I don’t have a ton of info on this thing, since this is breaking news, but I will note that the approach, departure, and breakover angles are quite good for a pickup truck. Check it out:
It’s worth mentioning that GMC says in its press release that the AT4, Elevation, and Denali trims get an “ultra-wide track and two-inch factory lift” while the AT4X cranks that “lift” up to three inches (that’s in quotes because if all trims have it, is it even a lift?). “The Canyon AT4X’s factory lift enables 10.7 inches of ground clearance standard and a 36.9-degree approach angle,” GMC writes. I assume the image above shows 32.8 degrees because the “Edition 1” package adds that special front bumper, which includes a “safari bar” to protect the grille.
Multimatic dampers, 33-inch mud-terrain tires, skid plates, and front and rear lockers means the AT4X should be as formidable off-road as it looks suggest. Other off-road goodness for the AT4X Edition 1 model (which GMC notes will be offered with “extremely limited availability”) includes rock rails, beadlock-capable wheels (these make it easier to air down your tires without them popping off the bead), underbody cameras to help you choose your off-road line carefully, and red tow hooks. Like the Colorado, the Canyon has a double wishbone independent suspension up front and a solid axle out back — a solid axle that offers some serious flex, helping keep all tires on the ground. Check this out:
If you want to see more off-road footage, check out GMC’s video here:
Under the hood there’s a 310 horsepower, 430 lb-ft 2.7-liter turbocharged engine that GM (probably strategically) doesn’t mention in its press release is a four cylinder. It’s the same engine you’ll find in the Chevy Silverado 1500 and in the Canyon’s sibling, the Chevy Colorado. The AT4X’s interior gets a big 11.3-inch infotainment screen, an 11-inch gauge cluster, an old-school shifter, a head-up display, and a bunch of colorful accents, badging, and stitching:
It’s a tough looking off-roader, and it’s going to cost a tough $63,350. That’s up there with a decked-out Jeep Gladiator Rubicon.
As for the non-AT4X models, here’s a look at the Denali:
And here’s the AT4:
And here’s a screenshot of all the off-road angles for the various trims, for you off-roaders wondering how big of a difference that letter “X” really makes. It seems: quite a bit:
The cheapest Canyon, the Elevation model, will start around $40,000, per GMC. Production starts early next year, with the AT4X coming a bit later, in the spring.
This breaking news story is being updated
All Images from GMC
Unless making an off-road rig, the only midsize which makes sense is the ridgeline-if you’re towing over 5000lbs then you’d go full-size anyways, and it maintains most of the full size interior and bed volume in a reasonably sized footprint. Thankfully they finally de-minivanned it a bit as the last gen only looked decent with all of their blackout and adventure packages. They did it right though-cool looking wheels and tires, no lift or Baja pretensions.
Also, and this goes for every single mid size truck ( most half tons and cars for that matter), wtf is wrong with column shifters? That car like handle is taking up half of the center console. On my f150 that’s a very continent cubby which I use constantly. Why take away that space on a small interior which definitely needs it?
They can keep most of the off-road hardware. Just replace the leering, angry, petulant front fascia with something eager or friendly-looking; return those tow hooks to a neutral color; and let’s maybe even slap some big “2.7L INLINE 4” badges on the tailgate and front quarter panel.
Now, the 3.0TD I6 would be absolutely wonderful in this, but I highly doubt it’ll actually fit in the engine bay.
And the diesel right off idle is already right in the torque band where as the gasser wont get going until north of 2500 or so. Fuel consumption under load is also vastly different as the gas engine has to enrich under load and the diesel is always running as lean as the load requires.
But yeah its cool its a big four but its all torque and no revs. Very truck like powerband I can assume.
Get ’em before they’re all gone friends and neighbors.
There are so many thinks I’d buy before dropping $63k on a midsize truck.
Also, new cars aren’t made for the poors anymore. I know there are still lower priced models, such as the Maverick available, but everything seems to be really moving up market. When does that reach a saturation point where people decide that $750+tax+interest a month for 84 months isn’t worth it?
(Pickup Truck and SUV Talk pointed this out about the Colorado in their Livestream last week.)
Apparently those folks haven’t seen the plateau-like torque curves of nearly every modern turbocharged I4. This one will be no different – that plateau just happens to be quite a bit higher.
