2022 Gmc Sierra 1500 K1500 Elevation on 2040-cars

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2022 GMC Sierra gets overhauled interior, new Denali Ultimate and AT4X

GMC Sierra's 2022 update is here, boasting a ground-up interior redesign, an updated Super Cruise package with trailering support, and two new trims aimed at very different buyers. While the GMC Sierra's bones are undeniably good, its interior has really held it back from our full-throated support in recent years. The pricier trims of the refreshed 2022 model may well erase those shortcomings entirely.  Hot on the heels of its revamped platform mate, the 2022 Chevrolet Silverado, the new Sierra arrives with a similar suite of upgrades, plus a few items that will remain exclusive to the fancy-pants Sierra for now, like Enhanced Super Cruise with available automatic lane-change and trailering mode. As with the Silverado, the Sierra's 2.7-liter four-cylinder gets an upgraded block and internals, allowing for a higher torque output (420 pound-feet), which means it makes even more torque than the 5.3-liter V8. Diesel models also enjoy some chassis upgrades that allow for the fitment of GMC's Max Tow package. That allows a diesel Sierra 1500 4x2 to handle 13,200 pounds and the 4x4 model to tow up to 13,000 even.  Still, the 2022 Sierra's most noteworthy improvements are to be found inside, and what better way to showcase an upgraded interior but with a new, range-topping luxury trim? Say hello to the 2022 GMC Sierra Denali Ultimate.  This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2022 GMC Sierra Denali Ultimate unveiled Denali represents a huge chunk of Sierra sales, and when your branding is based around upscale sophistication, you sure want to put your best foot forward at the top of the pricing structure. GMC wasn't quite there with the outgoing Sierra Denali, but the new Denali Ultimate may just be the ticket to one-upping the likes of the swanky Ram 1500 Limited.  This is the no-holds-barred, all-options-checked model that really makes GMC money. The 6.2L V8, 10-speed automatic and Super Cruise are standard on Denali Ultimate. All of the leather and wood elements visible here are real (seriously, you can touch them and everything). There's also a faux suede headliner, 16-way power-adjustable and massaging front seats, a 12-speaker Bose system and a 15-inch color HUD included.  GMC included several unique elements for Ultimate, including topographical maps and the latitude and longitude of Mount Denali formed into various interior trim pieces.

Junkyard Gem: 1973 GMC Sierra Grande Camper Special

Starting in the 1973 model year, General Motors introduced the "Rounded Line" family of C/K-series Chevrolet and GMC trucks, and sales of the pickup versions continued all the way through 1987. Nice examples of these trucks can sell for large money, but the junkyard teaches us that not all collectible vehicles are worth rescuing and fixing up. Here's a reinforcement of that lesson, courtesy of a first-year GMC C2500 Camper Special with the high-zoot Sierra Grande trim level, found in a self-service yard just outside of Denver, Colorado. I'm no GM truck expert, but I know enough to stay clear of the battles over what to call this pickup. Let's just say it's a three-quarter-ton, rear-wheel-drive third-gen C-Series with really cool badges. Yes, I bought this badge for my garage wall, and it was totally worth the $4.23. GM came up with the Camper Special package during the late 1960s, when removable pickup campers became popular, and for 1973 it included heavy-duty springs and a wiring harness made to plug into the connectors on slide-in truck campers. It also included woodsy-looking badges, but someone pried the ones off this truck before I could buy them. This may well have been a one-owner truck, because it still had original warranty paperwork inside. Here we see that it was purchased new on August 2, 1973 (which happens to be the day that George Brett got his very first hit in the big leagues) by a resident of Compton, California. Yes, that Compton. The build tag tells us that this Camper Special was born at the Fremont Assembly plant in California, which became the GM-Toyota NUMMI venture in 1984 and is now the Tesla Factory. I think most 1973 C/K pickups sold new in Colorado would have come from Pontiac Assembly in Michigan. There was a time, not many years ago, when a genuine 454-cubic-inch (that's 7.4 liters to those of you sweating under the oppressive weight of the French Empire's Measurement System) big-block Chevrolet engine would have been yanked out and purchased within hours of hitting the rows of a yard like this. These days, engine-swappers can get more power with less weight from any number of donor vehicles. If this engine is the original 454, it was rated at 240 horsepower and 355 pound-feet (down from 270 hp in 1972 due to emissions-related changes). This truck had a three-speed automatic transmission, like most optioned-up Detroit pickups of its era.

Meet Alex Archer, the engineer behind GM's power-sliding center console

In 2009, a GM manager complained to a 59-year-old GM technician about the hassle of retrieving items from a pickup truck bed after driving shifted the cargo. In two days, the tech had come up with the ideas that, ten years later, would debut as the MultiPro tailgate. The engineering teams kept the tailgate secret in part by hiding mock-ups in a locked storage closet in GM's Vehicle Engineering Center in Warren Michigan for two years. A piece in the Detroit Free Press reveals that another storage closet in Warren would play the same role in a different cloak-and-dagger operation, this time for the power-sliding center console in GM's new full-sized SUVs. During a meeting in early 2017, bosses gave the job of the console's creation to 24-year-old design release engineer Alex Archer, just two years out of Stanford University with a degree in engineering and product design.  This time, the catalyst for the feature was an internal GM think tank called co:lab, where employees suggest ideas. Execs gave Archer the task because "They needed someone willing to ask a lot of questions," her 36-month mandate to produce a six-way console that could be a standard cubby or a gaping maw able to swallow four gallon jugs or hide a secret compartment. Clearly, she succeeded. It took Archer and the team nine months to devise a prototype, another six months to get the green light for production. As with the tailgate, the team working on the console grew to include designers, production engineers, and suppliers. Archer, now 26, shepherded the process, and her name is on the patent. "It took a ton of people, I'm just somebody who stuck with it the whole time," she said. GM like her work well enough to produce the "Day in the Life" segment above, five months before the world would hear about the console. Archer's path to engineering was as unlikely as getting the job for the console. She had entered Stanford with plans to be a doctor. But an innovation class during her freshman year, and a sophomore summer spent helping her grandfather rebuild a 1937 MG engine recharted her course. Her grandfather told her, "You know, you could be an engineer for a car company." Consumer reaction to Archer's work won't be far off, the SUVs slated to hit dealerships soon. Meanwhile, she's busy on something that could be just as intense as the console: Restoring a 1955 Packard Clipper in her garage. Head to Freep to check out the story of Archer and the console. Related Video: