Video: The 2023 GMC Canyon AT4: 5 Things We Like, 4 Things We Don’t

Now all Canyons are meant to be off-road capable. If you want an on-road version of GM's mid-size pickup, you should check out the Chevrolet Colorado. But all of the Canyons, all of its trims, are meant to be off-road capable and it's reflected in the styling. Look at the chunky styling on this thing. It just looks butch and off-road ready. And in particular, look at details like this. This cutout in the front bumper enables you to approach an obstacle off-road, like a boulder, and roll over it with your front tires without damaging your bumper. One of the things we really like about the new '23 Canyon is this interior. It has received a significant upgrade from the last model here. The material quality, the shape, the designs, everything in here looks significantly more upscale than it did from the last model year. Now this is the AT4 level trim. It's kind of a mid-level off-road trim. If you want something super luxurious you're gonna want to go for the Denali trim. Or if you want something nicer than this and still maintain a lot of off-road credibility and capability you're gonna want to try it for the AT4X trim. Now, it's not all wonderful in here. It is actually a little bit smaller than it was, especially in the backseat. The leg room is actually just a little bit less than the previous model, but up front, hey this looks really good. One of the things we really like about the new '23 Canyon is the fact that you've got this great big 11.3 inch touchscreen. It's bright, it's up high, it's easy to use. It's relatively quick as well. But the best thing is that the touch sensitive controls have not taken over. You still have dedicated buttons for the climate control, for the seat ventilation and heat as well. And you've got another bank of switches, actual buttons below that, for things you might use fairly frequently like all four windows down or the automatic stop start lane keep assist, things like that. So it's good to see that GM has not completely turned over to touchscreens for a lot of their trucks. One thing we are really not keen on in the new '23 Canyon is the fact that there's no light switch for the headlights. It's not on a stalk, it's not on the dash. It's here in the touch screen as a little tiny light icon that if you push, you get the headlight controls. And sometimes when you push it doesn't always work and sometimes it disappears really quickly before you've made your selection. But it also means that if the vehicle's off, you don't have any headlight control unless you turn the vehicle on. So it's really kind of a strange omission. But I guess what it does mean is that while you've seen all these vehicles these modern cars driving around without their headlights on at night because someone's accidentally turned the headlights off that's not gonna happen in the Canyon because it defaults to automatically on. So I guess that does save GM a couple of bucks in switches and ensures that you're never gonna have a Canyon driving around without its headlights on. Another thing we don't necessarily like about the new '23 Canyon is the fact that this interior looks good, but it doesn't necessarily feel good. Now what do I mean by that? Well, yeah, a lot of the designs are good. A lot of the coverings look nice, but underneath you have a lot of hard plastic everywhere and once you start touching things, you realize that this is just a hard plastic truck interior covered with some nicer upholstery. So yeah, you never really forget that you're driving a pickup truck in this thing. One thing I'm really not thrilled with in the new '23 Canyon is this digital display. This is an eight inch display in an 11 inch pinnacle. Now you can get an 11 inch display, but you have to bump up to the AT4X in order to do that. Instead, you get this one, but it has these big blacked out areas on either side of it and you do have five different screens, but they're all kind of simple and not really all that interesting aside from the off-road page here. But overall, there's just not a whole lot of effort that looks like was put into this display for a vehicle that costs north of $48,000. I mean, to see what's possible, all they really need to do is go rent your average Hyundai these days and see all the really interesting displays that you could have had in this thing. So perhaps my favorite thing about the new '23 Canyon is this powertrain. You no longer have the option of a V6 or a turbo diesel four cylinder in the Canyon. There's only one engine now, and it is a Turbocharged 2.7 liter four cylinder engine, making 310 horsepower and 430 pounds feet of torque. And if that sounds like a lot of power for a mid-sized truck, that's because it is. Those are V8 power numbers and they're coming out of a turbo four. But I tell you what, between the noise it makes, which is this really great low growl and the actual force that it gives you when you put your foot down? The thing moves, it really is an excellent powertrain. Now it's made it up to an eight speed automatic transmission that usually shifts pretty well. It does tend to hunt a little bit and it is slow to kick down sometimes. But overall, I have to say the powertrain is probably the highlight of the new '23 Canyon. One aspect of the '23 Canyon I am really quite fond of is the handling. The steering in particular. Despite being an off-road truck, and having large 32 inch off-road tires, it is pretty tight. You don't have a lot of wallowing in the lane you don't have a lot of wandering, you don't even really have a lot of noise from these tires either. It's got really great progressive steering, it has decent feedback. I mean, one of the things that General Motors pretty much always does right with its big pickup trucks, the full sized ones, is the dynamics of the things. And that has trickled down into these mids sizers as well. They handle really well. They break really well. The ride is a little choppy, but we'll get to that. But honestly, in terms of just the handling of the thing, the controllability, the body control of it, it's really quite excellent. One thing I'm not too keen on in the '23 Canyon is the ride quality. This is an off-road truck and all of the Canyons are meant to be off-road trucks and so it is rather stiffly sprung and it rides on 18 inch wheels with 32 inch altering off-road tires. So it's gonna be a little bit bouncy. It's gonna be a little bit of a balloony type of ride. And you really do start to feel that, even on fairly smooth pavement like this, the thing is always a little bit unsettled. It's always a little bit too choppy. Now you put some load in the back, you put some people in the cabin with you and it does smooth out a little bit. But overall, it's an off-road truck. It rides like an off-road truck, and if you're expecting that, you won't be disappointed. But if you want something a little bit more comfortable, eh you might not be too thrilled with it. Overall, there's a lot more to like about the new '23 Canyon than there is to dislike. It is a really solid redesign. They've done an excellent job with this mid-size pickup. If you'd like to learn more about the new 2023 Canyon, you can look everything up at cars.com.