2021 GMC Canyon AT4 review: An old truck with a few new tricks

Imagine of the 2021 GMC Canyon AT4 as a Chevy Colorado ZR2 for individuals who have by no means eaten Monster electricity drinks. It really is a small calmer, a small a lot less rugged, and although it truly is getting pretty outdated, it nonetheless makes for a solid off-road-oriented midsize pickup.

Butch exterior, blah inside

I’ve usually appreciated the GMC Canyon’s design about its sibling, the Chevy Colorado. The fancier of the two has withstood the test of time a small far better, thanks to a reliance on butch rectilinearity that won’t look practically as aged as the Colorado’s massive-headlight mug. My tester’s $3,195 Off-Road Effectiveness Version Offer zhushes points up a small even more with seventeen-inch gloss black aluminum wheels, skid plates, black badges and a spray-on bedliner. The beefy 31-inch Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac tires look pretty boss, much too. The close to complete deficiency of chrome won’t hurt, possibly.

Though the exterior has held up, I can not say the same for the inside, which is just as Playskool plastic fantastic as practically each individual other Canyon and Colorado trim. My AT4 tester attempts to perk points up with some cool leather entrance seats, and I like how the headrest appears integrated into the seat, but the cloth-seat AT4 charges $one,800 a lot less, which is worth noting for consumers striving to stick to a funds. There is some faux stitching all over the sprint, but I can operate a finger about practically any floor and it generally feels tricky and low-cost, which is a bit of a bummer on a $40,000 truck. If you want a thing resembling plushness, you are going to have to opt for the $forty five,000-moreover Denali getup.

There is certainly some practicality to be observed in the Canyon, but not a ton. The glove compartment and center console armrest cubby are both equally a lot sizable, but the doorway pockets are very small, and the optional wi-fi charger can not accommodate fashionable Max-dimension iPhones ($385 at Amazon), a solid giveaway that this inside is getting all set to gather Social Safety checks. The cup holders will keep a 24-ounce plastic bottle, but practically nothing larger, so Nalgene fans will have to determine a thing out. The crew cab’s rear seats are a small light on legroom, but perhaps we have been spoiled by all the entire-dimension crew cab trucks and their limousine-caliber next rows.

Perky V6, comfortable suspension

The Canyon AT4 can be experienced with a 2.eight-liter turbodiesel inline-4, but most will possible activity the 3.six-liter gas V6, which produces 308 horsepower and 275 pound-toes of torque, routed to all 4 wheels by way of an eight-speed computerized transmission. This mixture works nicely, delivering a lot of reduced-finish grunt with an unladen mattress, although the transmission operates effortlessly, almost never looking for gears or getting more time than it requirements to. It’s going to get up and go anytime desired.

Fuel economic system is pretty good, much too, and the truck has no concern reaching its EPA-estimated figures of seventeen mpg metropolis and 24 mpg freeway. Those people are solidly aggressive numbers, much too, beating 4-wheel-travel Toyota Tacoma variants by one to 3 mpg on the freeway (thanks in part to cylinder deactivation), whilst the Taco proves exceptional in the metropolis by about the same delta.

On-road functionality is damn wonderful for a system-on-frame pickup. The off-road suspension is a small on the comfortable side, so although it does a good occupation absorbing whichever crappy Michigan roadways have to give, it can experience a small boaty-floaty on expressway curves, and the off-road tires can wander a bit about specific styles of pavement. The steering is nicely well balanced, and the brakes have good grip and great modulation.

Though I didn’t get a prospect to set the AT4 by way of its entire off-road paces, there is a lot of package in below to make it come about. All AT4s appear with an off-road-tuned suspension, hill descent handle, a locking rear differential, a two-speed transfer scenario, and my tester ramps that up even more with the $3,195 functionality pack that adds a entrance air dam delete, a one-inch carry up entrance and further underbody defense. It really is not as purely centered as the Colorado ZR2 with its entrance locker and even beefier suspension, but it truly is pretty darn shut, and a vast majority of consumers will locate the AT4 additional than able sufficient to meet their requirements.

Never be concerned, the Canyon AT4 is nonetheless solid for frequent truck stuff, much too. You can order it in a crew cab configuration with a preference of sixty one.seven-inch or seventy four-inch beds. It’s going to tow up to seven,000 kilos, and it will haul about one,500 pounds’ worth of stuff in the mattress.

Tech hits and misses

Just about every GMC Canyon arrives with an eight-inch touchscreen functioning Chevrolet’s latest infotainment program, and that’s great. The setup is easy, it truly is simple to navigate and it includes both equally Apple CarPlay and Android Automobile if you do not want to plunk down an further $995 for factory navigation. OnStar’s 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot is standard, much too, which I’ve usually appreciated. The $395 Bose audio program improve just isn’t much too shabby, possibly, and appears to be like a good deal for individuals who are usually in their trucks.

And then there is the driver-support tech. Chevrolet, and GM in normal, has usually taken a additional conservative technique to these programs, at times relying on a lot less costly digicam-dependent ahead collision warning (radar ain’t low-cost) or locking practically all programs at the rear of a paywall. Which is unfortunately nonetheless the scenario with the Canyon AT4, which offers non-adaptive cruise handle and rear parking sensors as standard. The only improve charges $395 and adds ahead-collision warning, lane-departure warning and… that’s it.

Any actually fashionable conveniences like adaptive cruise handle and computerized unexpected emergency braking demand a vacation to the Toyota dealership, for the reason that that stuff is standard on each individual solitary Tacoma that rolls off the line. Get with the times and quit the relentless bean counting, GM. Very seriously. Some truck consumers would most likely ditch airbags if it intended saving $500 on the window sticker, but at times you have to avert individuals from turning out to be their individual worst enemy.

Down to brass tacks

Thinking of the common new-car transaction selling price has eclipsed $40,000, I guess I can not call the Canyon AT4 costly, but it confident feels it. Starting at $39,595 (which includes location) with cloth seats, my leather-bedecked tester rings in with options at $forty five,780.

Why GM won’t acquire Toyota additional very seriously as an existential menace is further than me. If you incorporate (and, at times, double) the income of the GMC Canyon and the Chevrolet Colorado, they nonetheless can not match the offering power of Toyota’s venerable midsize pickup. 

For what it is, however, the 2021 GMC Canyon AT4 is solid. It really is an appealing pickup truck that offers additional off-road prowess than your common midsizer, without having requiring a deep-finish leap into a thing additional function-crafted like the ZR2. Let’s just hope a new generation is on the horizon.