1971 Gmc Sierra Grande on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2018 GMC Sierra Denali can help you tow without breaking a sweat

Towing a trailer once meant that only those who possessed certain knowledge would be able to go fishing, tow a race car or pull a camper safely. For me, it took four long years of practice working a job behind the wheel of a jacked-up Ford F-250, hauling tons upon tons of mowing equipment for my local parks department, to become proficient. Just how far things have come since then became evident after a recent trip to Utah with GMC, in which we used the half-ton Sierra Denali to tow a set of Polaris side-by-sides through the state. Modern safety technology and a suite of electronic aids make towing simple enough that anyone with a driver's license and something to haul can do it. This revelation came behind the leather-wrapped and heated steering wheel of GMC's outgoing 2018 Sierra Denali. Sitting in the plush, heated and cooled captain's chair, I could barely feel the 6,000 pounds I was towing behind me. Even GMC's smallest full-size truck engine, a 5.3-liter V8 generating 355 horsepower and 383 lb-ft of torque, felt like overkill for what used to amount to a heavy load. With Utah's pristine landscape, the plush confines of the cabin and the uneventful nature of modern towing, mile after mile just streamed by at highway speeds without incident (or excitement). When we finally reached our destination a few hours later, one of GMC's representatives who had chosen to sit in the rear of the cab asked me what I thought about the drive. I pondered for a few minutes and answered with this: "Modern pickup trucks have removed nearly every skill-based variable once associated with towing. I could drive this truck and trailer confidently with just one finger." Consider the near overabundance of towing-assistance systems in the GMC Sierra Denali that I piloted through Utah. Let's start with the most basic of towing skills — something that's now been relegated to the annals of history: reversing a pickup to meet the trailer's hitch. Once upon a time, this required knowing a truck's dimensions and understanding proximity, as well as having a keen eye, a steady foot for both the gas and the brake and the patience to get it right. Now, though, pickups such as the Sierra Denali offer customers a trailer reverse camera system that helps the driver align truck to hitch with pinpoint accuracy.

Editors' Picks June 2022 | Acura MDX and the revamped GMC Sierra

This month of Editors' Picks include a pair of excellent vehicles vying for a spot at the top of their respective classes. GM has long disappointed us with its latest generation of Silverado and Sierra pickups, but the 2022 update is a turning point. Plus, Acura rounds out its MDX lineup with a Type S model, and it's enough to earn an Editors' Pick. In case you missed our previous Editors' Picks posts, here’s a quick refresher on whatÂ’s going on here. We rate all the new cars we drive with a 1-10 score. Cars that are exemplary in their respective segments get EditorsÂ’ Pick status. Those are the ones weÂ’d recommend to our friends, family and anybody whoÂ’s curious and asks the question. The list that youÂ’ll find below consists of every car we rated in June that earned an EditorsÂ’ Pick. 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 2022 GMC Sierra Denali Ultimate View 44 Photos Quick take: GM fixes the GMC Sierra's biggest flaw this year with a new interior. Plus, it gains the AT4X trim for more off-road prowess and keeps all that was good from before. Score: 8.0 What it competes with: Ford F-150, Ram 1500, Toyota Tundra, Nissan Titan, Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Pros: Top-notch luxury interior, stout capability, wide range of great powertrains Cons: Ride is flinty/rough, looks that divide From the editors: Road Test Editor Zac Palmer — "It really depends on what trim level you spring for with the Sierra. Buy the Denali Ultimate, and the interior is just as good as the competition. If you're not going all out on luxury features, though, at least get the diesel. It's the smoothest operating diesel engine out there, and it's also efficient. This is one great truck when you set it up in the ideal configurations." Senior Editor James Riswick — "The GMC Sierra Denali interior has gone from "They just didn't try" to "They tried harder than everyone else." The Denali Ultimate's design, detailing and materials are particularly impressive. If you want a luxury truck, this delivers." In-depth analysis: 2022 GMC Sierra Review | GM's 'premium truck' is actually now premium   2022 Acura MDX 2022 Acura MDX Advance View 23 Photos Quick take: The MDX is one of the best luxury bargains in the three-row class. It has great looks, a sumptuous and sporty interior and even offers a Type S performance variant.

GMC could have used Jeep's prized grille design on its born-again Hummer

General Motors confirmed it's bringing the Hummer nameplate back on an electric, GMC-badged pickup by publishing a dark photo of its front end. The battery-powered drivetrain under the sheetmetal represents a tectonic shift, but we noticed another flagrant break with tradition: it wears six slot-like inserts instead of seven like on every previous Hummer and countless Jeeps. Adding an extra slot wouldn't have landed GMC in hot water. The seven-slot grille has historically been associated with Jeep, and the company proved it's willing to go to significant lengths to ensure another automaker — especially one it perceives as a rival — doesn't use it. Parent company Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) bitterly sued Mahindra over the Roxor's design, including its five-slot grille, and won in 2019, forcing the Indian firm to unveil a redesigned side-by-side for the 2020 model year. And yet, stylists would have very likely been able to get away with it on the Hummer. While General Motors owns Hummer, the brand traces its ancestry to 1970, when American Motors Corporation (AMC) purchased Jeep from Kaiser and changed the name of its General Products Division to AM General Corp. The division manufactured the rear-wheel drive, CJ-based DJ for the United States Postal Service and began developing the Humvee in 1979. Jeep and AM General went their separate ways when Renault began investing in AMC. Foreign companies weren't allowed to own defense contractors, and AMC had more to gain by gradually selling out to Renault than by keeping AM General, so it divested the division to LTV Corporation in 1983. Humvee production started shortly after, but no one protested its seven-slot grille because there was no risk of it stealing sales from a comparable Jeep model. It was manufactured exclusively for the U.S. Army, and civilian sales weren't planned. H2SUV View 4 Photos The original civilian Hummer released in 1992 must have raised more than a few eyebrows but, here again, it didn't directly compete with one of Jeep's off-roaders, so no one complained. It was huge, correspondingly expensive, and its portal axles made the YJ-generation Wrangler wet its pants. It's the H2 concept (pictured above) unveiled at the 2000 Detroit Auto Show that set off alarm bells in Auburn Hills. DaimlerChrysler's lawyers counted the slots in the chrome-plated insert that dominated its front end and shuddered when they reached seven.