GMC Sierra Review | 2007-2014

today in reviewing a 2012 GMC Sierra 1500 pickup which is one of my favorite generations of gmc's full sized truck this generation of the Sierra was sold from the 2007 to 2014 model year and it was a really nice upgrade from the prior generation of the Sierra we see a nice improvement in the overall exterior design much more modern look inside a really nice improvement to the cabin with far better build quality we also get a huge improvement to steer and feel and fuel economy many of the great things about the prior generation of the Sierra are still here but overall it's a vastly improved truck now it is worth noting the Sierra is the mechanical equivalent to the Chevy Silverado pickup so the two trucks are essentially the same except for a few aesthetic differences on the front end we get a revised grille headlight a mud board design at the back we get revised tail light covers inside and out a few badging changes and then the trim packages are also slightly different but again essentially the two trucks are the same now I love the overall look of the Sierra as much as the Silverado is really great-looking the Sierra tends to be a little bit more conservative and a slightly more premium look again I like to look at the Silverado but if I was choosing between the two I would go with the Sierra now the overall design of this generation of the Sierra and the Silverado is actually very simple if you look at it it's very square there's nothing really flashy or fancy about the overall design but it looks really good and I think the reason why is again it's very simple but then it's got these really nice muscular elements throughout that just give the truck a really athletic appearance you'll see we've got this bulge on the front fender and the rear fender we've also got a few bulges and hood the bumper the grille they're very subtle and they just give the truck a very simple look yet at the same time very tough very durable very rugged looking now on the front end again a very conservative design with the Sierra you see that the headlight and the grille are very square likewise the bumper is very square nothing really fancy here except for the fact that we've got a lot of chrome this is the SLT package which is one of their higher entrant packages so that you know gives the truck a little bit more bling than what you'd get in a more basic version of the Sierra I love the red lettering of the GMC especially with this red paint really ties together very nicely and then you also see that down on the lower bumper we've got integrated fog lights and a couple tow hooks now again coming around to the side profile the truck very simple overall design with those bulges at the front and rear fender gives the truck a really classy appearance the Sierra is available in a number of different packages they offer the 1500 model the 2500 and 3500 heavy duty models and then within the 1500 lineup you can get a regular cab an extended cab with a long bed or you can get this crew cab model with the short bed and then they also offer a number of trim packages the base work truck the SL model the SLE the xfe the SLT and the top-of-the-line Denali package what we've got here is the SLT model and then it's also got the all-terrain see the badging right here and then z71 off-road packages so with those packages we get additional skid plates improved suspension more rugged tires and then they've also gotten available locking differential you'll note that on this sierra we've got a set of silver auto wheels so these were added aftermarket and then we've got a matched with a set of Goodyear Wrangler dura track tires giving the truck a really rugged appearance you'll see over here on the mirrors we've got integrated blinkers so those illuminate when you're turning and then you'll see up top we've got the little antenna for the OnStar system as well as a sunroof this truck does have an aftermarket tonneau cover you've got our integrated backup camera here and then inside again this is the short red being a crew cab you see on the back here again we've got a slightly revised taillight design when compared with that Silverado model again a little bit more simple and then you'll see on the tailgate again just as we see throughout the vehicle very simple basic design but then it's just got a really subtle bolts to it giving it that athletic look again we get a chrome bumper and then you'll see we've got integrated parking sensors those will beep when you're getting close to objects to notify you and then you'll see that this truck also has a really nice aftermarket exhaust which gives it a great Rumble but again overall the design on this truck is very simple it's very basic there's nothing really that fancy about it and you know at the same time it looks so good the Sierras got a really nice interior especially in this SLT package you'll see it's got a really nice clean overall design much more simple than what we see in the prior generation of the Sierra and very heavily loaded wouldn't configured like this SLT model of course we've got full leather seating in a two-tone color configuration leather wrap steering wheel some really nice brushed aluminum accents throughout we've got power windows power door locks power heated mirrors memory settings for two drivers also got heated seats for driver and front passenger our driver seat is full power with lumbar support you see on the door cell some nice brushed aluminum here two left of the steering column down below we've got our trailer brake controller automatic headlights electronically controlled four-wheel drive system with a for low and high option on our steering wheel we've got controls on the left hand side for cruise control right hand side for audio and Bluetooth and then you'll see that our instrument cluster has got some really nice kind of faux carbon-fiber in sets nice simple overall design to the right of the steering column we've got controls here for adjusting some vehicle settings seeing some trip information fuel economy information and then our gear shifter also has a trailer mode integrated in the middle we've got our audio system which has AMF a radio XM radio CD and then you can also connect an mp3 player or phone using a hardwire connection or Bluetooth connection duo zone climate control for driver and front-passenger 12 volt outlets on both sides here and then you can adjust the gas and brake pedal for the driver electronically this is to turn off those parking sensors and then you can also turn off traction control centre console here we've got a little bit of storage space there some cup holders right here and then a nice large centre console in the middle it's got a 12-volt outlet and the USB up above we've got a self Timmy mirror with integrated OnStar functionality it's also got an inset backup camera over on this side up above you can program up to three garage door openers and then we've got a tilt and sliding sunroof looking into the back seat of the sea-air you'll see it's a very spacious rear cabin area plenty of head leg and shoulder room up above we've got an integrated TV screen here nice large screen down below center console we've got some storage space and a 12 volt outlet her Center seat here folds down into an armrest with two cupholders and then the seat bottoms split in a 60/40 split and we can pop these up on both sides of the vehicle to increase cargo space if the seats aren't in use and of course having that 60/40 split is really handy if you still want to use a portion of the rear seating this year is available in rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive and has four different powertrain options the base engine is a 4.3 liter 6 cylinder with 195 horsepower they've also got a 4.8 liter 8 cylinder with 302 horsepower a 5.3 liter 8 cylinder with 315 horsepower and this trucks got the top-of-the-line 6.2 liter 8 cylinder which has 403 horsepower and 417 pound-feet of torque the maxxtow capacity on the Sierra 1500 is nine thousand three hundred pounds and fuel economy is going to range from 12 to 15 miles per gallon in the city and eighteen to twenty-two miles per gallon on the highway now there are two things to me that really stand out about Chevy and GMC trucks the first one is the power trains now there are a lot of full-size trucks out there with really great powertrain options but there's just nothing quite like a v8 in a Chevy oh yeah this 6.2 liter v8 of course is the top nobs option huge horsepower numbers you see a nice drop in fuel economy with that as well and of course the aftermarket exhaust on this truck amplifies things even further but I just love the powertrain options that they have available on the Silverado of course the 5.3 liter v8 is the most popular option and it's a really great engine as well plenty of horsepower and it also gets really good fuel economy four of the eight they do that through cylinder deactivation it can drop four cylinders at highway speeds which really helps to improve that overall fuel economy the second thing that I really like about GM trucks is the ride wall and that's one thing that Chevy's got on the competition is that they are incredibly smooth to drive very car like ride to them and this generation takes things even further than the prior generation of the Sierra I mentioned early on that the steering feel was a really nice improvement with this generation and that's one of my favorite things driving this generation wouldn't compare with the old ones the old ones had a lot of play in the steering and you were constantly kind of tweaking the steering wheel to keep yourself going in a straight line that's fixed with this new generation acceleration test here onto the highway and a 6.2 liter v8 in action they also offer a 6.2 liter v8 on the corvette of course this has been tuned a little bit differently but you're essentially getting that same Corvette engine over on the Silverado and Sierra really great trucks to drive obviously very luxurious inside with a lot of really great available features and options it's very smooth to drive nice improvement to the steering and then great power trains as well really can't complain about the driving characteristics of the Sierra in any sense so there you go that's the 2012 model of GMC Sierra 1500 pickup a great truck all-around great looking on the exterior a very luxurious cabin awesome powertrain options and then pretty good fuel economy for a full-size truck as well if you have any comments or questions on the Sierra 1500 leave them in the section below for more car reviews be sure to subscribe in the meantime thanks for watching you

Channel: Driven Companion

Views: 66,548

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Id: m47kTym5_-8

Length: 10min 51sec (651 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 24 2020