The heavy duty pickup truck wars are heating up this year, first with an updated Chevrolet Silverado HD, then a new Ford Super Duty. Now it’s GMC’s time to shine with a new Sierra HD that promises more power, more tech, and more luxury than the old model.
The big news for 2024 is the new Denali Ultimate trim. GMC was an early player in the “cowboy Cadillac” arena, and the Denali Ultimate elevates luxury to compete with the Ford Super Duty Limited and Ram Limited. All 2024 GMC Sierra HD models get an all-new interior, but the Denali Ultimate decks things out with wood, massaging seats, saddle leather, and metal speaker grilles that look befitting of a luxury car.
Speaking of the new interior, the fresh dashboard looks incredibly classy. Sure, the touchscreen infotainment system clocks in at a massive 13.4 inches, but it fits proportionally. The dashboard itself is tastefully-designed, with plenty of bold sculpting and a pleasing mix of materials that make cross-town competition from Ford seem a little bit basic.
Here’s something I never expected to say about a new GM truck: The front end styling has been simplified. Sure, the new Sierra HD still features a grille the size of Kansas, but it’s now squarer. It’s a similar deal with the front bumper, and the simplified chrome accents on the Denali that no longer feature inlaid lights. Add in new headlights, and you have a more subtle Sierra HD despite such a massive truck being as subtle as a brick to the back. Here’s how the outgoing model looked:
This facelift doesn’t just focus on appearance and luxury. For 2024, the optional Duramax diesel engine gets some pretty big upgrades. A new turbocharger with a new vane acuator is supposed to enhance response and engine braking, while new cylinder heads and a new cooling system are expected to keep this engine cool during heavy towing. Those new cylinder heads also get revised combustion chambers which, when combined with the aforementioned turbocharger; new fuel injectors; and a new engine management system, should enhance power and torque. Indeed, GMC claims that this new engine puts out 25 percent more low-end torque than the outgoing version, along with 470 horsepower at 2,800 rpm and 975 lb.-ft. of torque at 1,600 rpm. Speaking of performance, gasoline-powered models now come with a ten-speed automatic gearbox, just like on the Sierra HD’s Chevrolet Silverado HD sibling.
The updated diesel engine helps the new Silverado HD post a best-in-class crew cab three-quarter-ton towing rating of up to 21,900 pounds and up to 36,000 pounds of towing capacity on the one-ton model. Imagine how many cheeseburgers, Isettas, or rolls of novelty toilet paper you could tow with that thing. However, that claim of best-in-class crew cab three-quarter-ton towing could change when Ford releases specifications for its latest Super Duty, or when Ram gives its heavy-duty trucks some upgrades. Basically, the heavy-duty pickup truck segment is an endless pissing competition between Ford, GM, and Stellantis, with GM currently ahead in one category.
However, towing is but one metric of performance. Off-road heavy-duty pickup trucks have taken off in recent years, and GMC is set to ride the wave with the Sierra HD AT4X. While few details of this truck have been released yet, expect it to pair Denali-like luxury with serious off-road chops and arrive later in 2023.
As expected in a new vehicle for the 2024 model year, the new GMC Sierra HD will get a bunch of active driver assistance features as standard. Forward collision alert, lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking, automatic high-beams, and a following distance monitor carry over from the old model, but the automatic emergency braking system can now brake for pedestrians as any automatic emergency braking system should. Other active safety features like blind-spot monitoring and new gross combined weight overload warning are optional.
Overall, the 2024 GMC Sierra HD appears to receive some solid updates in order to stay ahead of the curve. The new interior looks to be a huge step up, while diesel die-hards are likely to appreciate the updated Duramax engine. Expect pricing to be announced closer to this truck’s on-sale date in early 2023.
Lead photo credit: GMC
I was going to buy one of these, but the grille wasn’t big enough.
“Oh, wow, the inside of that looks really nice.”
– scroll –
HOLY FUCK WHAT HAPPENED TO IT?!
Still looks like it drove through a gate and took the gate with it.
“more power, more tech, and more luxury than the old model.”
Don’t forget and MOAR GRILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I call them contractor Cadillacs because every independent fence installer, plumber or what have you needs an $80K luxury truck, and the accompanying tax deduction, to do their job. Clearly. Also the only cattle getting close to most of these are already on the interior.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a horse trailer behind one of these though. Rich people love those animals. They seem pointless to me, can’t eat them (legally in a lot of places and I’ve heard it’s not great), there are better options for work or transport and they’re capable of severely injuring people or themselves when they get spooked, which is often. We overbred those animals, I think. They started out as shaggy ponies.
As I get older, I’m becoming more and more disappointed that my high school guidance counselor didn’t suggest I own my own excavating company or the like.
I was traveling with my wife and we ate at a very nice restaurant in the countryside. We both ordered steak and it was surprisingly reasonably priced. It was OK, but the texture of the meat was slightly off. It was then that I realized we were in part of the world where horse was acceptable fare. I finished my meal and I kept my mouth shut…I don’t think my wife would have been impressed.
France? Horse is fairly common there.
I definitely see I bunch of these contractors with them. If I ever had the money I would buy one and a fifth wheel and tour the country for a few months. Then sell it them and get my money back. I would definitely buy one of these trucks brand new. I have seen what contractors do to them. They fuck them harder than their customers.
Because the environmental damage of dailying a truck that big isn’t literal enough, now it’s easier to take off road and watch the environment get torn up in real time.
And yes, I know some people do Truck Stuff with these and some people Just Like Trucks and that’s fine in a vacuum, but these are marketed as lifestyle accessories and that’s just straight up antisocial in 2022. Is it a Toyota truck ad I saw a few weeks ago that was premised on the interior being so nice and luxurious that the driver wouldn’t let the dirty hardworkin/hardplayin real folks who were expecting a ride get in? Eff that gross noise.
Whatever, we’re clearly doomed as a species anyway so I guess may as well go out in a big, stupid bang
So what you’re saying is that if I have something that needs to be towed, or regularly have need for a truck of this size to do truck things, I shouldn’t also daily drive it but get a second vehicle for that? Manufacturing vehicles has environmental impact too you know.
No, what is being said is that the vast majority of people who purchase trucks don’t need them and rarely use them for their intended purpose. It’s a lame way to cover insecurities. No different than someone who wears camo all the time despite being a civilian, or someone who wears work boots all the time even though they work in an office and can barely change a light bulb.
I considered buying a truck until I realized that I would probably use it maybe three times a year for it’s intended purpose, so I didn’t. Making lame excuses like “I’ll drive whatever I want because freedumbs” is just a pathetic cop-out. So many people fetishize blue collar culture despite rarely lifting a finger to actually do work.
If there is a genuine need to drive one of these things, sure, wonderful. However, if someone is towing 36k loads (what, a car hauler?) they probably aren’t in it for the supple leather interior. Real working trucks need to be cost effective as part of a business. They are depreciating assets. The 100k fancy pickup will tow just as well as the 40k version with the same drivetrain. One blows the budget, the other does not. Which one do you think is going to be in the fleet? The other one is just a giant toy for the insecure.
“the vast majority of people who purchase trucks don’t need them and rarely use them for their intended purpose.”
[citation needed]
It’s become a meme that the only hauling many of these will do is groceries from whole foods, and not entirely without cause.
The marketing of heavy duty trucks as lifestyle accessories is what really bothers me because there is a real cost to driving anything so big, and in a world of finite resources and negative externalities, the fuck-you-got-mine attitude is unhelpful at best.
I don’t want to ban trucks and I don’t think you should have to prove that you deserve to drive the type of vehicle you like.
But in the same way that I don’t think we need to ban ice cream and vodka breakfasts. I’m sure that would be fun once in a while, but it’s inarguably not good for you and if you insisted on it every day would have real consequences. It would be worse if it started getting glorified as the only way to be a real [whatever].
We should be able to have a discussion as a society without devolving into shouting and name-calling and part of that is accepting responsibility for ones actions.
It’s only become a meme on car enthusiast blogs, because car enthusiasts are disproportionally young, left wing, and urban. They disproportionately prefer small cars and don’t understand (or even attempt to understand) why someone might buy a truck. If a truck is in an office or grocery store parking lot, that’s all its used for, no possible way it could be used for anything else when you might not be looking. What’s ironic about this is that of course non-truck owners don’t see the other activities that truck owners do, because they don’t own the necessary truck to participate in them!
Instead every article comment section is filled with original insights like:
“If you don’t work with your truck every day, you must have bought it as a penis extender”
“If you don’t buy a regular cab work truck, you’re a poser”
“15-20 mpg trucks are worse for society and the planet than 15-20 mpg sports cars or luxury sedans, because…..reasons”
Of course some people buy trucks just to commute in. Some people commute to work in a Corvette and never take it above 70 mph. Some people buy 5 passenger sedans and never carry anyone besides themselves. It’s why the whole conversation about buying only what one “needs” is so misguided. Unless you’re going to restrict everyone to buying a Prius, no one is going to limit themselves to what someone else thinks they “need”. It’s not human nature, and attempting to change it is not feasible.
Of course marketing sells cars and trucks. Marketing sells all consumer products. Trucks are marketed as workhorses and lifestyle extenders because that’s actually true! I just don’t see how they are uniquely bad. Plenty of other choices out there with negative externalities. Don’t see a lot of hating on anything else on car blogs.
If we’re going on record to say giant engined sports cars with awful mileage that never see better than highway cruising speeds are also not great, then I’ll co-sign that, too, I guess. I’m also bored by 600hp BEV supercars that weigh four tons.
Comparing a whatever super duty to a corvette isn’t really equivalent just because of the scale. They just don’t sell that many sports cars, and I’m going to guess not many people are using corvettes as family haulers.
Again, enjoy your hobbies and like what you like, but don’t pretend your choices live in a vacuum.
i daily drive a half-ton now, getting better mileage or being more efficient than the my last 3 daily drivers and close to my fun cars, which included
2012 X5 3.5d (22.5 mpg – diesel)
2014 Cayenne Turbo (16.5 mpg – enormous operating costs)
2018 X5 5.0i (15.5 mpg)
2016 SL550 (19.0 mpg)
2018 S5 Cabriolet (21.0 mpg)
all the judgment is really pandering to a base – look at the facts. I also use my truck regularly to tow a 30 foot; 5,000 pound boat and many other tasks. I am keeping the current half-ton until it quits. It is going to be quite hard to replace. it is, not much fun in the city – admittedly but the good outweighs the bad. It is also the car that a family of 4 wants to use when we go together because it is the most comfortable.
Well, Jimbob…. You sound like a 1-percenter with a huge environmental footprint. Congratulations.
plus – it is lots easier to get laid in the back of a crew cab than it is in a 911, just sayin
Proof positive that there seems to be no upper limit to the pile of $$$ some folk will spend on a truck…
‘Merica…. Love it.
These trucks are uglier than the political views of the stereotypes who I assume will want to drive them.
Reminds me of something I once riffed, in the style of Mr. Regular, about the half-ton version;
GMC Yukon 1500 Denali, named for mountains, driven by flatlanders. GMC Yukon 1500 Denali, the official truck of calling every male coworker below you or at the same level on the org chart “bud”.
The GMC Yukon 1500 Denali has a payload capacity of ummmmmm and a towing capacity of who cares, because the kinds of guys who buy them new would buy a GMC Yukon 3500 Denali Duramax diesel dually if they ever planned to put it to a hauling task that would make a Honda Fit break a sweat.
Wait, don’t tell me, it’s the “Cadillac of pick-up trucks”
Also, the guy who buys this goes by the nickname, “Boss” or “Big Daddy”, am I right?
Y’all can keep your Mavericks, that interior looks awesome.
You can buy a fleet of Mavericks for what this Big Daddy Caddy costs
Yep, and this one is worth every penny.
Yep. This is where the great American luxury sedan went. Sure is a hell of a lot nicer than my old 76 GMC was.