[mdh4psu]

Good Day To ALL,

It might be me or GM along with Ed Whitacre might have had some over-inflated EPA MPG (32-mpg as broad brushed over mass media OR 29-mpg with my AWD ;D) estimates to boost sales and compete against the somewhat crippled Toyota line. I have 350 miles on my 2011 Terrain SLT-1 I4-Cylinder and am only averaging 20-mpg having my finger firmly engaging the ECO-nomy mode button.

I actually think this button is linked through OnStar and provides extra dividends to Mr. Whitacre’s incentive plan with each push instead of providing more miles per gallon. I am not overly aggressive on the pedal and drive 50-miles RT for work with about 75% being interstate. Please let me know this sarcasm isn’t actually true with other I4 owners and look forward to your feedback!!

ECO = Ed's Cash Option

 

[SuperMat64]

I'm getting little better than that with my AWD V6...

I would go see the dealer with that, you could have a problem.

There are another post about poor mileage related to the high pressure fuel pump failure...

Good Day To ALL,

It might be me or GM along with Ed Whitacre might have had some over-inflated EPA MPG's (32-mpg's as broad brushed over mass media) estimates to boost sales and compete against the somewhat crippled Toyota line. I have 350 miles on my 2011 Terrain SLT-1 I4-Cylinder and am only averaging 20-mpg having my finger firmly engaging the ECO-nomy mode button.

I actually think this button is linked through OnStar and provides extra dividends to Mr. Whitacre’s incentive plan with each push instead of providing more miles per gallon. I am not overly aggressive on the pedal and drive 50-miles RT for work with about 75% being interstate. Please let me know this sarcasm isn’t actually true with other I4 owners and look forward to your feedback!!

ECO = Ed's Cash Option

 

[RSchleder]

As I stated on another post earlier , I just returned from a 2000 mile round trip and got 23.7 mpg in my V6 Terrain. I'm happy with that and really like our new suv crossover. I should mention that there were no mountains involved with our route.

 

[Guest]

20mpg sounds bad and I'd take it to the dealer to be looked at.

Whatever EPA-MPG any manufacturer posts on any vehicle out there as a general rule of thumb add at least 5-10% if you're a little old granny and 10-25% for the rest of us average Joe's.

 

[GuntherCam]

I am not overly aggressive on the pedal and drive 50-miles RT for work with about 75% being interstate. Please let me know this sarcasm isn’t actually true with other I4 owners and look forward to your feedback!!

No offense, but your first post made to a forum is a complaint that smells of troll.

FWIW, if you drive an LA, Chicago, Atlanta or (insert big city name here) interstate system during the rush hours I would bet you could get worse (i.e. 14-15mpg) than 20mpg; if you do live in a very hilly or metro area, 20mpg is good in that environ on a fresh (350 mile) engine. One of our friend's has a car-nut friend who bought a Terrain (SLT2, *AWD*, 4cyl). At ~3000 miles he is regularly logging 27mpg interstate via the DIC with an actual tank-fill-to-tank-fill measurement of 24-25mpg driving the hills of Birmingham, AL during their rather modest rush hour. They took a trip to Hilton Head Island and saw 29mpg (tank fill to tank fill) and rave about the fuel economy. That's with AWD.

In comparison, my neighbor has a Mini Cooper and gets 21-24mpg on the interstate. It's pathetic until you take into account rush hour driving where she MIGHT reach a hair-raising speed of 25mph for a few hundred feet before stopping and starting all over again. You don't even want to think about how awful my mpg is in my huge SUV when I need to take it on my 60mi round trip rush hour commute, LOL.

It's the getting-to and going-from interstate driving that kills fuel economy. Remember, when you are idling you are getting ZERO mpg during that idle time. ;D

 

[bballr4567]

350 miles?? Give it time to break in. These DI motors take around 10k miles to start to produce the best MPG. There is also a nice bump up in HP. I can feel it when I get on the go pedal in my I4 powered Terrain. Not much but its there.

Forgot to say we have right at 8k on ours.

 

[RSchleder]

I totally agree with bballr4567, my gas mileage and hp/torque has significantly improved as the engine gets miles on it. I'm just over 6k miles at this point and it's a totally different vehicle than it was when I picked it up.

 

[sculax89]

I have a 2011 I4 FWD SLT-1 terrain with about 500 miles on it. I too have been experiencing average ~20mpg with it. Much of that comes from me running the car in my driveway while configuring everything. Even still, i have started to notice very slight improvements in mpg with every 200 miles or so of driving. As stated earlier, the DI engines do need that proper break in time to achieve full performance and estimate mpg.

 

[cottonseed]

42k on a AWD I4 when I drive 55-60mph highway I get around 30-31 mpg

 

[auxano]

I4 FWD - 28 combined city/suburban for me which surprised me. I did drop to 27 in the heat of the summer with the A/C on all the time. For 1 tank of gas I drove like a crazy man to see the MPG, it dropped to 24. Just before buying the unit I was concerned about what my MPG would be because I saw others were having the same issues back in Feb.

My highest average just under 30 on a long highway trip.

 

[TerrainKamchi]

Just a quick note / observation.... I just reset my avg fuel computer when coming out of a gas station, and was driving approx. 3 minutes when I hit traffic. As soon as I stopped, I watched the avg fuel mileage start dropping precipitously. That is when I had my aha moment... this thing is calculating at all times... even when stopped... so the reading we get, unless always moving on the highway, will be lower than what you are hoping to get. I then got on the highway, reset the computer, and got over 28mpg on a car with 700 miles on it, and driving 65+ mph in a hilly part of my state (NW New Jersey is very hilly). I have just switched over to synthetic at 1000 miles, and am confident that I will be getting my 29-30mpg on the highway + - Once again I learn to not believe everything I read, including my cars computer!! I hope this helps...

 

[sculax89]

Just a quick note / observation.... I just reset my avg fuel computer when coming out of a gas station, and was driving approx. 3 minutes when I hit traffic. As soon as I stopped, I watched the avg fuel mileage start dropping precipitously. That is when I had my aha moment... this thing is calculating at all times... even when stopped... so the reading we get, unless always moving on the highway, will be lower than what you are hoping to get. I then got on the highway, reset the computer, and got over 28mpg on a car with 700 miles on it, and driving 65+ mph in a hilly part of my state (NW New Jersey is very hilly). I have just switched over to synthetic at 1000 miles, and am confident that I will be getting my 29-30mpg on the highway + - Once again I learn to not believe everything I read, including my cars computer!! I hope this helps...

This is true. when i first got my SLT-1 I4 FWD, i ran it in my driveway while playing with all the settings for probably about 2-3 hours. After driving about 50 miles the next day, the average fuel economy was significantly lower, around 15mpg, because of the idle running for that time.

 

[gearhead]

Just a quick note / observation.... I just reset my avg fuel computer when coming out of a gas station, and was driving approx. 3 minutes when I hit traffic. As soon as I stopped, I watched the avg fuel mileage start dropping precipitously. That is when I had my aha moment... this thing is calculating at all times... even when stopped.[/color].. so the reading we get, unless always moving on the highway, will be lower than what you are hoping to get. I then got on the highway, reset the computer, and got over 28mpg on a car with 700 miles on it, and driving 65+ mph in a hilly part of my state (NW New Jersey is very hilly). I have just switched over to synthetic at 1000 miles, and am confident that I will be getting my 29-30mpg on the highway + - Once again I learn to not believe everything I read, including my cars computer!! I hope this helps...

Well that's good to know!!!
One would think they'd have it programmed to calculate when moving, i.e. when the tranny is in "Drive" or "Manual"!
I haven't reset the Average MPG since we got the vehicle 11,000 km ago and it's reading 17.2 MPG.
I will reset it this week and see if anything's improved.
Approx. 90-95% suburban driving (i.e. mostly city-like, with average speed of 32 km/h (that's when the wife's driving, I tend to drive a little "harder" LOL!).

Great info, thanks!

 

[Mrmidnite2]

My Dealer mechanic told me that you are supposed to RESET this computer item every time you fill up......that way you get the average on the tank of fuel you are currently using.....not an average over several tanks, or more....definitely not over 11000 kms!!!

I have the 4 cyl engine...

I keep records of every fill up..best reading so far is 7.5 litres per 100 kms (combined city and highway) and the worst is 9.8 litres per 100 kms also combination of City and Highway driving.....

For those using imperial measurements thats 32.5 mpg for the first reading above and 28.7 mpg for the second reading...My Terrain just rolled over 16000 kms today......so it is now well "broken in" and I'll be switching to synthetic oil at the next oil change...if it wasn't for the cold weather about to hit us, that synthetic oil should improve mileage by maybe 1 or 2 miles per gallon....but with frigid winter weather just a month or so away, I expect mileage to drop as temperature drop...:-(

 

[Carver]

Reminder to check tire pressure as low PSI will decrease your MPG. With cooler temps rolling in tire PSI will drop a bit. When I took delivery of my Nox, the PSI was on tires was as much as 4 lbs below the min when checked the next a.m.

 

[TerrainKamchi]

Just drove from NE New Jersey to Annapolis, MD, and going 75mph with the cruise control on, and going up / down hills, I was getting 26.8mpg. I then threw on the AC as it got to be over 80 degrees F, and my mileage dropped to 25.2.... still going 75mph, and I also stopped to make the bladder gladder.

There is a lot of potential with this car... and GMC definitely has the right idea... but I also hope they know it is more than being about mileage, and there is the experience of the ride as well. Please please please GM, if you are listening... make this thing quieter on the highways! I have crappy hearing, and can hear way to much stuff coming from outside at 65mph+.

 

[bballr4567]

Seriously? Too loud at 65+? I think you might be hearing things! lol jp jp This is one of, if not the quiestest pair of SUV/CUVs on the road until you get in the luxury brands. The side windows being insulated is great, triple door seals and so on. If its too loud, throw a blanket in the back that is pretty thick. Just put it flat on the floor and itll absorb some of the road noise as well.

 

[Roesterman]

The cabin is so quiet that im sure he is hearing his elevated heatbeat at that speed! ;D

 

[rwterrain]

There is a lot of potential with this car... and GMC definitely has the right idea... but I also hope they know it is more than being about mileage, and there is the experience of the ride as well. Please please please GM, if you are listening... make this thing quieter on the highways! I have crappy hearing, and can hear way to much stuff coming from outside at 65mph+.

I agree. With some types of pavement and large cracks in the road, the terrain seems quite loud. Compared to my 02 chevy pickup, at highway speeds the terrain seems louder in the cabin, but at slower city driving speeds the terrain seems to be quieter. I suspect it has to do with the type of tires that are on these vehicles. The low provile 18 tires don't seem to help. I also used to have a 2008 taurus that was quieter at highway speeds than the terrain but was horribly noisier in around town driving. The taurus also had about the same size tires as the terrain. Has anyone compared the 17" wheels versus the 18" wheels on these vehicles for road noise?

On the mileage side I have been quite pleased on our I4 AWD Terrain. We can consistantly get better than the EPA Ratings. City we get 20-23 and Highway 27.5-34. Can't beat that.

 

[IceMan]

After driving a 4 cyl Equinox with 17" tires...we then test drove a 6 cyl with 18" tires. The tire clomp and road noise(on the same road)was quite noticable to us with the 18s. My wife drove the Equinox with the 18s again as I sat in the back seat where the noise difference seemed much more apparent. Enough so..that it seemed to defeat the purpose of the new insulated quiet cabin. Part of the deciding factor to go with the 17s for us.