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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.

2020 GMC Acadia AT4 Review | A soft-roader in steel-toed boots

For carmakers today, the perfect lineup would be focused almost entirely on trucks and crossovers, favoring profitability at the expense of diversity. Just look at FCA’s Ram and Jeep showrooms. In the General Motors portfolio, that brand is GMC, with not a car to be found in its lineup and several body-on-frame offerings meant to take a serious beating. It should be a license to print money. But a lineup of trucks and SUVs isnÂ’t enough. Some folks want the rough-and-tumble edge of an off-road vehicle, albeit one that can still credibly serve duty in the school pickup line. Enter the AT4 trim level, an off-road package that spans the gap between the GMC's upscale professional image and the off-road oriented buyer. The 2020 GMC Acadia AT4 is the latest member of the family AT4 slots in between the mid-grade SLT and the range-topping Denali, but simply saying itÂ’s the second-most expensive Acadia variant isnÂ’t really doing it justice. If the SLT trim is understated, and the Denali trim opulent, the AT4 trim promises ruggedness and adventure – even if it canÂ’t deliver it.  The Acadia is definitely a soft-roader and AT4 doesnÂ’t do much to change that – itÂ’s effectively an appearance package. It adds a unique grille, 17-inch wheels and AT4 badges — all blacked out — plus a set of Continental TerrainContact A/T tires engineered to offer a comfortable ride while still enabling some off-pavement excursions. There are several unique interior treatments as well, including “AT4” embroidery on the seats, regardless of whether you go with the base upholstery or the upgraded perforated leather ($1,000) that was added to our test vehicle. Note that we didnÂ’t mention anything beyond the small wheels and meaty tires that would actually make the AT4 any better off pavement. ThereÂ’s no extra ground clearance (it remains a meager 7.2 inches), low range 4x4 system or suspension enhancement to be found here. This would be a departure from other GMC AT4 models, including the Sierra 1500 and upcoming 2021 Yukon, which get extra ground clearance, underbody protection and a rugged suspension, but it won't be an outlier. The similarly soft-roading Terrain AT4 has already been announced.  Yet, off-road models tend to get hammered with on-road handling and ride quality criticism and here's where the Acadia AT4 being more of an appearance package pays off.

The 2017 GMC Yukon XL Denali: Not just for the fertile set

I have a sis whom I've nicknamed "The Vickster." She is a beautiful Amazon, 6'1 on a good day and is the mom to a singleton. So why would my sis need to own a GMC Yukon XL Denali when she doesn't have a brood? Well to this I say, is there a written rule somewhere that states behemoth SUV's must be solely purchased by, you know, school-run moms? I think not! Even though the 2017 GMC Yukon XL Denali is tanker-sized and can swallow up to nine passengers, it has road presence and supreme luxury to boot which is a real draw for not just the fertile set. The Yukon XL Denali is an in-your-face kind of vehicle, and it was all in mine. The monolith has a presence, there's no denying, and even though it is big from every angle, it is far from odious. The stately looking ride has nicely defined slabs of metal, boxy proportions that make you look as it glides down the highway. Giving the Yukon XL my front-to-back once over, I liked its imposing mesh grille, nicely placed chrome accents and badges, riveting upsized wheels, and attractive high-intensity discharge (HID) headlamps and LED rear tail lamps. Once I settled into the cavernous and swanky realm of leather and mellow accent lighting that makes up the Yukon XL's interior, I then realized why "The Vickster" opted for this vehicle. The SUV's interior design is not overdone, no excessive bling to the point of blindness! Tasteful appointments on the Yukon XL include soft-touch leathers, aluminum trim, wood inlays, La-Z-Boy comfy seating in the first two rows (2nd-row power-release fold-and-tumble bucket seats); and thankfully, the non-gizmos overkill command center has large and ergonomically comfy controls. Space for a leggy crew is more than ample in the first and second rows. The SUV's available power folding, third-row fold-flat seats, however, are not exactly cut out for those who have gone past middle school as the seating is less bolstered and a little too close to the floor. Loved the wide and cushy center console that is not only spacious enough for hanging folders or a laptop but most importantly, it's elbow-friendly! Technology on the Yukon XL did not disappoint—particularly with the available built-in 4G Wi-Fi Hotspot for up to seven devices that kept me connected wherever I roamed.