Video: 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali Ultimate Review: The Traditionalist’s Choice

liter V8, paired with a 10 speed automatic transmission and four wheel drive. Without payload, the Sierra finished our zero to 60 mile an hour acceleration testing in 6.2 seconds, and with payload, completed that sprint in seven seconds flat. In our braking tests, the Sierra came to a stop from 60 miles an hour without payload in 146 feet and just 139 feet with payload. Our fuel economy testing also surprised, given the theoretically thirsty V8 under the hood. With no trailer, our observed fuel economy was 21.5 miles per gallon, and with the camping trailer, our towing fuel economy was 11 miles per gallon, so let's start with the good. Our judges were impressed by the vehicle user interface in the Sierra, with the touchscreen among the easiest to use, if not the easiest and an excellent layout of physical controls around and below the touchscreen as well. We found these controls easy to use and not overly complicated, which is saying something in this day and age. It may not have been the fastest in our test, but the Sierra's 6.2 liter V8 shone when towing. The V8 was responsive even with a camper trailer behind the truck and we didn't mind that it was noisy and less refined, but it inspired confidence with its directness. The same goes for the rest of its towing manners, we found it confident and easy to tow a trailer in the Sierra, even in high winds. No matter what, at the end of the day, every judge would've preferred to get behind the wheel of the Sierra one more time. This comes down to objective measurements, but the GMC's CarbonPro carbon fiber composite cargo box was the widest between the wheel wells at 51 inches and the longest at 70 inches, giving you tons of room in the bed to store all of your gear. On the subjective side of the bed, pun intended, the Sierra also had the easiest way to get into what you're storing in this cargo area, with its MultiPro Tailgate, giving you a convenient bed step in from the back, cutouts in the bumper to help you jump in from the corners, and with its powered running boards, a feature that lets you slide them back to give you access toward the cabin so you don't have to climb all the way into the bed just to get things that are towards the front of the truck. It's easily the best and while we might prefer the Ford's bed step design, the Sierra had the best combination of multiple ways to access the bed that made it super easy and convenient. Our judges were in agreement that GM's Super Cruise hands-free semi-autonomous driving system, available in the Sierra, was the best of the bunch in this test with confidence inspiring lane centering features and the ability to use it with a trailer. We didn't quite like it as much when we were trailer-ing, but it is a nice to have feature, especially when you're stuck in stop and go traffic. It also has very smooth automated lane changes. Lastly, the GMC scored very well in our car seat fitment tests, where the biggest complaint was a floppy driver's side seatbelt buckle, which might make it harder for a child to use in a booster seat. Now we're onto the bad, unfortunately for the GMC, it has just atrocious outward visibility, it feels like a rolling bunker with small side mirrors, a tall and long hood, and small rear windscreen that make it the hardest to see out of and the biggest feeling truck in the test. Our judges scored the GMC lowest for in-cabin storage, complaining that while there is a decent amount of storage in the Sierra's cabin, not a lot of it is open and easily accessible like it is in the Ford and Ram. Look, we can talk about whether or not pickups should be fast, but we can't argue with the numbers, the GMC is the slowest truck of these three by a lot. It was 0.6 seconds slower than the Ford to 60 miles per hour and almost 1.5 seconds slower, at 1.4 seconds, than the Ram. This used to be the hot rod in the category and it's been surpassed. Despite the fact that it has two more cylinders and makes a glorious noise, the Sierra is slow and that's all there is to it. Our judges also had a lot of problems with the Google-based operating system in the Sierra. We tried to tune the satellite radio using voice commands and some stations would work and others wouldn't and there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to why, it was frustrating, unlike some other voice command systems in other trucks in this comparison. There's a lot to like about the 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali Ultimate and in this comparison, it wasn't that far from being the ultimate truck, eh, eh, get it? You can find the complete results of our comparison as well as my full review of the GMC Sierra 1500 on cars.com/news.