Since 1998 the Sierra has been GMC's bread and butter pickup. Is the Sierra the best full size truck on the market?
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00:00 This is GMC's bread and butter truck.
00:03 It's the 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab AT4.
00:09 Is this worth the extra cash over a Chevy Silverado?
00:13 And is the Sierra the best full-size truck on the market?
00:17 Let's find out.
00:18 GM has been selling the Sierra as the corporate sibling
00:25 to the Chevy Silverado since 1998,
00:29 and over the years, there's been a lot of questions
00:31 about whether the Sierra was distinct enough
00:35 to deserve the professional-grade GMC badge.
00:38 So when GM redid the pickups for the fourth generation
00:42 in 2019, they took great pains to really try and differentiate
00:47 the two trucks.
00:49 And it gave the Sierra some really cool and kind
00:52 of eye-popping features.
00:53 After all, it needs to stand out in the market.
00:56 It's not competing against the Silverado.
00:58 It's trying to take on the Ford F-150, the Ram 1500,
01:03 the big boys in the market.
01:04 The AT4 is the rough and ready and rugged trim level.
01:11 It's the alternative to the posh Denali trim.
01:14 Probably the first thing that gives it away
01:16 that you're in an AT4 are these awesome red tow
01:19 hooks in the front, instantly recognizable.
01:22 I'm kind of digging the way we've got the elegant GMC
01:26 big, bold face.
01:27 But the tow hooks just kind of say, like, hey,
01:30 I'm ready to play, OK?
01:31 I'm more than looks.
01:33 Really emphasizing that point is when you come to the side
01:36 and you see that part of the off-road package that
01:38 makes it an AT4 is that it's been lifted by 2 inches.
01:42 And I think that makes the AT4 by far the coolest looking
01:48 trim of the whole Sierra lineup.
01:50 It does mean that we have giant wheel wells here.
01:53 These Goodyear Wrangler 18 machined wheels
01:56 are looking a little small in there, but you can up them.
02:00 And as we come around to the back,
02:01 there is a step up, which would come in handy
02:03 since we've lifted the truck.
02:05 But also in the back are really the two coolest
02:08 features of the Sierra.
02:10 One is a tailgate that drops down
02:12 into six different positions.
02:14 And the other is a carbon fiber composite bed,
02:18 which when GM said they were making this,
02:21 we kind of didn't believe them.
02:22 But sure enough, they did.
02:23 And the result is you can throw anything
02:26 into that bed and it's not going to dent it.
02:30 Well, the first thing you need to know
02:31 is that when they redesigned the Sierra for 2019,
02:35 they made it bigger.
02:37 Yes, it was a huge truck to start with,
02:39 but this is the biggest Sierra ever.
02:42 As a result, tons of space here in the interior.
02:45 I've got lots of headroom.
02:46 I've got shoulder room.
02:47 I've got leg room.
02:48 The back seat is so big that I could go back there
02:51 and take a pretty nice nap.
02:53 In terms of tech, there are a few new things.
02:55 We do have a new head-up display.
02:57 When it comes to the center display, believe it or not,
03:00 this is the upgrade.
03:01 The standard is only 7 inches.
03:03 This is only 8 inches.
03:04 And unfortunately, today, that kind of doesn't cut it.
03:08 The competition has a much bigger infotainment screen.
03:11 It can make it a little hard to work.
03:13 I'm trying to get at the home button here.
03:16 A guy with big work gloves, even a woman with nails,
03:19 it's a little bit hard to get in there.
03:21 Again, a function of the screen just not giving you
03:23 a lot of room to play with it.
03:25 Otherwise, there are some nice features.
03:27 I do like wireless charging, easy to get at USB ports,
03:31 the perforated leather seats, kind of a fan of that.
03:34 But the overall switch gear is a little bit dated.
03:38 It's a little too much like other GMs.
03:41 It's very similar to the Silverado.
03:43 All in all, GM has put all of the features in here.
03:46 It's like we've got all the ingredients.
03:48 But unfortunately, they came up with a rather bland dish.
03:53 The Sierra lineup has a lot of powertrains.
03:57 But in 2020, they added my favorite, a diesel.
04:01 This AT4 has a 3-liter turbo inline-six.
04:06 This is a spectacular diesel, arguably the best
04:09 in the segment.
04:10 It is quiet.
04:11 It is smooth.
04:12 It is torquey.
04:14 We're talking about 277 horsepower,
04:16 460 pound-feet of torque.
04:18 You would never know that you're actually driving a diesel.
04:21 You don't hear or smell anything.
04:23 It's mated to GM's 10-speed automatic transmission.
04:26 The two of them work together like magic.
04:29 Even when you're towing, you would never
04:31 notice there was anything behind you.
04:33 And in regular driving, it is just a seamless experience.
04:37 Fantastic powertrain.
04:39 No two ways about it.
04:40 But this is also a capable truck off-road.
04:42 Hence the lift, extra skid pads.
04:45 We can tow.
04:46 It checks off all the boxes that you
04:48 need in a full-size pickup.
04:50 When it comes to fuel economy, this truck
04:52 gets 22 miles per gallon in the city and 26 on the highway.
04:56 That is the beauty of a diesel engine.
04:59 It delivers efficiency that exceeds the gas engines
05:02 in the Sierra lineup.
05:04 Overall, what we've got here is a nice, big, beefy,
05:08 but extremely capable truck that is an absolute joy to drive.
05:15 When it comes to safety, the Sierra doesn't impress.
05:19 It got dinged on poor headlight scores,
05:22 and that's what hurt its IHS rating.
05:24 And NHTSA only gave it four stars.
05:26 GM does provide all of the active safety
05:29 that you want in a truck.
05:30 The problem is they're not standard.
05:32 You have to opt for the packages.
05:35 This particular truck is equipped
05:37 with all of the packages that give you things
05:38 like blind spot awareness.
05:40 And it goes a step further.
05:42 There's a really cool app that allows
05:44 you to extend the blind spot to cover
05:47 the length of your trailer.
05:49 For all the people who tow with a Sierra,
05:51 that's an awesome addition.
05:55 You can get into a base Sierra for just under $30,000.
05:59 But if you want to step up to this AT4,
06:01 our as-tested truck right here is just under $65,000.
06:06 That makes it compete with an F-150 Lariat or the Ram 1500
06:11 Rebel.
06:11 Therein lies the debate.
06:13 It is a lot more than a Silverado.
06:15 They do share the same bones.
06:17 So really, it's a question of whether you
06:19 think the more premium look and some
06:21 of the exclusive features of the Sierra
06:24 are worth the extra money.
06:28 The one takeaway, GM took great pains
06:30 to try and differentiate the Sierra from the Silverado.
06:33 And I think they largely succeeded.
06:36 The look is more premium.
06:37 And this AT4 is just an awesome take.
06:40 It's rugged.
06:41 It's ready.
06:42 The interior, not so much.
06:44 It does have smaller screens and some dated materials
06:47 and switchgear.
06:48 It's not quite at par with the competition.
06:51 But GMC did give this truck some exclusive features.
06:55 And the loyal GMC buyer is probably
06:57 going to find that this is a huge improvement
07:00 over the previous generation.
07:02 To see our vehicle rankings and the complete buyer's guide,
07:05 go to motortrend.com/cars.
07:08 cars.