2011 GMC Sierra HD 2500 Denali 4×4 Diesel – Short Take Road Test

The fancy-pants Sierra turns out to be a heavy-duty hot rod.

Numbers are an obsession in the auto industry. Corporate suits worry about build costs, profit margins, and sales volumes; sports-car fans spend more time watching horsepower counts, acceleration times, and top speeds. But heavy-duty truck enthusiasts live and die by numbers, perhaps more than any other segment of the automotive sphere.

To that end, the 2011 GMC Sierra heavy duty—along with its Chevrolet Silverado twin—sees a couple of its key numbers swell to 6635 and 21,700. Those are the highest payload and trailer-weight capacities of the GM HD trucks; the totals for the 2500 truck tested here are 2631 and 16,800 pounds, respectively. But when we finished putting this GMC Sierra Denali 2500 through its paces, it wasn’t these digits that had our spreadsheets smoking.

Quick for a Big Guy

Indeed, a thoroughly overhauled Duramax turbo-diesel V-8 supplies the first pair of staggering numbers: 397 and 765. Those are the 6.6-liter engine’s respective horsepower and torque counts, the former peaking at 3000 rpm and the latter at 1600. Those two figures delivered the digits that simply blew us away—7.3 and 15.7, as in stopwatch ticks to 60 mph and through the quarter-mile, the latter feat occurring at 89 mph. What we have here is a 7560-pound truck that’s quicker than the first Chevy Camaro we ever tested and capable of hauling most of one in the bed or towing four behind it on a trailer.

Read More: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/10q3/2011_gmc_sierra_hd_2500_denali_4x4_diesel-short_take_road_test

GMC Dealers

GMC Announce CNG and LPG Vans for Fleets

DETROIT, Mich. (May 18, 2010) – Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) powered versions of the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans will be offered to fleet and commercial customers beginning later this year, General Motors Co. announced Monday.
The vans have specially designed engines for the gaseous fuels and come direct to the customer with the fully integrated and warranted dedicated gaseous fuel system in place.

“We’re listening to our fleet customers and dealers about offering options that help them achieve their business objectives”, said Brian Small, general manager of GM’s fleet and commercial operations. “The industry commitment to expand the CNG and LPG infrastructure in key fleet markets was an enabler to allowing us to introduce these options now.”

Going beyond the competition, GM’s proven Vortec 6.0L V8 engine receives hardened exhaust valves and intake and exhaust valve seats for improved wear resistance and durability for gaseous fuel systems. Along with dedicated gaseous fuel injection and fuel storage systems, both the CNG and LPG systems are fully integrated into the vehicle, and will meet EPA and CARB certification requirements, and be fully compliant with applicable motor vehicle safety standards.

The initial CNG offerings will be available on 2011 model year cargo vans and built at GM’s Wentzville assembly plant with the specialized Vortec engine installed. The vans are then completed at a separate facility with the dedicated gaseous fuel system and related vehicle calibrations before shipment to the Special Vehicle Manufacturer (SVM), Fleet Customer or GM Dealer.

Read More: http://www.gm.com/vehicles/innovation/news/2010/natural_gas_051810.jsp

GMC Chicago

More SUVs to join General Motors GMC Pickup Truck Division

General Motors recently opened up (just a little) about its plans for the GMC truck/SUV division. 

Future


The most speculative news surrounds the Granite, a proposed Scion xB hatch-box lookalike. If produced, the Granite would share the same platform as the front-wheel drive Chevrolet Cruze -- a significant departure from the maker of large pickups and SUVs. GM management has gone back and forth on deciding whether to produce a vehicle like the Granite; if it's given the green light, it likely won't hit the road until 2013, at the earliest.

Current lineup

GMC's Canyon pickup receives a stay of execution until 2012, when its production is scheduled to end. Although GM is working on a global replacement for the Chevrolet Colorado, there are currently no plans to sell that vehicle in the United States.

No big news for the hot-selling, midsize Terrain SUV, aside from a rumored Denali trim level. Set to be restyled in 2013, a possible hybrid is on the way one year later.

A Denali trim level of the Acadia was added recently, but the large SUV continues mostly unchanged for 2011. A more significant update to the lineup will come in 2012, when the 3.6-liter V-6 is replaced by a 3.0-liter V-6.

Although it was rumored that the next generation of the Yukon and Yukon XL would move to the Lambda platform (that underpins the Acadia), body-on-frame fans won the argument. The next-gen Yukon, due around 2014, will likely share components with the next Sierra pickup. By then, GM may rework its two-mode hybrid system for better efficiency in towing and hauling.

Read More: http://blogs.automotive.com/6673513/crossovers/more-suvs-to-join-general-motors-gmc-pickup-truck-division/index.html

Chicago GMC

GM crafts lineups for next spike at the pump

General Motors Co. is planning for the return of $4-plus gasoline by introducing small or compact cars for each of its brands -- even GMC.

GM continues to predict gasoline prices will eventually rise to levels last seen in 2008, when consumers fled light trucks for smaller vehicles.

Also, federal fuel-efficiency standards will rise to a fleet average of 35.5 mpg in the 2016 model year, compared with 27.3 mpg in 2011.

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100809/OEM04/308099996/1216#ixzz0w8yIKmCD

Chicago GMC