GM's Thetas could be so much more

[ocnblu]

Terrain? As long as that terrain is no more challenging than a pebble in the asphalt. The Skoda Yeti offers a variety of engines and transmissions, and in the 4WD model, offers differential locks, for piece of mind even if you're only on an uneven sand trail back to your favorite beach spot.

Terrain has about a $13,000 price differential between base 4 cylinder FWD models and loaded V6 AWD models, yet it offers not much variety in drivetrain options, nor is it even pretending to be useful offroad.

To me GMC is wasting an opportunity to be professional grade here. I like the looks of the Terrain, even if it is a bit too low to the ground. A vehicle sold here in the states with the Terrain's looks and the Yeti's drivetrain and chassis could be a true leader in the CUV class.

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[PONTIAC06]

I think the Yeti is cool, but at the same time, I wonder how many Americans really want to decide between multiple diesels and gasoline engines. I think that even fewer would choose a manual transmission. I would like the options and I'm sure alot of other people here would, but we aren't typical consumers, and in reality it could end up being a waste of development money...

[PurdueGuy]

The Terrain is only 6mm closer to the ground. For perspective, a pencil is about 7mm thick. Locking diffs would be sweet, though. I think most Terrains are going to people who would much rather the money they're spending be going into creature comforts than off-road capabilities, but it would be nice if they had a model that aimed more at some off-road abilities.

[Satty]

How many CUV buyers know what a locking differential is?

[GMTruckGuy74]

The Terrain is only 6mm closer to the ground. For perspective, a pencil is about 7mm thick. Locking diffs would be sweet, though. I think most Terrains are going to people who would much rather the money they're spending be going into creature comforts than off-road capabilities, but it would be nice if they had a model that aimed more at some off-road abilities.

This is where the Hummer H3 line-up could come into play for GMC, and the Hx Concept would be a great start. Toyota brought back the FJ Cruiser name for their modern-day off-roader, the Hx could be the modern-day GMC Jimmy

[ocnblu]

Unless you want a Jeep, there is a serious dearth of affordable, off-road capable SUVs left on the market.

The Yeti, to me, combines the old-school that I pine for with the new and modern car-based CUV.

I have no doubt the Subaru Outback and Forester would both go through deeper mud and snow than the Terrain. Sad.

Edited March 28, 2010 by ocnblu

[PurdueGuy]

I have no doubt the Subaru Outback and Forester would both go through deeper mud and snow than the Terrain. Sad.[/b]

The Outback not only has better ground clearance than the GMC, it has better than the Skoda as well. The Skoda strikes me as hardly an offroad beast. The only thing that makes it stand out in offroad ability above the terrain that I'm seeing is the locking diffs.

[Satty]

Unless you want a Jeep, there is a serious dearth of affordable, off-road capable SUVs left on the market.

Maybe, just maybe, its because there isn't a large enough market to support them, and the market there is for such a vehicle is pretty loyal to the Jeep name.

[PONTIAC06]

Maybe, just maybe, its because there isn't a large enough market to support them, and the market there is for such a vehicle is pretty loyal to the Jeep name.

I think it might be partly that, but I also think that if another automaker offered something in the class I'd consider it. I already know the front runner for replacing my Grand Cherokee is the 2011 Grand Cherokee, possibly a Toureg, or Pathfinder but those are more unlikely. If GM offered a midsize SUV (or even a CUV that has some real offroad prowess) I'd definitely consider it...

[FAPTurbo]

Wait, I could have sworn that there was another brand that used to offer vehicles with off-road credentials. I guess it wasn't a raging commercial success because I can't for the life of me remember it.

[ocnblu]

I wonder how that brand's sales compared, to, say, Land Rover's.

[Justin Bimmer]

I wonder how that brand's sales compared, to, say, Land Rover's.

I wonder what both of those brands business models were and why one of the brands was purchased and kept alive while the other brand couldn't even be dumped on the Chinese.

[ocnblu]

Political Correctness. Sacrificial Lamb to the Green Movement. Nothing less.

[vonVeezelsnider]

In an ideal world, GMC and/or Chevy should be making a more compact SUV as well, more or less the size of the Escape, that has that kind of trait as well... but I would venture to guess that they've looked at the business case for it and assumed that they couldn't effectively compete with the Jeeps.

[Camino LS6]

HX.

[CanadianBacon94]

To me GMC is wasting an opportunity to be professional grade here.

i dont think professional grade in this segment is intertwined with off road prowess, to me professional grade is being the very best in it's respective class, biggest inside, nice interior, comfy, lots of cargo room, good gas mileage and the like

besides i have never thought FWD-offroad

Edited April 15, 2010 by CanadianBacon94

[PurdueGuy]

i dont think professional grade in this segment is intertwined with off road prowess

I have to agree. I associate "professional grade" (in general) with excellent build quality, durability, good ergonomics, customer support. Some of the SUVs (CUVs) have been developed to be specialized to particular uses that are not off-road worthy, and that's fine. Is it fair to be upset at a company that supposedly builds professional grade saws just because their new tile saw model does a lousy job of cutting wood?

[ocnblu]

Somewhere in the GM lineup, I believe there should be a compact, affordable, capable, genuine SUV.

[GMTruckGuy74]

Somewhere in the GMC lineup, I believe there should be a compact, affordable, capable, genuine SUV.

[PurdueGuy]

I won't argue with that.

[CanadianBacon94]

Somewhere in the GM lineup, I believe there should be a compact, affordable, capable, genuine SUV.

now that i think about it they should have saved the GMT 360 Platform, and do a low cost redesign for GMC

[Drew Dowdell]

why not the Colorado/Canyon platform? The platform is inherently sound for off roading. The H3 was fairly capable if a bit heavy. Remake it as a Wrangler competitor and sell it at GMC...... along with the small truck refresh.

[CanadianBacon94]

why not the Colorado/Canyon platform? The platform is inherently sound for off roading. The H3 was fairly capable if a bit heavy. Remake it as a Wrangler competitor and sell it at GMC...... along with the small truck refresh.

i always thought they were a single uncompetitive platform.

but that was what i was thinking

Edited April 18, 2010 by CanadianBacon94

[Drew Dowdell]

No, the split in to two platform variants after the S-10/Sonoma died. I think the Colorado/Canyon/H3 were a variant of the GMT-360s but with enough differences to warrant their own platform code.

[ocnblu]

I'd love to see a new front clip, new interior (although I don't mind the current one), DI on the engines and 6 speed manual and auto transmissions in the GMT355 platform. Then a 2- and 4-door SUV would really sweeten the deal.

[pow]

Somewhere in the GM lineup, I believe there should be a compact, affordable, capable, genuine SUV.

Agreed. The Equinox/Terrain are too big and fussy. A unibody SUV can be simple, capable, and rugged too - Yeti, Forester, X-Trail, Patriot, etc.

[ocnblu]

"Fussy" is a good adjective to describe the pretty, but city-fied Equinox and Terrain. There's a whole lotta country between the Atlantic and Pacific... plus Alaska and Hawaii, so there's a bunch of locales where ppl need something simple, rugged and affordable. Such a GMT355-based SUV could EASILY sell well in Central and South America, Australia and Europe, too.

Edited April 18, 2010 by ocnblu

[Robert Hall]

"Fussy" is a good adjective to describe the pretty, but city-fied Equinox and Terrain. There's a whole lotta country between the Atlantic and Pacific... plus Alaska and Hawaii, so there's a bunch of locales where ppl need something simple, rugged and affordable. Such a GMT355-based SUV could EASILY sell well in Central and South America, Australia and Europe, too.

Something that is like a modern Jeep XJ Cherokee could do well, I think. The Liberty doesn't live up to the old Cherokee, IMHO...about the only thing in the NA market like it today is the Nissan Xterra. Something cheap, rugged and reliable.

Edited April 18, 2010 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[ocnblu]

When I see a beloved old '90s Cherokee parked next to a new Liberty, I'm like whoa. The Liberty is giant. The Cherokee was maneuverable, simple, rugged and reliable.