MotorwayAmerica.com

By Jim Meachen

(February 19, 2023) While the nation's automobile manufacturers are feverishly designing and building electric trucks to meet the "green" demand that seems to be sweeping the country, they continue to sell in great numbers trucks with brutish V-8 engines endowed with gobs of horsepower and torque and with incredible off-road capabilities. And despite the perceived desirability of everything without a gas tank, people still love their outlandishly capable trucks.

They are voting with their pocketbooks for such delicious, beastly treats as the GMC Sierra AT4X full-sized pickup with its 6.2-liter gas engine producing 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque. Add our vote to the total. Do the lovers of all-electric-for-all-things really think there won't be a place in the future for rugged gas-powered trucks?

Trucks like the GMC Sierra AT4X.

Outside, the AT4X is large and aggressive looking with its massive black grille, black wheels and accent trim pieces, red tow hooks and black fender liners. It’s a large truck with a high step-in (this old guy will vouch for that) and riding on 18-inch aluminum wheels, and knobby all-terrain tires with an overall distinctive “take-on all comers” look.


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Inside the AT4X rewards owners with the combination of having a living room sized four-door truck with definite Denali DNA bloodlines. Our AT4X was trimmed in an all-black full-grain leather interior with contrasting stitching and a black microsuede headliner. Black ash wood trim and chrome accents added to the truck’s refined sense along with several bold “AT4X” emblems around the cabin.

Front headroom, shoulder room and legroom are plentiful. The back seat in the crew-cab is massive, too. Three full-size adults can easily fit shoulder to shoulder back there. Both the driver's seat and the steering wheel have a wide range of adjustments, and dialing in a pleasing driving position wasn't an issue for us of rather short stature.

We like the Sierra's latest interior control layout. Knobs, buttons and switches are easy to find and satisfying to press, click or turn. The 13.4-inch touchscreen boots up quickly and is responsive to commands. The touchscreen offers a wide range of capabilities without unnecessarily confusing the user. Ad the high-resolution screen responded quickly. Standard across the lineup are Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone integration with wireless connectivity.

One downside — Visibility can be a challenge in full-size trucks, and the Sierra's styling does it no favors.

Other competing off-road pickups include he Ford F-150 Raptor, Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 and the Ram TRX. While the AT4X does not get the horsepower of the over-the-top TRX or the Raptor, it has an excellent balance of off-road credentials and horsepower and torque ratings.



Some of the things that make the AT4X an off-road wizard are 11.2-inches of ground clearance, MultiMatic DSSV dampers for longer suspension travel, off-road suspension, skid plates, hill descent control, and a 2-speed automatic transfer case. There’s also front and rear e-locking  differentials and Off-Road and Terrain drive modes that can enact a one-pedal rock crawling system with automatic braking. It easily competes with the off-roading truck leaders in this segment by delivering superb capability and competence.

But regardless of how much time an owner spends in the wilderness, most of his or her driving will be more urbane on paved roads, paved parking lots and hurtling down an interstate highway. And this is where the AT4X amazed us with its civilized ride and its spot-on driving demeanor. While the AT4X is surprisingly easy to navigate off-roading, it has an extremely comfortable and near-luxury ride experience on paved surfaces.

Of course, with 420 horsepower and muscular torque in addition, acceleration comes on instantly and predictably reaching 60 mph from a standstill in about 6 seconds. But gas mileage is painful, and all that power and bulk returned a combined city-highway and off-road of just 15.1 mpg on premium gasoline.

The 2023 Sierra includes other models with smaller gas engines, which is the vast majority of the new trucks sold. The 1500 trim levels include Pro, SLE, Elevation, SLT, AT4, AT4X (the subject of this review), Denali, and Denali Ultimate with prices ranging from $38,995 for the regular cab Pro to the crew cab Denali Ultimate at $83,995. Our AT4X test truck crew cab came with the base price of $79,294 and an as-tested price of $80,440 including a $1,795 destination charge.

Available engines in addition to the 6.2-liter V-8 are a turbocharged 2.7-liter four cyclone make 310 horsepower and 348 pound-feet of torque, a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder diesel making 277 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque, and 5.3-liter V-8 masking 355 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque.

Th new Sierra has great styling inside and out and a wide array of configurations befitting the trucks upscale image. For those who desire luxury the all-new Denali Ultimate should fit the bill, and for off-roaders the AT4X is hard to beat. And a garage charger is not required.

Jim Prueter contributed to this review

2023 GMC Sierra AT4X

Essentials
Base price: $79,294; as driven, $80,440
Engine: 6.2-liter V-8
Horsepower: 420 @ 5,600 rpm
Torque: 460 pound-feet @ 4,100 rpm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Drive: four-wheel
Wheelbase: 147.5 inches
Length: 232.9 inches
Curb weight: 5,530 pounds
Turning circle: 47.3 feet
Towing capacity: 8,900 pounds
Maximum payload: 1,440 pounds
Fuel capacity: 24 gallons (premium recommended)
EPA rating: 14 city, 17 highway, 15 combined
0-60: 6 seconds (observed)
Also consider: Ford Raptor, Chevrolet Silverado ZR2, Ram TRX

The Good
• Excellent performance from 6.2-liter V-8
• Large interior space
• Touchscreen display easy to use
• Outstanding off-road credentials

The Bad
• Long climb to get into cab

The Ugly
• Anemic gas mileage