For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Ford Edge have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The GMC Terrain doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Ford Edge are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The GMC Terrain doesn’t offer height-adjustable front seat belts.
The Ford Edge has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Terrain doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Edge has standard Post Collision Braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Terrain doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Edge. But it costs extra on the Terrain.
The Edge has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Terrain’s blind spot costs extra.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Edge has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Rear cross-path warning costs extra on the Terrain.
The Edge’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Terrain doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
The Ford Edge weighs 463 to 1066 pounds more than the GMC Terrain. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.
Both the Edge and the Terrain have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available front parking sensors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Ford Edge is safer than the GMC Terrain:
|
Edge |
Terrain |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
282 |
376 |
Chest Compression |
.4 inches |
.6 inches |
Neck Compression |
44 lbs. |
51 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
145/201 lbs. |
264/236 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Ford Edge is safer than the GMC Terrain:
|
Edge |
Terrain |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
84 |
109 |
Chest Movement |
1.1 inches |
1.1 inches |
Abdominal Force |
190 G’s |
195 G’s |
Hip Force |
192 lbs. |
357 lbs. |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
103 |
288 |
Spine Acceleration |
41 G’s |
55 G’s |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
257 |
377 |
Spine Acceleration |
38 G’s |
40 G’s |
Hip Force |
425 lbs. |
730 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its available headlight’s “Acceptable” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Edge the rating of “Top Pick” for 2021, a rating granted to only 136 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Terrain last would have qualified as a “Top Pick” in 2017.