Talking Cars 475: Driving the GMC Terrain

Main theme: In this podcast episode, we give our driving impressions of the redesigned 2025 GMC Terrain, which follows the new Chevrolet Equinox that went on sale in 2024. This compact SUV gets several significant upgrades, including a significant suite of advanced safety and driver assistance systems as standard equipment, including highway-speed automatic emergency braking, blind spot warning, and rear cross traffic warning, all of which were either optional or not available on the outgoing Terrain.

We’re also pleased that the new model has a conventional gear selector mounted on the steering column, which eliminates the terrible dash-mounted push-button gear design that we hated in the last version.

We did uncover issues with the Terrain’s day-to-day usability, such as the weird windshield wiper control and the tiny onscreen seat heater buttons.

Finally, we discuss how well it compares with other small SUVs from Honda, Subaru, and Toyota (to name a few) and give our personal picks of which one we’d buy.

Audience Questions
• No one wants to pay more than MSRP on a car. So, what should I be asking/doing to lower the price and seal the deal?

• My 2018 Honda Pilot six-speed is now on its third transmission, even though I did regular maintenance. I keep hearing from owners’ forums that Honda’s use of VCM (variable cylinder management) is having a negative effect on the torque converter and the transmission. Can you clear up for me how VCM works, and can it have a negative effect on the transmission?