For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Buick Encore GX 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 seat belts.
The Buick Encore GX 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 Encore GX 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 Encore GX has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert, helping the driver avoid collisions. GMC charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Terrain.
Both the Encore GX and the Terrain have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, 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 around view monitors.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Buick Encore GX is safer than the GMC Terrain:
|
Encore GX |
Terrain |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Neck Stress |
190 lbs. |
190 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
83/261 lbs. |
363/349 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 Buick Encore GX is safer than the GMC Terrain:
|
Encore GX |
Terrain |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
91 |
109 |
Chest Movement |
1.1 inches |
1.1 inches |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
185 |
288 |
Spine Acceleration |
41 G’s |
55 G’s |
Hip Force |
517 lbs. |
630 lbs. |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
337 |
377 |
Spine Acceleration |
38 G’s |
40 G’s |
Hip Force |
591 lbs. |
730 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.