10 Biggest News Stories of the Week: GMC Sierra 1500 Picks Up Where Toyota Prius Peters Out

Just because you’re likely never gonna use something to its intended effect doesn’t mean it isn’t an enticing upgrade to one’s aspirational lifestyle. Solidly in the better-to-have-it-and-not-need-it category of consumer goods is the 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 AT4X, the opulently appointed, off-road-equipped incarnation of GM’s premium pickup truck — and the subject of one of Cars.com’s most popular articles of the past week.

In addition to mild exterior updates and interior upgrades, the current model year for the Sierra 1500 brings a new luxury version of the truck’s asphalt-eschewing AT4 variant — because running in the rough doesn’t have to mean roughing it. (It’s like glamping!) The AT4X boasts myriad off-road appointments, as well as a blacked-out grille and mirrors to drive the point home. That’s in addition to its lone powertrain setup: a 6.2-liter V-8 engine paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission, making an impressive 420 horsepower and 460 pounds-feet of torque. Inside, ersatz off-roaders are treated to a plush, roomy cabin loaded with quality materials and convenience tech features that put the Sierra’s interior in the same ballpark as the Ram 1500’s most luxurious trims.

“The new AT4X could easily head into the muck and do well in such environments, but given the truck’s staggering price tag, you have to wonder how eager its owners will be to thrash their luxury rigs around in such places,” our own Aaron Bragman writes in his review. “The AT4X seems built more for captains of very specific industries (like construction company owners) — drivers more likely to use its abilities on poor terrain, build sites, logging roads and the like.”

For our full review of the 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 AT4X — which includes a specific figure on that aforementioned “staggering price” — follow the link below to the No. 2 article on this week’s countdown.

Checking in at the third-place spot this week, meanwhile, is the redesigned-for-2023 Toyota Prius — which returns for the new model year like a teenage girl in an ’80s high school movie who needed only to take her glasses off and let her hair down to go from homely to homecoming queen. As Bragman again explains, the new Prius ditches its quintessentially Prius exterior design for a swoopy, shapely, alluring new look that takes it from “huh?” to “hubba-hubba.” The price of beauty is, of course, headroom, outward visibility and cargo space, but driving dynamics and ride quality impress while its characteristic fuel efficiency carries forth.

“What Toyota has done with the new 2023 Prius is to re-aim it at a new crowd,” Bragman writes, “one that wants to look cool in something eco-friendly and is willing to accept some compromises in packaging and interior materials quality in exchange for newfound performance and pizazz.”

For our comprehensive critique of the 2023 Toyota Prius, follow the link below to our No. 3 article of the week.

Beyond that, we’ve got headlines on the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, Honda Pilot, Kia Stinger, Cadillac Escalade and much more — so don’t stop reading till the digits double. Here are the top 10 news stories Cars.com readers couldn’t get enough of in the past week:

1. Here Are the 10 Cheapest New SUVs You Can Buy Right Now

2. 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 AT4X Review: Beautifully Built for Things It Will Never Do

3. 2023 Toyota Prius Review: Newly Sexy, Still Not Perfect

4. How Well Do Electric Cars Work in Cold Weather?

5. 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Review: Quicker, Heavier, Pricier

6. Here Are the 10 Cheapest Pickup Trucks You Can Buy Right Now

7. Honda Reveals 2023 Pilot Pricing, Redesigned SUV Hits Dealers in December

8. 2023 Kia Stinger Simplifies Lineup, Adds New Special Editions

9. What’s the Best New-Car Deal for December 2022?

10. 2023 Cadillac Escalade-V Quick Spin: The Rocketship With Room

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