One of the more controversial features on modern passenger cars, including those from General Motors, is engine stop/start. Now, however, engine stop/start critics will be happy to learn that the 2022 GMC Terrain comes equipped with a stop/start disable switch.
The engine stop/start disable switch on the 2022 GMC Terrain is tagged with RPO code ENL.
For those readers who may be unaware, the engine start/stop feature is intended to reduce the fuel consumption and emissions of internal combustion engines by automatically shutting down the engine when the vehicle in questions comes to a stop, such as a stoplight, when parked, or in heavy traffic. Once the driver removes their foot from the brake, the engine automatically restarts, allowing the vehicle to resume.
With the engine deactivated, the vehicle conserves fuel without idling, thus providing savings over the long haul. It’s estimated that vehicles equipped with automatic engine stop/start will provide upwards of 6 percent greater fuel efficiency in the city when compared to similarly equipped vehicles without the feature.
As GM Authority covered previously, most modern GM passenger vehicles are equipped with automatic engine stop/start. Despite the fuel savings, some owners claim that the feature is overly disruptive, causing a slight hesitation when resuming from a stop, while also increasing vibrations in the cabin as the engine restarts. With that in mind, some models now come with the option to turn the feature off, such as the Cadillac XT5, Chevrolet Blazer, and Chevy Equinox, while more intrepid owners have devised workarounds.
As a reminder, the 2022 GMC Terrain introduces a refresh for the nameplate. The Terrain was originally scheduled to receive a refresh for the 2021 model year, but as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the model update was pushed back to the 2022 model year.
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Comments
About time the lower case GM made a good decision.
Now if GMC would take away the push button shifter, I would buy a TERRAIN……………..
Maybe try it and you will like it. I at first didn’t think i would like it but its very nice and does work very good. No need for the shifter taking up space.
I’m curious if you really do have a terrain or if you just work for general motors I have a 20/20 terrain with this stupid push button shifter and this half-assed console which is completely designed by another engineering idiot at general motors, I’ll take the floor shifter or column shifter any day over the push buttons.
You change gears 3 times and get tons more space with the console shifter removed. It isn’t difficult to push the button. I have rented a few, took me maybe 3 times of driving it to get used to it. All vehicles should ditch the console shifter unless it is a sports car that quick shifts can be used but then again that’s what the paddles are for. I will take buttons or a dial over a stupid console shifter as the space can be utilized so much better. I prefer a column shift but the next generation trucks might go to a shifter stalk which would be fantastic. Part way between a column shifter with the freed up space in the console.
I love it! When you push to turn your engine off it shifts to park. Also like the buttons off the console.
Trust me you don’t want to buy one with these push buttons, they’re in an awkward spot and the console really is no more functional than it would be with a shifter, all of a sudden now push button transmissions are the thing put them in a place where you could just reach and touch it not we got to reach down.
Driven a few of them, for the two seconds you spend interacting with them and the few times is takes to learn and get comfortable it shouldn’t be a determent to buy one in anyway, should be a positive with the added space it frees up. The misses can put her purse there as opposed to behind her on the floor or in the next seat which take a turn or brake too quick and it then becomes out of reach.
How is it that the fuel savings is ESTIMATED to be UPWARDS of 6%? What! You cannot test his? Stop/Start is another annoyance to piss off drivers of good cars and trucks. Of course the electric crap-vehicles do not need stop start because they can always tow a diesel generator behind them in case they run out of charge.
No, basically the only fuel economy tests they are allowed to use are acknowledged to be inaccurate.
Legally, when they make a fuel mileage claim, it has to be based on the performance of an EPA standard drive cycle, or else they have to make a detailed disclaimer (16 CFR 259.4).
The drive cycle is a dynamometer test which specifies the exact speed versus time. The EPA city test was invented in 1975 and simulates NYC stop-and-go traffic over half an hour starting from a cold engine.
There’s no legally standardized test that accurately simulates the range of modern city driving, actual suburban driving, mixed highway-city driving, or driving after 30 minutes. EPA knows this and allows a fixed estimated improvement to CAFE fuel economy for certain features, including auto start-stop. That’s where the estimated claim comes from.
Because each vehicle, situation and scenario can change the amount, it is a ball park figure. They test it and it works which is why they put them on there, to what extent it works for you depends. Independent testing has that figure about spot on.
Jonathan, could you please provide a list of all GM vehicles that have a disable switch for the stop/start? I am specifically wondering which Buick models have the disable switch. Thank you!
My 2020 Enclave does not have a disable switch, but for the 6 months I’ve been driving it it has not shut off once.
Haven’t driven a 9 speed yet. Are you driving in L bumped up to 9?
No I always leave it in drive. In fact, one time driving through the city on a comfortable day I shut off the climate control, stereo, and any other things I thought would put load on the motor and it still wouldn’t shut off at stop lights, even if I was there for upwards of 2 mins. On an unrelated note, I’ve been seeing 21 city, 24 com, and 28 hwy in my AWD with the awd disabled. Way better than epa numbers, and no start stop. I don’t drive like a grandma either.
I have friends with a new Explorer and a new Highlander. Both have had issues where the cars shut off at stop lights and didn’t turn back on. It was only twice in the Ford and once in the Toyota out of a million shut offs, but enough to be concerning. I’m glad I’ll (seemingly) never have that problem in the Buick.
I really love the 9 spd transmission. It’s not a 0-60 rocket despite 310hp. It’s geared very close so you can cruise around town with 1/2” of pedal travel and it glides through the gears very smoothly, almost like a cvt. However, on the highway, if you put your foot down it drops several gears instantly (I think it can downshift multiple gears in one shift, it’s way too quick to go 9-8-7-6-5-4-3) and it absolutely flies.
Great start/stop button that 1.5 small tiny engine how much fuel can it possibly waste DONT care about buttons I would like the 2.0 l engine in the terrain a little more power would be nice for the new refresh Terrain. Gm listening to the customer base colours and buttons will make the decision easier to bad we ain’t buying a box of chocolates . Gm bring back 2.0 l engine
How am I supposed to read this? Sounds like you aren’t the demographic that can afford a new CUV with ramblings like that. Glad you and a small handful of others want that 2.0 as most shopping for it have zero clue or care. The current engine is right in the middle of the competition and very few offer a larger performance engine that isn’t a hybrid and that take rate is small and drives up the cost. I am sure they would gladly skip a few sales to those concerned about power in a compact CUV to save costs and increase the profits by not having to develop, build and test another engine. I am always for more power but not at the cost this concerns, especially in this market vehicle…
Very few offer a larger performance engine? Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Jeep and Ford all offer competing vehicles with a non-hybrid larger engine option. GM backed down from the competition when they stopped offering the 2.0L engine in the Terrain and Equinox. The 1.5L engine forces GM to compete more with the Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue, and Toyota RAV4. All of which have nicer interiors and more comprehensive option packages than the Equinox and Terrain.
The terrain will be a nice looking vehicle for the refresh 2022 but lacking a modern power plant like earlier terrain 18 19 20 bringing back a nice decent engine like the rest of gm line up and it’s import competition will only make the terrain a medioker go to vehicle really don’t think customer care about engine/start button for 2022 and cheesy HUD the designers could of put some thinking effort then a pop up piece of plastic really gm !!! What happened to professional grade !!
What happened to the English language? How is that legible? Why did you write two things back to back saying the same incoherent thing?
All good points made here, as the owner of a 2021 GMC Terrain (1.5 Turbo) I can attest to the less than stellar need for the “Start/Stop” engine feature. I had it on my 2018 Chevy Cruze and I was not entirely pleased with it, oh…after a while you tend to not pay that much attention to this device, but every now and then, it is disconcerting and even a little bothersome.
What GM should have done was to equip all of their vehicles from the “Start” (no pun intended) with this device and with the ability to defeat this if they so choose (like what’s coming in 2022) eliminating this sometimes bothersome device and at the very least provide some sort of knowledge on the gauge cluster (besides showing when it’s engaged) showing the increase in gas mileage that this device is providing when engaged….that way the owner could decide whether this device, while engaged and working is worth it or not.
As a side note, I did notice that when I engaged the AC in my Terrain, the “Start/Stop” device seemed to not work in the same way when I was running without the AC engaged. So maybe GM learned a few things from unhappy customers that when it’s hot or humid outside (living in SoCal we use the AC quite often) that they want a continued supply of cold air coming out of the AC Vents…and I also noted that the 2018 Cruze we owned did not do this, the “Start/Stop” device pretty much did whatever it was designed to do whether the AC was on or not…and that, at times was somewhat irritating!
Same thing when it came to “Active Cylinder Deactivation”, that should be able to be disengaged also at the discretion of the owner….if noting else, I believe that this would increase the life expectancy of the internal engine components over the years plus, any possible future warranty problems. The more complicated you make things in order to “save money or save the environment” (with good intentions of course) the more you open yourself to future mechanical problems and higher warranty cost plus….running the possibility of irritating the daylights out of current and future owners.
Just say’in….in my humble opinion eliminating these two components or at least making them “owner friendly” would go along way in making things both easier on the owners and less problematic for the manufactures.
GM gets Green Credits for Start/Stop. Not for disable.
How does cylinder deactivation wear out the engine? By suppressing combustion, you save wear.
By the way, cylinder deactivation has been on GM vehicles for 16 years now, it started in 2005. Diesels have had deceleration fuel cutoff since they started with electronic injection in the late 90s.
The lack of a kill switch for the Stop/Start feature is a deal killer for me and a lot of others. The lack of power is yet another issue but why isn’t GM lobbying against CAFE Standards that are killing more people than the flu? These flimsy cracker boxes are unsafe.
“The lack of a kill switch for the Stop/Start feature is a deal killer for me and a few others others.”
Fixed that for you, most shopping for a CUV are like KIM below, never really know it is off or on and know about it. So don’t try and make a mountain out of a mole hill.
Unsafe? These new CUV’s are far from unsafe, care to explain? All the crumple zones, high strength steel, saftey technologies to prevent crashes and air bags mean they are plenty safe. But I guess you are going to say a lack of power? Lack of power it self has probably never caused a wreck, it was the bonehead behind the wheel doing it and putting them in a situation that caused them to be unsafe. Please, your arguments are hilarious…
Lower case gm design team fails again. LOSE THE FLAP GRILLE CRAP. The would have been much nicer if you had moved the headlights all the way to the grille and left your silly looking plastic flap out of the vehicle. This has been a trend on your “not selling” Camaro. Hire someone who can design cars and you might be able to sell them. Geeeeeez.
Yet another reason I’m glad to drive 2000s vehicles
Don’t have to dick with that stupid stop start system
Now if gm could do an over the air update to turn it off on my 2020 GMC Sierra. That would be nice!
Not a fan of the new grille design – why the fangs on the bottom?
Where is the start/stop disable switch located on the 2022 Terrain?