I had the extreme pleasure to spend the last few days up in Traverse City with the whole crew from GMC trying out the new 2013 Terrain Denali. Being that I was able to attend an earlier Winter Driving event back in December with GMC and the 2012 Terrain, I was excited to see the new extras that GMC had in store for the 2013 and the new Denali line.
First of all, I have to say that I have not drove a Denali line vehicle in the past and prior to doing my research, I would have to say that I would have said, “what does Denali actually mean”. I know that this may sound a bit naïve, but that was my reality. I now know that the Denali line is GMC’s premier collection and has a very distinct body type, look and feel. After driving the vehicle, I can also see how this vehicle lives up to the premier status, as it is such a smooth ride and it is full of a ton of fun electronic toys that any guy would just dream of owning.
As a parent, I am looking for style, yes, but more so I am looking for comfort and space, for both the kids and for me (as our family has a ton of “stuff”. I first noticed that the Terrain has some great cargo room behind the 2nd row fold down seats. Also, the second row cam be moved up an additional 8 inches to make room for so much more! Also, being able to move the seats up would have made my life a lot easier when my kids were younger and I was trying to reach them and give them a bottle, have the seats that much closer would have made my wife and my lives that much easier. The seats do fold down so I can store items and lug all of the sports equipment for baseball or other items without any issue!
I was also impressed with the standard safety features on the GMC Terrain, with front and side airbags, as well as collision alert and passenger assist you will be alerted when you start to go out of your lane with an audible tone (Lane Departure Warning) as well as a very loud noise if you are in danger of 
causing a collision.(Forward Collision Alert) There also was a blind spot alert on the side mirrors (Side Blind Zone Alert) that I always find helpful. One final piece of technology that I have not seen on any other car was something called Rear Cross Traffic which is a technology that uses radar to let you know when you are backing up whether someone else is approaching your vehicle.
As a shorter person, I also appreciated the fact that the vehicle had fully adjustable seats, so not only could I go forward to where I needed to be, but I also could raise the seat to a level where I could see out without any issue. The only issue that I found with the car in regards to sight lines was when I was sitting in the car and I had a passenger with me, I had to lean forward to see to my right on sharp turns (where I had to stop).
The body of the vehicle itself was sleek and had the distinct Denali look. I loved the chrome grill and the aerodynamic look of the vehicle itself. Inside of the vehicle, the Terrain had an amazing array of technological toys that anyone would love. I was happy to find that it was very easy to connect my phone to the car and even pair the Pandora on my phone to have some great tunes throughout the entire time that I was driving if I wanted. On top of this you could customize the display so that you could have up to your top eight items that you want displayed. You also could only have as many or as few as you wanted too.
All-in-all, I was quite impressed and for the starting price, you get a very cool ride!
If you are looking for a mid-sized SUV that offers great comfort and style, look no further than the 2013 Terrain Denali.
All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site’s Disclaimer for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.
————————————————————————-
New to the Divadom or to Dad of Divas Reviews?
Please Subscribe to my RSS Feed! Subscribe in a reader
Questions?Drop me a line at dadofdivas@gmail.com
GMC ( @thisisgmc )Terrain Denali Offers Style, Comfort and Quality Experience #GMCUpNorth http://t.co/Hb44gcCs via @dadofdivas