X-ploring the envelope in GMC Sierra AT4X
Extraordinary V8 performance is key
The GMC Sierra AT4X AEV Edition is the truck brand’s summit. X for X-treme.
On a weekend road trip up north, the pickup moved furniture, took the family to the movies and mixed it up off-road with ATVS. Next time, I’ll be sure to ford Lake Huron.
What makes the AT4X AEV special is the extraordinary performance capabilities that make it a contender in the V8-powered super-truck wars alongside the Ford F-150 Raptor R, Chevy Silverado ZR2 and Ram Rebel.
I love GM’S other eight-piston performance vehicles — the Chevy Corvette and Camaro ZL1 — but try renting a racetrack on the way home for exercise. On my way back from Charlevoix, Michigan, I took a detour off Interstate 75 for fun at The Mounds ORV Park. I paid my $15 Genesee County Parks & Recreation fee. Aired the 33-inch Goodyear Wrangler All-terrain tires down to 21 PSI (from 42).
Released the Kraken.
ROOOWWWRRR! The beast roared as it gulped real estate across The Mounds’ sandy trails like a “Dune” movie sandworm. SPLOOOSSSHHHH! It emerged from a pool of muddy water left by weekend downpours. Whomp! Its nose plowed into a sea of sandy moguls.
Moguls, of course, are meant for nimble dirt bikes, not 18-foot-long pickups. Happily, the AT4X AEV was armed to the teeth with five boron steel skid plates that absorbed the brutality of the impact from my overzealous driving. Modulating the throttle, I negotiated the remaining moguls thanks to quick-reacting triple-spool-valve shocks — tools developed by IMSA race shop Multimatic, for goodness sake.
After a half-hour of this nonstop violence, I stood back to admire my beast of burden. For all its ruggedness, it’s hardly a spiked, post-apocalyptic warthog from “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
Standing 11.2 inches off the ground in a black-and-blood-red suit — its handsome mug framed by a steel jaw and C-clamp LED running lights — Sierra AT4X AEV commands respect. Like Shaq
walking through your dinner party, the truck turned heads all weekend in Charlevoix, a pickup-choked county with no shortage of head-turning rigs.
GMC’S partnership with AEV (American Expedition Vehicles) adds serious details to the AT4X’S already formidable toolbox, as well as $6,895 to its bottom line. X for X-pensive. They include twin locking differentials, steel bumpers (with optional front winch out front) and a front approach angle of 32.8 inches. But it’s the underbelly boron plates that are truly impressive. They look as if they could survive a cruise missile hit.
None of this weaponry detracts from the GMC’S interior luxury. I performed my off-road stunts with my luggage intact — computer bag, suitcase, tennis bag secured behind the front seats. There’s more storage in the rear seatbacks.
I love a good V-8, and, when I picked up the GMC, my ears were still ringing from the supercharged, 710-horse, 5.0-liter Revology Shelby Mustang GT500 V-8 I’d flogged a few days before in Ann Arbor. A throwback to the Dream Cruise glory days, the Mustang retro-mod’s engine fills the cabin with unfiltered sound.
AT4X’S V-8 has even more displacement (6.2 liters), yet is a velvet hammer by comparison. Reflecting GMC pickups’ status as a new breed of 21st century luxury, the V-8 is muffled by layers of sound-deadening that make the cabin a sanctuary over long road trips.
My driveway is a rotating buffet of meaty test vehicles, and my road trip choices were the four-wheeldrive Sierra AT4X or an electric AWD Toyota BZ4X Limited. With furniture moving on my Charlevoix agenda, the pickup got the nod — but it also proved more convenient.
With a family dinner to make up north, the 355-mile range Kraken made the trip in 4.05 hours (including a 10-minute pit stop for gas), while the 228-mile range Toyota would have required 4.5 hours due to an anticipated 55-minute stop at a fast charger (assuming no waits at the Shell charger in West Branch, which has but two ports). Credit the EV as cheaper to fuel over the 250mile journey at $30 in charging fees versus $73 for the thirsty, 14-mpg pickup.
Encased in the Sierra’s inner sanctum, I enjoyed an easy journey despite stormy weather. Rain and wind battered the truck, which stayed the course like a four-wheeled ocean liner. Twin digital screens are stateof-the-art — as are the head-up display and wireless Android Auto that guided my journey.
As a GM product, the GMC also benefits from industry-leading ergonomics. All the controls I needed were at my fingertips on the steering wheel. Volume control and radio station controls? On the back of the wheel at 3 and 6 o’clock. Adaptive cruise control buttons? Use the scroll button in the left quadrant. Vehicle information like tire pressures? Scroll-wheel in the right quadrant was at the ready. These ergonomics are shared across other GM brands, and all benefit.
Absent was GM’S Supercruise self-driving feature, which would have made the interstate drive even easier, but Sierra did have GMC’S Swiss-army-knife-like Multipro tailgate ($1,200 addition).
The gate has six configurations depending on your tailgating needs — and we used its step feature to walk into the tailgate and load the pieces of a bed. The AT4X model is available only in Crew Cab/short box configuration.
As the sun set, we set off for the
movies in Petoskey with plenty of room for four. My wee wife and daughter-in-law, it should be said, struggled a bit with the beast’s height — kinda like trying to climb on Shaq’s shoulders. The AT4X eschews the running boards of other expensive trucks to maximize off-road ground clearance, and Mrs. Payne practically had to pole-vault into the front seat.
Once inside, the cooled GMC’S thrones were cozy on a warm June summer’s night. And GM has adopted Mazda-style, single-action vents for easy HVAC.
For all of its off-road macho, the AT4X AEV was a gentle giant to ride on-road thanks to its talented shocks and chassis. In keeping with its Camaro and Corvette performance brethren, GMC and Chevy trucks sport highly engineered chassis dynamics that allow for spirited driving on country roads.
Assuming you have the permission of the other passengers.
And when you’re the only one aboard the sandworm, well, don’t be shy about taking a detour to an offroad park. Maybe I’ll explore Silver Lake dunes next time.