In this Buyer’s Guide
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00:00 Hi there, this is the completely new 2021 GMC Yukon Denali.
00:05 It's big, it's bold, it's face is definitely in your face
00:12 and this one doesn't even have a V8.
00:15 In fact, this Yukon doesn't use any gasoline at all.
00:20 That's right, this Denali is a diesel.
00:24 But is it any good?
00:26 Let's find out.
00:27 (upbeat music)
00:29 The Yukon has been around for decades.
00:33 It's part of the corporate triplets of GM full-size SUVs.
00:37 You've got the Chevy Tahoe/Suburban
00:40 and of course the Cadillac Escalade.
00:42 And what General Motors does is
00:43 they take their full-size pickup truck,
00:45 they put an SUV body on it and for this generation,
00:49 they are removing the live rear axle
00:51 and replacing it with independent rear suspension.
00:54 This not only greatly improves ride quality,
00:57 but it allows for a larger third row.
01:00 Vehicles of this sort are very rare outside of the US.
01:05 There's some in Canada and some in Mexico,
01:07 but really to have a vehicle this large
01:09 with this much capability,
01:11 it just doesn't exist in other markets.
01:13 It's a almost unique American phenomenon.
01:16 Aside from the Chevy version and the Cadillac,
01:20 its natural competitors are the Ford Expedition,
01:23 the Lincoln Navigator, the Toyota Sequoia,
01:26 the Nissan Armada and sooner than later,
01:29 there's gonna be a full-size three row SUV from Jeep.
01:34 The problem with the Yukon in the past was
01:36 why would you choose it over the Chevy?
01:39 They're identical vehicles
01:40 and typically Chevys cost a little bit less.
01:43 So what GMC did to solve that problem was
01:45 they came up with the Denali trim level,
01:47 which is nicer than the Chevrolet,
01:49 not quite as nice as the Cadillac.
01:51 It's a bit of a tweener and that made it unique
01:54 in the marketplace.
01:55 Add to that a turbo diesel motor
01:58 and that's two unique selling points.
02:00 As far as design goes, I think it's fairly safe
02:04 to point out that the word subtle was banned
02:07 from the GMC design studio.
02:09 I mean, ah, look at this thing.
02:11 Really though, the overarching design element is just size.
02:16 It is massive and then there's this grill.
02:20 I mean, talk about bling bling.
02:22 It's almost obscene, but the crazy part is
02:26 if you look at the Yukon next to the Chevy version
02:29 of this platform or the Cadillac,
02:32 this is the best looking one.
02:34 Coming down the side, and again,
02:35 it's just the scale is so big.
02:38 These are 22 inch wheels
02:40 and they just look like regular size wheels.
02:42 But the details are good, the bright work is nice,
02:45 the line work is good.
02:47 They did a really excellent job on the C pillar.
02:49 It's elegant.
02:50 You walk out back and ah, I mean, it's just a giant SUV.
02:54 The only thing they really played with
02:55 or maybe were allowed to play with are the tail lights
02:58 and they did a great job with that.
02:59 But again, the overarching message is size apparently matters.
03:04 I'm inside the Yukon Denali and as you can see,
03:08 it's not quite as bling blingy in here as it is out there.
03:12 I'd actually call it drab
03:13 because I'm looking at about 12 different shades of gray.
03:16 Yes, everything seems to have leather and metal
03:19 and wood on it, but I'm not 100% convinced that's leather.
03:22 I know that's not metal.
03:23 They say authentic wood details,
03:26 which means it's plastic and they molded it off
03:28 of an authentic piece of wood.
03:30 I don't wanna call it lipstick on a pig,
03:33 but this is fake wood on the Chevy.
03:36 And one of my crazy gripes
03:38 with all these full-size GM products,
03:40 there's this knob here.
03:41 It's a really important knob
03:42 because it's how you get from normal to sport to towing,
03:45 the different driving modes, and it's unlabeled.
03:48 I only found it on accident,
03:50 but they hide what it actually does.
03:53 And this is just a normal GM weird thing
03:55 where they have cool technology
03:57 and they hide it from the owners.
04:00 As far as the screen goes, it's big, it works well,
04:04 it's legible.
04:05 Now, one of the reasons you buy these vehicles though
04:07 is really for space and there's tons of it.
04:10 It is cavernous in here.
04:12 There's also tons of room in the middle row.
04:14 And even the third row, finally,
04:16 because of the independent suspension,
04:18 is actually pretty spacious.
04:20 Performance.
04:22 There's bad news and there's good news.
04:24 We're gonna start with the bad news.
04:25 This turbo diesel three liter six cylinder engine
04:28 makes 277 horsepower and 460 pound feet of torque.
04:33 Now, that torque output is the same
04:35 as the 6.2 liter gasoline V8.
04:38 However, the power's way down.
04:39 The gas engine makes 420 horsepower.
04:42 So, in a straight line, this is gonna be slower
04:45 than the regular V8 Yukon.
04:46 However, that's really only when you're flooring it.
04:49 Because the torque outputs are the same
04:51 and because of GM's brilliant
04:53 10 speed automatic transmission,
04:55 in normal driving, they feel about as quick as each other.
04:59 So, maybe you're getting the diesel
05:00 because you wanna tow more.
05:01 Diesels are better for towing, right?
05:03 Not here, because three liters
05:05 is a relatively small displacement
05:07 for such a large vehicle.
05:09 This actually tows a little bit less
05:11 than the V8.
05:12 Okay, so why would you get the diesel?
05:15 Here's the good news.
05:16 Fuel economy.
05:17 This monster SUV next to me
05:20 actually gets 21 miles per gallon in the city
05:24 and 27 miles per gallon on the highway.
05:26 That's pretty impressive.
05:28 And speaking of impressive,
05:29 around town and on the highway,
05:31 ride quality.
05:32 We mentioned that this now has
05:34 four fully independent corners.
05:36 That really does help make the thing ride better,
05:39 which is important, not just for your family,
05:40 but a lot of these wind up as black cars.
05:44 How's it handle?
05:45 It's no sports car, but losing that live rear axle
05:48 makes this big thing handle a lot better
05:51 than you might think.
05:52 Safety is a mixed bag with the Yukon.
05:56 It only gets a four star crash rating,
05:59 but it is massive and being this large
06:02 is an inherent safety benefit.
06:05 Luckily, it does come with all sorts
06:07 of standard automatic safety features.
06:10 How much?
06:11 Well, this diesel Denali Yukon right here
06:14 costs $78,450.
06:17 And remember, the diesel is actually $1,500 cheaper
06:22 than the gas engine one.
06:23 Now, it's priced a little bit more
06:25 than the similarly equipped competition.
06:27 GMC is hoping that you're gonna see
06:29 a few thousand dollars worth of value
06:31 in the name Denali, but in my mind, you aren't.
06:35 If there's one thing I want you to know
06:38 about the 2021 GMC Yukon Denali,
06:42 it's that it is a great full size SUV.
06:46 Take away the price and the interior quality
06:48 for just a moment, and what you're left with
06:50 is a very comfortable, good to drive,
06:53 humongous family SUV that returns impressive fuel economy.
06:57 In fact, the efficiency is unique in this segment.
07:01 The trouble for GMC is that for the same money,
07:05 you could own Cadillac's Escalade.
07:08 And my question is, why wouldn't you?
07:10 To check out the latest rankings,
07:13 go to motortrend.com/cars.
07:16 (upbeat music)