Daily Freeman (Kingston, NY)

The GMC Canyon is America’s compact pickup

- By Marc Grasso Grasso’s Garage is here for you! Are you in the market for a new car? I would be happy to provide my honest input. All you have to do is email me: marc. grasso@bostonhera­ld.com.

With the recent revitaliza­tion of Ford’s Ranger, General Motors and staff are strictly focused on maintainin­g their truck existence. With GM and truck brand GMC always producing work-grade type trucks, we have looked forward to the release of the Canyon.

On this week’s Grasso’s Garage review, it is just that: GMC’s 2022 Canyon. Wrapped in gorgeous Cayenne Red, our optioned-up AT4 is really a do-it-all vehicle with tons of pep in its step. Including two motor options, our tester came with the popular 3.6-liter Direct Injection Dual Overhead Cam V6 engine, offering 308 horsepower and 275 lb.-ft. of torque. Paired with an eight-speed automatic transmissi­on, the Canyon AT4 was ready for just about anything.

As the base price just notched over $40K, we realize that the Crew Cab, short box model was really a looker, but one that certainly needed to be used and abused. As a daily driver, with runs to the hardware store, it’s obvious that the Canyon AT4 looks good, works hard and is multipurpo­se.

The AT4 package came with Black Exhaust tips, suspension-leveling kit, Off-Road Rocker Protection, front skid plate, sprayon bedliner, an all-weather floor liner and 17-inch black gloss wheels riding on Goodyear Duratrac tires, for an additional $3,195.

The interior offered GMC-type traditions with Jet Black leather seats that were ultra comfortabl­e, a $995 optioned-up 8-inch color touch screen infotainme­nt system with navigation and Bluetooth audio, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and in-vehicle personaliz­ation capability.

The ride and low-noise quality were really what stood out in our test. Historical­ly in this category, it’s all about that typical “bounce around” and in this truck, we did not notice that nor the loud road noise.

We really enjoyed our Canyon tester and are happy with GMC and the additions that they have made to make the Canyon a do-it-all type vehicle. Not only is it a pickup, but one that rides like an SUV and has multiple personalit­ies if you catch my drift. We don’t understand why they still use a key, instead of a push-button start, but some still like the idea of a turnkey start-up. Nice Job GMC, as always!

 ?? STAFF PHOTO BY MARC GRASSO/MEDIANEWS GROUP/BOSTON HERALD ?? The GMC Canyon.
STAFF PHOTO BY MARC GRASSO/MEDIANEWS GROUP/BOSTON HERALD The GMC Canyon.

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