2007 GMC Sierra Denali AWD

2007 GMC Sierra Denali AWD - Although the Denali would be among the last of these new big’uns to roll out—arriving in dealerships this spring—there in a corner of the display at the event shone a Denali prototype, lookin’ all blingy and glitzy and movie-starry in a shiny deep-black clear-coat with chrome-pipe side rails and gobs of chrome coating the door handles, 20-inch wheels, and upper and lower grillwork, all gleaming in the Michigan summer sun.

Then came our Denali crew-cab tester, which showed up at the doorstep of our West Coast Bureau rendered in a milquetoast off-beige Silver Birch Metallic. Wait, where was the chrome? It was there, but it had nothing to set it off. The pipe side rails would have helped, but they, too, were missing. Thus, the Denali looked like any ol’ Sierra, and the eight inches of clearance above the wheels completely dwarfed the chrome 20s. The rear bumper and the black-trimmed taillamps were downright cheap-looking. Blah.

And so we canceled our reservations at the Ivy and Chateau Marmont and used the Denali as a typical Angeleno would any other pickup. We went shopping. We drove to the gym. We picked up friends and asked what they thought. We drove by a few condo construction sites, where we garnered the only thumbs-ups of the week. It all went very well.

But we sure were comfortable. It still surprises us just how pleasant the interiors of GM’s full-size pickups have become, and the Sierra Denali has the nicest of them all, not counting the Escalade EXT, which, to some, is more of an SUV anyway. The Denali’s “ebony” leather interior (which, alas, looked lovely) comes close to the same level of pampering for which the Escalade is known. The architecture is similar (the EXT only comes in 130-inch, short-wheelbase form), and most of the EXT’s standard and optional features—including 12-way-adjustable power seats, navigation, OnStar, and an upgraded Bose stereo—are available on the Denali.

The rear quarters are also quite accommodating, although the seatback could benefit from a bit more rake. Ours had the optional DVD entertainment system with a flip-down screen large enough for those behind you in the Sunset Boulevard bar crawl to enjoy your selection of rap videos. Some of us would trade the additional inch of headroom in the Denali for the versatility of the EXT’s folding-and-tumbling rear seat and Midgate, but that would require—get this—nearly 13,000 more of your hard-earned bucks.

We should have known the Denali would drive like a truck, since that’s what it is. And considering its 5580-pound weight, this truck is reasonably quick. At the track—where this vehicle really doesn’t belong, by the way—the Denali’s 403 horsepower and 417 pound-feet of torque hustled it to 60 in just 6.2 seconds, nearly a full second quicker than the porky 5814-pound Escalade EXT, even though both are aided by a six-speed automatic (with manumatic controls via an up- and downshift rocker switch on the gooseneck gearshift).

Not surprisingly, when it comes time to turn, the Sierra Denali demonstrates far less of the favorable road manners we’ve enjoyed in the Escalade (with its massively reinforced rear structure) and Yukon Denali SUV. Our skidpad number of 0.74 g, with moderate understeer, hardly puts the Denali in the Corvette-osphere, but it is slightly better than the EXT, although the Denali’s considerable body roll doesn’t help the cause.

You can’t come close to that in the Caddy. Nor can the Cadillac approach the Denali in value. Our all-wheel-drive crew-cab tester had a base price of $42,095, and even loaded with options, the price was $48,495. Thus, we think the Denali makes a good case for the significant number of moneyed folks who, for whatever reason—personal or professional—want a luxury truck with no compromises in capability.