Vehicle Overview
GMC fires another salvo in the pickup truck door wars with a crew-cab version of its compact Sonoma. Chevrolet also offers a crew-cab version of the similar S-10 pickup.
Both GM brands previously offered extended-cab models with a rear-opening third door on the drivers side. Crew cabs have four conventional doors that open to the front. Sonoma and S-10 crew cabs are available only with four-wheel drive and a 4.3-liter V-6 engine. The rival Ford Ranger, the best-selling compact pickup, offers dual rear doors that open toward the rear. Four-door crew cabs also are available on the Toyota Tundra, Nissan Frontier and Dodge Dakota compact pickups.
Exterior
With the addition of the crew cab, the Sonoma now comes in four sizes. The regular cab is 191 inches long with a 6-foot cargo bed and 207 inches long with a 7.5-foot cargo bed. The extended cab comes with the 6-foot bed and is 205 inches bumper to bumper. The crew cab has the same overall length as the extended cab. But with more space devoted to the rear doors, the cargo bed shrinks to 4.5 feet.
Interior
Both regular-cab and extended models can have either a front bench seat that fits three people or a pair of bucket seats. Two folding rear jump seats are standard on extended-cab models, but the one on the drivers side is deleted from versions with the optional third door.
The crew cab comes only in the top-shelf SLS trim with front buckets and a three-place rear bench.
Under the Hood
A 120-horsepower 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine is standard on two-wheel-drive models. A 4.3-liter V-6 is standard on four-wheel-drive models and optional on 2WDs. The V-6 rates 180 hp with 2WD and 190 hp with 4WD.
The 4x4s use General Motors Insta-Trac system, which has an electronic transfer case that allows shifting in or out of 4WD High on the move with a dashboard switch.
