A Gentleman’s Pickup.
Twenty-five years ago, GMC introduced Denali as a high-trim level of its full-size Yukon SUV to compete with Lincoln’s new Navigator. GM’s marketing brain trusts at the time thought its luxury brand Cadillac should stick with cars. Just imagine how that went over at Caddy’s HQ. Lead balloons have flown far higher than GMC’s product plan and just months later the Yukon Denali was repackaged as Cadillac’s Escalade.
Back then, GMC’s principal differentiation from Chevrolet trucks was a broad product line from pickups to heavy-duty truck chassis and even the semi tractors that pull 18-wheelers. Today the brand focuses on a premium image to separate it from its bowtie sibling, although most rivals, including Chevy, offer fancy trucks. Have you looked at pickup window stickers lately? And now the Denali trim level is very much alive and available on all GMC truck and SUV offerings except the Hummer EV, the $100-grand brute that requires little additional embellishment.
Our Sierra 1500 Denali arrived for testing looking like it was dressed to kill with its deep Onyx Black paint and hovering over 22-inch polished aluminum wheels, a $3,295 option. It seemed a bit too fancy to visit Home Depot, so I ventured over to The Golf Club of Amelia Island next to the Ritz Carlton for a photo shoot. After a quick snap at the Club, I then headed to our public beach nearby to see if it was up to four-wheeling in the sand. The GMC managed both duties with ease.
Our Sierra Denali tilted the MSRP scales at a starting price of $69,900, but if you wish for more, there’s a Denali Ultimate for $82,500. Our press vehicle did the full-posh trick by adding $15,490 in options, including the beefy 6.2-liter V8, to bring the total to $87,385 including freight. Extras like the Active Exhaust added a nice growl and GM’s Super Cruise kept the big guy in its lane on the highway.
Climbing aboard is assisted by nicely finished running boards and interior pull handles. Once aboard, the truck presents a rugged look with instruments in proper order along with a 13.4-inch touch screen display that handles infotainment and connectivity. Our Jet Black leather seats were fully adjustable and supportive and there’s ample storage in the nicely trimmed center console. Additional storage was optioned under the rear seat.
Access to the bed doesn’t involve tall leaping or scaling, just fold down the tailgate steps and climb right up with a handle to assist. The carbon fiber composite bed provides a class leading 63.9 cubic feet of cargo space, just incase you do run over to Home Depot. A trailering package is included on SLE and above GMC models and our big 6.2-liter will tow 13,000-pounds, the same as the diesel Sierra.
While I didn’t haul or tow during my week in the lovely Denali, its performance was assuring and comfortable. Fuel economy of 16 MPG combined may dampen the enthusiasm of some weekend warrior buyers, but a new electric version is coming along soon with an expected range of 440-miles.
