2023 GMC Canyon Review and Test Drive
Ready to tackle any road or trail, but at a price premium.
Christian Wardlaw
When you buy a professional-grade tool, you expect high quality, excellent performance, and long-term durability. After all, you're paying a premium, so you rightly set your expectations higher.
GMC positions itself as a "professional grade" brand. So right off the bat, you raise your expectations. In addition, GMC charges more for the same or similar things you can get at the Chevy store for less. So, your expectations rise a bit more. After all, if you’re paying a premium for a professional-grade GMC, you should rightly expect it to be substantially better than an equivalent Chevrolet.
In the past, it hasn’t always been obvious why you should pay extra for a GMC. However, with the redesigned 2023 Canyon, GMC takes numerous steps to convince midsize truck buyers its pickup is worth spending thousands more compared with its fraternal twin, the Chevrolet Colorado.
When performing a Chevy Colorado versus GMC Canyon comparison, you'll discover the GMC gets different styling, more upscale interior design and detailing, unique trim and feature packaging, a standard high-output engine, and exclusive ownership perks. Still, while GMC does a better job than usual of differentiating the Canyon from the Colorado, I think it's insulting to pay extra for paint colors that are free on the Chevy.
So, what's new for the 2023 GMC Canyon? The highlights include a single cab style and bed size, fewer trim levels, and a standard turbocharged engine that helps the Canyon tow up to 7,700 pounds and carry as much as 1,640 pounds of payload. Most 2023 Canyons have standard four-wheel drive (4WD), and a new AT4X trim level that is GMC's version of the Colorado ZR2. Every Canyon also boasts a 2-inch suspension lift and a brutish stance. New technology accompanies the rollout of the redesigned GMC Canyon, including a standard 11.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Google Built-in, an available 11-inch digital instrumentation screen, and an optional 6.3-inch head-up display.
Christian Wardlaw
Clearly, the 2023 GMC Canyon is dressed to impress. And for the most part, it succeeds.
You can buy the 2023 GMC Canyon in Elevation, AT4, Denali, and AT4X trim levels. Base prices range from the high $30,000s to the mid-$50,000s, including the destination charge to ship the truck from the Wentzville, Missouri, factory that builds it to your local dealership.
For this Canyon review, I test-drove the AT4 in Southern California. It came with extra-cost paint, a spray-on bedliner, a power sunroof, a Skid Plate package, and an AT4 Premium package, bringing the manufacturer's suggested retail price to $50,050, including the $1,495 destination charge. GMC provided the vehicle for this Canyon review.
Christian Wardlaw
2023 GMC Canyon Review: The Design
Though it shares much of its bodywork with the Chevy Colorado, the GMC Canyon gets unique front styling, a different hood and tailgate, exclusive wheel designs, fender marker lights, and other minor styling changes. But, fundamentally, it's the same ruggedly handsome truck as the Colorado.
With AT4 trim, the Canyon features a Jet Black over Timber color combination in a mix of cloth and artificial leather or genuine perforated leather with piping and contrast stitching. The test truck had the leather, and it looked convincingly upscale. In addition, the AT4's cabin boasts numerous soft-touch surfaces to draw your attention away from the truck's otherwise shiny plastic interior. Gloss black trim, simulated carbon fiber, and plastic that looks like polished metal add some extra class to the Canyon AT4.
Though digital screens are the rule rather than the exception, GMC wisely keeps the climate controls separate from the 11.3-inch center display. In addition, the Canyon has delightfully simple stereo volume and radio tuning buttons hidden on the back of the steering wheel spokes and a traditional power and volume knob to the left of the infotainment screen.
Christian Wardlaw
You operate the transmission using a conventional shifter instead of a confusing electronic contraption, and you choose transfer-case settings and driving modes with an intuitive control knob on the center console. Don't look for a headlight switch, though, because there isn't one. To manually control the headlights, you must remember which infotainment system menu contains this function, find it, and then tap on the screen to control the exterior lighting.
A dual-zone automatic climate control system is standard with AT4 trim, and during a hot testing week, it quickly blew prodigious amounts of cold air, cooling the interior in mere minutes. Thanks to the AT4 Premium package, the test truck also had power-adjustable, heated, and ventilated front seats with memory for the driver's preferred settings. That option package also equipped the Canyon AT4 with a heated steering wheel.
Christian Wardlaw
Comfort is agreeable front and rear, but the front seats can feel narrow to wider people. In addition, shorter people may struggle to enter and exit the high-riding AT4. Rear legroom is snug, but soft seatbacks, a supportive cushion, and rear air-conditioning vents help to ensure maximum happiness. Storage space is adequate, but no better.
The 2023 Canyon has a cargo bed measuring just over 5 feet long and supplying 41.9 cubic-feet of volume. Upgrades include a spray-on bedliner, a 120-volt power outlet, a half-gate tailgate position for carrying long objects, and a MultiStow tailgate storage area. To use MultiStow, drop the tailgate flat, unlatch the locking mechanisms, and open a panel to reveal a long but shallow storage area equipped with a drain plug. Steps embedded into the corners of the back bumper make it easier to access the bed when the tailgate is closed.
Christian Wardlaw
2023 GMC Canyon Review: The Technology
Every 2023 Canyon has a digital instrumentation display. It measures 8.0 inches diagonally with Elevation and AT4 trim and 11.3 inches with Denali and AT4X trim. Using the steering wheel controls, you can cycle through numerous data panels, including some that show off-roading data. You can also find the off-roading information through the 11.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system. Highlights include a compass, current elevation, GPS coordinates, tire-pressure monitoring, vehicle pitch and roll, and more.
The 2023 Canyon features Google built-in with access to Google Maps, Google Assistant, Google Play, and more. It also supports Bluetooth connectivity and provides access to wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, SiriusXM satellite radio, and OnStar with GMC Connected Services, which provides access to a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hot spot. In addition, using the infotainment touchscreen, you can access numerous menus to select preferred settings or operate selected features and functions.
You'll find a column of intuitive main menu icons to the left of the primary display. Farther left is a knob to control stereo power and volume, and you can also adjust the volume and tune the radio using handy controls hidden on the back of the steering wheel spokes. Overall, I think the user interface is excellent.
In addition, the Google Assistant recognizes naturally spoken commands, though I and the AI had to spend some quality time getting to know each other. For example, in nearly all test vehicles, if I wish to discontinue my interest in finding the nearest coffee shop, I'll typically say "Cancel," and the voice assistant will halt the search. But Google Assistant doesn't respond to that command, offering three choices before asking if I want to continue.
Christian Wardlaw
Also, while listening to satellite radio, I told Google Assistant I wanted to hear some reggae music, and the system recommended using Spotify instead of Bob Marley's Tuff Gong Radio on SiriusXM. So, there is an acclimation period during which you'll get to know the system's quirks of operation.
The Canyon Pro Safety package equips this GMC with a suite of advanced driver-assistance systems, including forward-collision warning with pedestrian and cyclist detection, automated emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, and automatic high-beam headlights. The test truck's AT4 Premium package added Blind Zone Steering Assist, an active blind-spot warning system that can add steering assistance to help prevent a collision. The AT4 Premium package also equips the Canyon with rear cross-traffic alert with automatic braking and rear parking sensors.
The test truck did not have the optional Technology or Technology Plus packages. They include adaptive cruise control, a rear pedestrian-detection system, and a surround-view camera system. The Technology Plus package adds a 6.3-inch head-up display to the collection of features.
Christian Wardlaw
During testing, the equipped safety features operated as expected, with one glaring exception: The forward-collision warning system regularly hallucinated obstacles, erupting in an audible warning and a bright, flashing red visual alert reflecting off the windshield. Even after adjusting the gap sensitivity to its lowest setting, every drive in the truck included false collision warnings (but, thankfully, no unnecessary emergency braking).
In addition, while driving on the freeway, I forgot the test truck did not have adaptive cruise control. Yet as the Canyon approached slower vehicles ahead and closed to an uncomfortable following distance, the forward-collision warning system remained silent.
Although you can turn off the forward-collision warning system, it's worth noting that it's an important safety feature. On the other hand, if you leave it on, the regular false alerts might teach you to ignore the warnings — which ultimately has the same effect as turning off the technology. For the record, you can find owners complaining about this problem on the internet, and I have experienced it in both the Chevy Colorado and the GMC Canyon.
During testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the 2023 Canyon earned an Overall Safety Rating of four out of five stars. At the time of publication, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has not performed crash testing on the 2023 Canyon.
Christian Wardlaw
2023 GMC Canyon Review: The Drive
GMC equips the 2023 Canyon with a standard high-output version of a turbocharged 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine. It supplies 310 horsepower at 5,600 rpm and 430 pound-feet of torque at 3,000 rpm, which is plenty for a midsize pickup truck. An eight-speed automatic transmission is standard, and it has Powertrain Grade Braking and Cruise Grade Braking software that holds the transmission in a lower gear when descending a mountain road. Both are effective, perhaps too much so.
The Canyon Elevation is available with two-wheel drive. Optional with this trim and standard on the AT4, Denali, and AT4X, an Autotrac electronic four-wheel-drive (4WD) system with a two-speed transfer case provides 2WD, Auto 4WD, 4-Hi, and 4-Lo settings. Hill-descent control is standard, starting with AT4 trim. In addition, drivers can choose between Normal, Off-Road, Terrain, and Tow/Haul driving modes. The AT4X adds an exclusive Baja driving mode.
Most Canyons have an off-road suspension with a 2-inch factory lift, all-terrain tires, and 9.6 inches of ground clearance. The AT4X gets a 3-inch lift, mud-terrain tires, and 10.7 inches of ground clearance. All versions also feature front styling that maximizes the truck's approach angle, and starting with the AT4, the truck has a front skid plate. An available Skid Plate package adds additional underbody protection.
Christian Wardlaw
Based on these specifications, GMC clearly intends for Canyon buyers to take the truck off-roading. So, that's what I did, tackling a mountain trail that is impossible to traverse without 4WD and plenty of clearance. The Canyon AT4 effortlessly aced the challenge, though I wished the test truck had the optional underbody cameras to help improve visibility at ground level.
I spent the rest of my week in the truck driving the suburban streets, freeways, mountain roads, and coastal highways of California's Ventura County, each drive interrupted by sporadic and meaningless false forward-collision warning alerts. If not for that problem, every stint behind the wheel would have been enjoyable.
Acceleration is swift, the ride is remarkably composed, the on-pavement handling is decent, and the brakes feel responsive through an easily modulated pedal. In addition, the Canyon is remarkably quiet inside despite its all-terrain tires, tall ride height, and blunt shape.
Christian Wardlaw
This truck also feels hewn from a single chunk of steel, proving structurally rigid on and off the road. Rocks and ruts, speed bumps and humps, and other surface irregularities fail to faze the Canyon AT4. Driving a vehicle unconcerned about drainage dips, driveway aprons, parking blocks, or curbing a wheel is liberating.
The official EPA fuel economy rating for a GMC Canyon with 4WD and all-terrain tires is 17/21/19 mpg in city/highway/combined driving. That's identical to the larger GMC Sierra 1500 equipped with the same turbocharged four-cylinder drivetrain, and only 2 mpg better than a Sierra with a V8 and 4WD. So, don't buy a Canyon expecting to save money at the gas pump. On the evaluation loop, including off-roading, the Canyon AT4 averaged 18.6 mpg driven mainly in Normal mode with the transfer case in its Auto 4WD setting.
Christian Wardlaw
Is the 2023 GMC Canyon a Good Truck?
If you're looking for the best value in a midsize pickup truck, the GMC Canyon isn't the right choice. Check out the Chevy Colorado or shop for an alternative that isn't the similarly expensive Honda Ridgeline or Jeep Gladiator.
If you bang-for-the-buck from the equation, I think the new 2023 Canyon is a good truck except for some unexpectedly cheap bits and pieces within the cab and the behavior of the forward-collision-warning system. The constant collision warnings make it hard to recommend the Canyon.
Written by humans.
Edited by humans.
Christian WardlawMy first word was “car.” That’s what I’m told, anyway. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with them. The design. The engineering. The performance. And the purpose. I’m a car enthusiast who loves to drive, but I’m also most interested in the cars, trucks, and SUVs that people actually buy. Anybody can tell you that a sports car is fast. What you need to know is whether or not you should buy that new SUV, and why. My life purpose is to help you make that decision.
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