Zander Drives Cars

The pickup truck, as we all know, has transformed from a work vehicle to an “everything” vehicle. It must haul Minneapolis in the bed, tow the space shuttle, drive like a Corvette, have Gulfstream levels of luxury, and fit a family of 5 for road trips. Now, how much truck owners actually use everything in their truck is a debate in and of itself, but if someone did need to do so, the GMC Sierra AT4 might be your best bet. Kinda.

The GMC Sierra is, as you know, the luxury offering of Chevy’s highly successful Silverado. And like GMC products such as the Yukon and Canyon, when it comes to exterior styling, not a lot changes between the brands. They’re given the body and told to do some bumper swapping and badge changing. Because of this, the Sierra and Silverado look marginally the same, albeit this Sierra has the added bonus of being lifted an extra two inches for better suspension travel, and to fit the beefier tires. But, aside from the ride height and a different front fascia, both trucks look more or less the same to an untrained eye.

Inside the Sierra, whether you like pickup trucks or not, you have to admit that this does feel like a premium product, This AT4 model, which as tested was $76,000, has most surfaces covered in stitched leather, dark wood, or piano black plastic that didn’t feel super plastic-y. Of course, this whole interior is identical to that of most large GM trucks, but I have no real complaints about it. Their quality control has skyrocketed in the last few years and they’re gaining swiftly on Ford to become the brand that has been the most consistently high quality in terms of interiors I’ve sat in. That being said, this cabin isn’t perfect. For one, the steering wheel feels a bit cheap for a car priced in the $70k range, and while the back seats are very cavernous, the seats feel pretty flat and hard.

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: GM is getting rid of CarPlay and Android Auto in their cars. Now, normally, this is where you’d find me saying “Oh, well actually this isn’t bad because…” but look, until they unveil their big master plan to the world, I want CarPlay. Seriously, big miss for GM to get rid of one of the most useful features of new cars. Take it away when you have the replacement, don’t leave me hanging.

As for the physical center screen, it’s pretty good. I appreciate how the headlights aren’t activated by a button on the display, so that’s a big win. The system works well, it’s as responsive as you need to be, you can use split-screen for maximum browsing, and the red accents make it look all sporty, even though we’re in a pickup truck. Plus, you even have trailer assist which, in a truck this size, is joyous. But, you don’t realize how often you say the word “Google” in conversation before you count how many times the Google assistant pops up to disrupt your music. I mean, why do we need assistants in cars that are activated by using normal words?

The driver’s display is large and very, very configurable. Like higher-end car companies, you can choose from a multitude of different screen designs and layouts, while also getting little animations for whenever you switch the car into off-road mode. You can also choose to add any sort of widget you want to the main part of the display as well, so if you’re the type of person to want your air filter quality to be the center of attention, this truck may be for you.

Seriously, though, this screen is in Mercedes levels of confusability. I spent way more time than I care to admit playing with it.

Guess what? Because this is an article about a pickup truck, we have a section on the bed! All Sierra AT4s come with a 5.75-ft long bed. In this bed, you get some tie-points, a 12-volt power outlet, a Kicker Bluetooth speaker system for maximum tailgating points, and the very clever, but slightly complicated Multi-Flex Tailgate. It is very cool and definitely, something that has its advantages for loading and sitting, but unless you know how to use it,. it is a bit complicated to get locked into its various positions.

Even though the AT4 is an “off-road” oriented trim of the Sierra, you still do get a lot of premium features to help justify the $76,000 price tag. For creature comforts and ease-of-life stuff, you get: heated and ventilated front seats with heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, wireless charging, CarPlay and Android Auto (for now), USB-A and USB-C ports, a 12-volt power outlet, a sliding rear window, a “bed camera,” a very nice HUD, a collision avoidance system, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, and a BLIS system.

For off-road extras, you get Wrangler “mud” tires, an off-road suspension with a 2″ lift, skid plates, front tow loops, hill descent control, and a 2-speed Autotrac transfer case.

So, yea, there’s a lot of stuff on this truck, so by that measure, it could most certainly be defined as “premium.” But, and this is my only “but,” if you’re going to take CarPlay from me, at least let me have free navigation.

This Sierra AT4 is powered by a 6.2 liter V8 making 420 hp, and 460 lb-ft of torque, mated to a 10-speed automatic driving all four wheels. This truck is not meant for performance, but that being said, it can get from 0-60 in a very impressive 5.5 seconds, before topping out at 108 mph. Oh, and fuel economy is 15 city, 20 hwy, 17 combined. Yikes. But you’re probably not buying this truck for fuel economy so my woes will fall on deaf ears.

This truck is too big to drive in urban areas. I’m so serious, too. This is a truck made for Alaska, Maine, and New Mexico. This truck is not made for Baltimore. I felt like I was going to hit cars in lanes I wasn’t even next to. And it didn’t help that the 2″ lift on this truck makes you feel like you’re piloting a 747. I don’t want to be mean, because I’m sure this truck could tackle any trail you throw it at, but this is a horrible commuter car. If you have a paved driveway, you don’t need this.

I’ll give it this: it is very comfortable, and in a straight line, it feels very composed. However, the road noise with those off-road tires was very noticeable. It felt almost like the tires were rubbing against the arches, even though they were nowhere close to doing so. This isn’t a driver’s car unless we’re talking about logging.

Here’s the thing: if you live in Juneau, make six figures, and need one vehicle to do everything, this is a very good truck for that sort of thing. As an off-road truck, the AT4 is very good at what it sets out to do and I couldn’t recommend it enough.

But, if you have to have an upmarket pickup truck, buck up and buy the Denali. It’s much better, perfect, but better equipped for urban areas than the AT4. I recognize the appeal of pickups, and I really don’t want to be “that guy,” but unless you really, really need this truck, just buy a street-oriented Sierra. It’s a good truck, but not for the environment I was in.

Big thank you to the folks at Anderson GMC-Buick for letting me come down and drive this Sierra. They’re Maryland’s biggest GMC-Buick dealer and have all the new fun stuff we like to see. Fun fact: they used to sell Saabs, too. Click here to view their inventory.