torque. At just over 300 horsepower, the 2013 Terrain Denali has put on a bit of muscle. Yet fuel saving technology like direct injection and camshaft phasing show as much brains as brawn.

When it comes to luxury features, the Terrain Denali trim package picked up a few tricks you may not have seen yet. The signature badging embossed into the soft-touch leather seats and the illuminated badging in the door sill plates makes the interior unmistakably Denali. Smoked mahogany wood within the leather wrapped steering wheel and rich red stitching in the seats and console bring elegance and color to the cabin. Eight-way power driver and passenger seats maximize seating options and comfort. Best-in-class second row legroom allows passengers to enjoy independent, built in 8-inch seatback mounted screens. A simple touch of a button accesses 63.9 cubic feet of cargo space and the power to haul it when it’s full. That’s not to mention your own luxury electronics, in the form of the IntelliLink infotainment console. Featuring its own color touchscreen, this configurable software allows smartphone connectivity, radio via Pandora or Stitcher, and OnStar (a six month free trial is included). Its flush integration into the dash leaves control at your fingertips, or you can simply command it with your voice.

And did we mention the sunroof is standard?

The Terrain Denali’s safety features ensure you don’t hurt yourself when you go around flexing all that new extra muscle. All models include four-wheel disc brakes with StabiliTrak electronic stability control and traction control. Also included are six standard air bags, including seat-mounted side airbags. For the ultimate protection, we offer Forward Collision Alert, Lane Departure Warning, and Rear Park Assist in a new safety package available for 2013. These features provide visible and audible warnings that help watch your blind spots for you.

The real question is, how haven’t you upgraded yet?

Test drive the new Terrain Denali today. It’s ready to show off for you.

In the aftermath of July wildfires that burned 97,000 acres in the Western United States, disaster relief volunteer Dave Fagan traversed 3,500 miles of bulldozed fire lines and mountain trails across Colorado and Wyoming in a GMC Terrain. He experienced first-hand the small SUV’s capability.

“The Terrain really performed,” said Fagan. “When other vehicles seemed to have lost traction, the Terrain didn’t, and it had great maneuverability compared to what I saw from the vehicles I drove alongside. Plus, I was impressed by the fuel economy out there where there aren’t many gas stations.”

The Terrain 4-cylinder gets an EPA-estimated 22 city and 32 highway mpg. All-wheel drive models get an estimated 20 city and 29 highway mpg.

Fagan was also pleasantly surprised by some of Terrain’s features, including a standard Rear Vision Camera.

“On some narrow trails, there was only one way in and out. With tight space to turn around, the camera was very helpful. The Terrain also handled my many chargers, which made it a great mobile office.”

“I found it outstanding,” Fagan said of the Terrain provided by his organization. “It may be my next vehicle.”

He won’t be alone. The Terrain is on track for its best sales year ever in 2012. Year to date through August, sales are up more than 10 percent versus the same period a year ago.

Terrain was developed to deliver great on-road performance without sacrificing versatility, For the 2013 model year, the Terrain adds an optional new 301-horsepower, 3.6L V-6 engine for added performance to go along with its all-wheel drive and a 3,500-pound tow rating.

“Terrain’s smaller footprint that helps save weight and fuel also makes it more maneuverable on tight trails where adventurous customers might take their vehicles,” said GMC lead development engineer Essy Ipakchian. “We also developed Terrain’s standard StabiliTrak and optional all-wheel drive with different road conditions – rain, snow, rocks and mud – in mind.”

Every Terrain is equipped with technology designed for the steep grades Fagan encountered across the Rockies. Hill Start Assist holds brake pressure for 1.5 seconds to allow drivers time to press the accelerator without rolling back, while Automatic Grade Braking manages the transmission gear selection on declines, holding a lower gear to preserve the vehicle’s brakes.

The 2012 GMC Terrain smaller SUV features the industry’s first crash avoidance system that exclusively uses a single camera to help drivers avoid front-end and unsignalled lane departure crashes.

Terrain’s new active safety system uses a high-resolution digital camera mounted on the windshield ahead of the rearview mirror that looks for shapes of vehicles and lane markings. The system uses audible warnings and a high-mounted visual display to warn the driver if he or she is following another vehicle too closely, when a collision is imminent, or when departing a lane without signaling first.

According to National Automotive Sampling System estimates, rear-end crashes account for approximately 28 percent of the nearly 6 million police-reported incidents that occur annually. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration maintains that the majority of rear-end collisions involve driver inattention, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says forward collision warning systems have the potential to help prevent such crashes.

“Digital image sensors are used in just about everything from cameras to mobile phones to computers and this is making them a more-affordable alternative for use in vehicles,” said Raymond Kiefer, General Motors Technical Fellow for crash avoidance systems. “By combining a digital camera with state-of-the-art image processing algorithms, we’re able to estimate when a crash may be imminent.”

Terrain’s warning display contains green “vehicle ahead” and “lanes detected” icons, as well as flashing red “forward collision alert” and amber “lane departure warning” icons that are accompanied by warning chimes. Forward collision alert operates at speeds above 25 mph and warns a driver if they are following too closely or in imminent danger of a front-end crash.  When a collision is predicted to be imminent, vehicle brakes are pre-charged to help drivers quickly reach maximum braking.

The forward collision warning software examines each frame captured by the camera – about 14 frames per second – searching for shapes characteristic of vehicles. Detected vehicles are then checked over successive frames for changes in size for calculating time-to-collision. The system also uses speed, directional change, and how the accelerator and brake pedal have been applied to determine when to alert the driver.

In order to operate in varying visibility conditions, the system combines four separate exposures to create each high-resolution image for analysis. This is particularly useful at night when short exposures are needed to get clear images of light sources while long exposures are needed to detect shapes and textures. Night time target recognition is also enhanced by looking for pairs of lights moving together that indicate taillights. The system operates as long as the camera eye is unobstructed, such as by snow or mud.

In addition to searching for other vehicles, the image processor also looks for lane markings to provide lane departure alerts. Available at speeds above 35 mph, the lane departure warning icon shines green when lane markings are detected to indicate the system is active. If the vehicle drifts out of the lane without a turn signal, the lamp switches to flashing amber and is augmented by warning beeps.

The GM camera-based forward collision alert system is listed at the Safercar.gov website as a result of passing three track tests required by the NHTSA’s New Car Assessment Program.

“GM is committed to providing protection before, during and after a crash, but the best scenario is to avoid a collision in the first place, and this technology is designed to assist drivers for that purpose,” said Gay Kent, GM executive director of Vehicle Safety and Crashworthiness.

This dual-benefit crash avoidance system is available for $295.

About GMC

GMC has manufactured trucks since 1902, and is one of the industry’s healthiest brands. Innovation and engineering excellence is built into all GMC vehicles and the brand is evolving to offer more fuel-efficient trucks and crossovers, including the Terrain smaller SUV and Acadia crossover.  GMC is the only manufacturer to offer three full-size hybrid trucks with the Yukon, Yukon Denali SUVs and theSierra pickup. The new Sierra Heavy Duty pickups are the most capable and powerful trucks in the market.  Details on all GMC models are available at www.gmc.com, on Twitter at @thisisgmc or athttp://www.facebook.com/gmc.

With the summer travel season in full swing, owners of the GMC Terrain small SUV are prepared for low-stress road trips thanks to smart engineering and purposeful technology. Here are the top 10 reasons to consider the Terrain for your next adventure.

• Power: Terrain’s optional V-6 towing capacity of 3,500 pounds is unsurpassed in its class, and enough for many power boats, jet skis or small campers.
• Efficiency: With front-wheel drive and a standard 2.4L engine, Terrain’s estimated 32 highway mpg and 18.8-gallon fuel tank can cut down on fuel stops.
• Technology: A standard seven-inch Color Touch Radio offers quick music browsing and colorful album art. The screen also displays video from a standard Rear Vision Camera.
• Entertainment: Terrain’s available Rear Seat Entertainment uses dual seatback-mounted LCD screens that can each play a unique video, reducing sibling rivalry.
• Directions: Color Touch Navigation with traffic and weather brings an end to “Are we there yet?” and at $795, it’s half the price of similar systems from some competitors.
• Flexibility: Terrain’s MultiFlex rear seat slides up and back eight inches. Young children can be kept close, while teenagers can get the personal space they desire.
• Serenity: Triple door seals, laminated windshield and front side window glass, and available Active Noise Cancellation help keep Terrain quiet on highways.
• Safety: Forward Collision Alert and Lane Departure Warning keep an active eye on the road ahead but dollars in the customer’s pocket, since the system is just a $295 option.
• Adaptability: An available roof rack and power adjustable liftgate make loading gear in and onto the Terrain easy. The liftgate can be easily programmed to stop at any height.
• Security: Every Terrain comes standard with six months of OnStar’s Directions and Connections plan, including Automatic Crash Response and roadside assistance.

GMC has manufactured trucks since 1902, and is one of the industry’s healthiest brands. Innovation and engineering excellence is built into all GMC vehicles and the brand is evolving to offer more fuel-efficient trucks and crossovers, including the Terrain small SUV and Acadia crossover.  GMC is the only manufacturer to offer three full-size hybrid trucks with the Yukon, Yukon Denali SUVs and theSierra pickup. The Sierra Heavy Duty pickups are the most capable and powerful trucks in the market.  Details on all GMC models are available at http://www.gmc.com/, on Twitter at @thisisgmc or athttp://www.facebook.com/gmc.