2026 GMC Terrain Denali AWD Review & Test Drive

It’s apparent that the lines between many two-row and three-row crossovers have been blurred. Such burring takes place for vehicle segments that the GMC Terrain and Acadia split. Through the years, the GMC Terrain has grown in many literal ways to help blur the line between its larger three-row Acadia sibling, and that can be a good thing considering the Terrain now brings back a Denali trim offering some of those welcomed luxury aspects to the compact SUV.

While sharing its platform with the Chevrolet Equinox, the new GMC Terrain feels more impressive and substantial, and the Denali trim for the 2026 model year helps with that. There’s a lot about the Terrain Denali that lives up to the Denali trim name, but most of that plushness ends abruptly with the powertrain as the 1.5-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder just doesn’t cut the grey poupon (mustard).

Performance and Driving Character

The engine is brash and mostly unrefined, with its garbled coarse sound and underwhelming power output at 175 horsepower and 203 lb-ft of torque. GMC does something different from the front-wheel-drive models to give all-wheel-drive models an 8-speed automatic transmission over a continuously variable unit found in the FWD models. Such a move is welcomed in our view, as is the additional torque found in AWD models over the FWD’s 184 lb-ft. The extra bit of torque not only helps get the big-looking compact crossover up to speed quicker, but it is able to tow more than the FWD’s 800 lbs, increasing towing to 1,500 lbs.

When you’re not towing, you will need to give the GMC Terrain Denali about 8 seconds to hit 60 mph, not exactly a stunner here. Though I do give GM’s engineers praise to mask the lackluster engine qualities with a pleasant ride characteristic, one that lives up to the Denali name. Even with the larger wheel-well-filling 20-inch wheels and fixed-rate dampers, the ride quality is good and compliant. I welcomed the nicely tuned steering and buttoned-down feeling and somewhat decent handling. Unfortunately, there is no Sport drive mode, which may have otherwise added a bit too much weight in the steering effort.

Fuel Economy

The GMC Terrain Denali AWD delivers decent fuel economy, but at the sacrifice of some needed extra power. The EPA estimates of 24 mpg city, 26 mpg highway, and 25 mpg combined are surprisingly consistent with the turbo 4-cylinder. Filling the 15.6-gallon fuel tank with regular unleaded will give you a highway cruising range of about 436 miles.

Interior and Technology

In my opinion, the interior of the new GMC Terrain Denali overshadows the faults of its lackluster engine. Here, there’s an inviting space with premium touches that can proudly wear the Denali embroidering. The front ventilated and heated seats are comfy and an improvement over outgoing years, with rather aggressive Safety Alert Seat vibrations. The rear seating area is on par with its competition in terms of size, but out back, you do get to enjoy heated outboard seats, thanks to the Denali theme properly carrying through the cabin. Cargo space is on the short side when put up against some competitors at 29.8 cubic feet with the rear seatbacks in place or as much as 63.5 cubic feet with them folded.

One of the highlights of the interior is the new table-style 15-inch infotainment touchscreen with Google built-in technology. As a last hurrah, GM still includes wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration, which beautifully fit the large screen in a couple of different display options. The screen is a nice touch to the Terrain as it adds even more of a premium touch to the cabin, as does the 11-inch digital instrument cluster that’s configurable to display the Google-powered map or load up the mapping from your Apple CarPlay-connected iPhone, where I was able to enjoy Waze in the cluster.

Also welcoming for the interior is the right number of physical buttons/toggles, including physical switches for the dual-zone automatic climate control temperature adjustments. The screen makes for good use of other functions such as the 360-degree camera system and customizing apps and function display areas.

Safety

GMC brings all expected active safety features to the table, such as lane departure warning/lane keep assist, forward collision warning/emergency braking, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-path detection, reverse emergency braking, front pedestrian detection, surround camera system, and the digital review mirror.

Pricing

GMC keeps things civil to play nicely with competitors in the pricing arena, with a base price $30,100 before any fees or options. Climbing through a series of three trim levels (Elevation FWD, AT4 AWD, and Denali AWD), the Terrain Denali lands at a price that starts from $43,595, and for my test vehicle, including a $1,395 destination charge and $2,815 in options, you’ll look to pay a total of $45,310.

Read More