2018 Gmc Sierra 2500 on 2040-cars

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2021 GMC Sierra 1500 Review | More towing, same truck

The 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 are close siblings, and they’re getting closer every year. One of the SierraÂ’s previous standout features, the Multi-Pro tailgate, can now be found on the Silverado for 2021, providing even fewer reasons to choose the GMC instead of the Chevy. Really, if youÂ’re looking at the more modest SLE and SLT models, the choice between the two largely depends on styling preference. The Sierra Denali is a slightly different story, as its available adaptive suspension is exclusive to GMC and notably improves both the ride and handling.  Of course, it still can't match the Ram 1500 in either regard, plus the Denali cabin continues to be a rather half-hearted attempt at luxury. Especially considering the genuinely high-lux offerings of Ram and Ford. The gap isn't so huge between the Sierra's lower trim levels and its non-Chevy competitors, but the cabin's design, quality and functionality still leave something to be desired. True, that often isn't a priority for truck buyers, but the Sierra isn't superior in enough other ways to balance it out. It's a capable truck with a compelling variety of powertrains, but it generally just doesn't go that extra mile beyond the competition as well as its Silverado sibling. What's new for 2021? Changes for 2021 are mostly equipment-related, but there were some vital towing and pricing changes made for the new year, too. All 2021 Sierra 1500s come with a suite of new towing tech detailed here. New technologies include a trailer length indicator, jack-knife alert, trailer backup guidelines, and camera enhancements that include a rear side view and cargo bed view. GMC expanded availability of the Multi-Pro tailgate, now allowing folks who opt for the lower SLE and Elevation trims to option it. The AT4 adds new Goodyear Wrangler Territory all-terrain tires and an off-road high-clearance step. Diesel buyers will be delighted to hear that GMC has lowered the price by $1,500 to $995, and raised the trailering capacity by 1,900 pounds to a more competitive 9,300. Maximum towing for the 2.7-liter turbo-four-cylinder is also up by 2,300 pounds to 9,200 pounds. GMC says the increase for the diesel is due to “better-than-expected rear axle durability,” and the four-cylinder is up because GM found the engine possesses “better-than-expected cooling performance.” What's the interior and in-car technology like?

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.

2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV Second Drive Review: Moab made easy

MOAB, Utah — The title of our First Drive of the 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV included the phrase, "It's big, but this elephant can dance." The truck earned that compliment after a day of squeezing through San Francisco lanes and the slightly-more-commodious back roads in Napa Valley. But an SUV can't be called a supertruck without equivalent mastery on dirt, so GMC led a posse of media to Moab, Utah to run the Hummer's favorite stomping grounds. What happens when you subtract 20 inches of overall length and nine inches of wheelbase from a megafauna pickup? You find the dancing doesn't stop where the pavement ends. Allowed to roam Moab's challenging terrain — and ample room — the SUV is more than ready to do the Hokey Pokey and turn itself around. Admittedly, we knew this from our First Drive of the Hummer SUT two years ago, also performed among Moab's red rocks and red dust. The two variants share the same tricks, and GMC engineers chose Moab for prototype development, so there was no question of successfully navigating the trails. The SUV's simply nimbler about than the SUT. Clearance angles are better all over. Compared to the SUT, the SUV's 49.6-degree approach angle is just 0.1 better, but the 49-degree departure angle is 10.6 degrees better, and the breakover angle is 2.2 degrees better. Having four-wheel steer to rotate the SUV's shorter wheelbase shrinks the already tiny turning circle by 1.7 feet, to 35.4 feet. That's only four feet wider than a BMW i3, but 14 feet more compact than a GMC Sierra Crew Cab with the Short Box. And there are 'only' 15 standard cameras on the SUV, one shy of the 16 cameras in the SUT; the pickup adds an angle on the cargo bed the SUV doesn't have. Our 3X trim packed three motors producing a combined 830 horsepower and 1,200 pound-feet of torque. The $9,995 Extreme Off-Road Package threw on rock sliders with integrated steps that can support 1.5 times the Hummer's weight, full underbody skid plating, two additional underbody cameras front and rear, an electronically locking mechanical front differential for the single motor on the front, a virtual rear differential (programming that makes the two rear motors behave like a locked diff), heavy-duty ball spline half shafts, tow hooks and 18-inch black wheels on 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler Mud-Terrain tires.