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GM diesel pickups first to undergo extra EPA, CARB testing

The effects of Volkswagen's long-running diesel emissions evasion are starting to spill over to other automakers, but General Motors is taking things in stride. The 2.8-liter, four-cylinder Duramax in the 2016 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon is the first engine to get extra scrutiny by the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, Automotive News reports. Rather than just the usual in-lab test, it's also being checked on the road. However, the extra evaluation shouldn't have any impact on when the trucks with his mill hit dealers later this fall. "We're in our final stages of the EPA certification, and our launch is on track," Chevy spokesperson Otie McKinley tells Autoblog. The four-cylinder diesel in the trucks makes 181 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque, and the automaker is touting low NOx production. In the announcement for the Colorado's specs, the company calls it "the cleanest diesel truck engine ever produced by General Motors." The tech includes exhaust gas recirculation to lower combustion temperatures and improve emissions. There's also a urea tank like on the bigger diesels for full-size trucks, and it gets refilled in time with oil changes. An indication on the instrument panel lets drivers know when that's needed, too. Even with the more demanding testing, the company doesn't seem too worried about the four-cylinder passing. "Part of our development process is on-road and off-road [laboratory] testing," Scott Yackley, Chevy Trucks assistant chief engineer, said to Automotive News. In the wake of the VW scandal, the EPA has pledged more rigorous testing. Before, on-road emissions evaluations were largely limited to heavy-duty vehicles, but the agency has decided to apply the checks more often to other models. There's also now greater cooperation with Canadian authorities.

GMC Hummer EV could have had the Chevrolet Avalanche's Midgate

One of the many rumors swirling around the GMC Hummer EV claimed the truck would resurrect the Midgate inaugurated by the original Chevrolet Avalanche. Although we now know there's no way to fully knock down the partition between the cab and the cargo box, the firm revealed the rumor wasn't entirely false. "There was [a Midgate] early on. We opted for the functionality of the drop glass in the back. With the package layout and things like that, it was not advantageous to pursue that one. And, the five-foot bed was kind of the industry standard in regards to price of entry in that segment," explained John Mack, the Hummer's exterior design management, during an interview with Muscle Car & Trucks. The Hummer will go on sale with a five-foot box, and it doesn't sound like a longer bed will be available, so a modern version of the Midgate would have made the model more versatile by giving users the ability to fold down the partition behind the rear seats to carry bulky items, like plywood and ATVs. It's a feature that would have inevitably made the truck more complicated to build, however, because it adds moving parts that need to be sealed. Hinges, seals, and latches in turn add weight, and complexity almost always invites high manufacturing costs. As an electric pickup built with newly-developed components, the Hummer already has enough of each. Motorists who need to carry something that's significantly longer than the cargo box aren't entirely out of luck. As Mack pointed out, the rear window drops into the partition, so owners will have the ability to haul surfboards, lumber, or anything else that's relatively long and reasonably thin by simply pushing a switch. Alternatively, the only thing limiting cargo space when the roof comes off is the sky — or, depending on where you live, bridges. Mack didn't reveal when the Midgate was dropped. GMC launched the Hummer project in April 2019, and it previously released early design sketches that show how the truck transitioned from a sketch to a prototype. As of writing, nothing suggests the Midgate will make a comeback in the near future on any member of the General Motors portfolio. It was introduced in 2001 on the first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche, which went on sale in the United States for the 2002 model year. It later spread to Cadillac's luxed-up variant of the truck, the Escalade EXT, and to the short-lived GMC Envoy XUV.

Spy photos suggest more rugged GMC Sierra HD AT4X is on the way

Ford has the Super Duty Tremor. Ram has the Power Wagon. GM doesn't yet have a really serious heavy duty pickup off-roader, but these spy shots suggest that may be changing. They show a GMC Sierra HD with plenty of height, chunky tires and a prominent skid plate. We suspect it may be an AT4X trim, to slot above the somewhat trail-oriented AT4 already on sale. Despite the heavy camouflage on each end, we can see right away that this GMC has a new front bumper that's turned up at each end, likely to leave some space for getting tires up to obstacles. There doesn't appear to be the air dam that shows up on all other Sierra HD models, either. Under the front end is a very prominent skid plate. Other interesting aspects include the tires. They appear to be the same model of Goodyear Wranglers used on the Chevy Silverado 1500 ZR2, and not the ones currently in use on the Sierra HD AT4. Also, this extra rugged Sierra features a huge exhaust tip, which seems to confirm the Duramax turbodiesel V8 will be available, probably as an option over the gas V8. This is noteworthy since the Ram Power Wagon is only available with a gas engine. Of course the Ford Super Duty Tremor is available with both gas and diesel engines. The regular Sierra 1500 AT4X was only just revealed last October for the 2022 model year. So we would expect that this heavy duty version would make an appearance for either the 2023 or 2024 model year of the model. It could accompany a light refresh of the truck, again similar to the lighter duty model. We expect it will also feature some additional suspension and drivetrain upgrades to help it compete with the Ford and Ram off-roaders. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.