They say kitchens sell houses. Can a tailgate sell a truck? The calling card of the 2019 GMC Sierra isn’t the hulking engine or the trademark grille, but the six-way MultiPro tailgate, GMC’s attempt to turn the ordinary up-or-down tailgate of old into a multitool meant to get you in and out of the bed easier and help you do more with the back of your pickup. MultiPro is one of several new technologies meant to give the new full-size truck more wow factor, and also to make the Sierra feel like a truly elevated truck (and not a rebadged Chevrolet Silverado, a stereotype GM is trying to shed). Motoring around the rugged, tree-lined island of Newfoundland in a ’19 Sierra Denali, we saw what this high-tech truck can do and tested out the four features you need to know. MultiPro Tailgate Andrew Moseman The idea to reinvent the tailgate was born from GMC’s innovation lab, what the company describes as its own private version of Shark Tank where engineers can pitch any new idea no matter how strange. The project spent two years in R&D to be ready for its star turn as a standard item on the SLT and Denali variant of the new Sierra, and also on AT4, GMC’s newly introduced off-road truck. The MultiPro can fold straight down like a typical tailgate would, but also has a secondary hinged piece that can stand upward at the end as a catching, allowing a person to carry longer items than the 5-foot-8-inch box could normally accommodate. Or a piece can fold downwards in the middle, creating a lower step for easy access when climbing up (there’s a hand grab bar that folds out, too, to help you pull yourself up). Three more configurations are available by leaving the main gate upright but pulling down the smaller “inner gate” as shown below above. In this way you can create a flat surface to work on while standing behind the truck, or raise a stop in back to catch items at a different height (it’s built with four-foot-wide cargo such as sheets of plywood in mind). GMC loaded our truck with a Newfoundland assortment of payload—cod boxes, lobster traps—to show off try a person might want a transformer tailgate. It’s complicated, but frankly, it’s cool. “We will absolutely sell trucks based on the innovation in that tailgate,” GMC’s Phil Bloom says. Rear-View Camera The outgoing Sierra features the first-generation of this option. Basically, push back a tab on the rearview mirror and it switches from a real mirror into a digital display showing the feed from a rear-facing camera mounted on the truck’s exterior. Under normal driving conditions, it’s frankly difficult to use; a person’s eyes must adjust to looking at the real world to looking at a digital screen every time they gaze up there. The idea, though, is that a camera feed would be useful anytime you’re hauling a bed full of gear or a trailer or anything else that obstructs the view backward, and to that end, the second-gen camera in the new Sierra features options to make the screen brighter or dimmer or to adjust the zoom to help you see more of what’s behind you. ProGrade Trailering GMC High-end trucks are getting tech-heavy. Trailers? Not so much. That bed for your boat remains rooted in dumb technology and old-school skill and patience. Since it doesn’t build the trailers, GMC is trying to hack some additional smarts into the truck. The new Sierra comes with a center console app full of checklists to make sure you don’t miss any steps when attaching a trailer. A seasoned driver may not need such guidance, but might welcome some of the other included tricks. The just-discussed rearview camera has Hitch Mode to show you exactly how far off you are from the trailer ball, plus a kind of steering guidance overlay suggesting which way to cut the wheel. GM’s OnStar theft deterrence extends to the trailer itself now, meaning it will sound the car alarm if somebody tries to detach your boat. Perhaps most helpful is a feature that auto-engages the parking brake once you’re perfectly positioned to prevent the truck from rolling a few inches and screwing it all up. CarbonPro Box CarbonPro box. GMC The meek won’t inherit the Earth—cockroaches and carbon-fiber truck beds will. That’s GMC Chief Engineer Tim Herrick’s favorite joke about this project, and while it may be exaggeration in the name of salesmanship, it demonstrates how much the brand is thinking about integrating carbon fiber components sooner rather than later. The CarbonPro (yes, GMC loves to call things “Pro”) won’t be available as an option until sometime in 2019. But when it arrives it will be what GMC calls a nigh-indestructible bed, resistant to the dings and scratches you might get in, say, steel. How the CarbonPro box is made. GMC Now, you don’t need a truck bed made with carbon fiber, and you might look upon truck bed scratches as the earned stripes from a life of hard work. Plus, CarbonPro is bound to be a pricey option (the exact figure hasn’t been announced yet) just to shave 62 lbs. and have the coolest bed on the block. This tech feels like a play toward the future, a way for GMC to figure out how to manufacture the lightweight carbon fiber parts that will infiltrate future trucks the way aluminum has become the material of today. The Rest of the Ride Two things strike you upon climbing into the 2019 Sierra. First, it’s spacious. Even in the back it feels cavernous. GMC Second is the heads-up display that glows before your eyes. Such a bright display is a bit jarring, especially if you’re accustomed to driving cars that don’t project a bunch of charts and numbers into your field of view. Thankfully, a few buttons to the left of the wheel will reposition the HUD, brighten or darken it, and toggle through its modes. For driving the twisty roads of foggy Newfoundland, all you need is the speedometer and the lane-keeping assist to let you know when the truck drifts to close to the edge. Charging up a hill during the brief off-road demo, it’s handy to have the data-rich display that also shows the truck’s angle of incline. All automakers are turning to clever bits of engineering to shave weight without losing power. It’s especially crucial for trucks, which need to make better MPG but can’t sacrifice the torque their drivers demand. GMC’s take on cylinder deactivation (closing off some of the engine’s cylinders when they’re not needed to save gas) is called Dynamic Fuel Management, using technology from Tula that we covered earlier this month. The 6.2-liter V8 in our Sierra Denali could change 10 times per second into one of 17 different configurations, in some cases using as few as two of the eight cylinders. Interestingly, GMC chose not to display this information in the dash, though one of its engineers plugged a monitor into the OBD II port to show us the switching in action. For everyday drivers, Dynamic Fuel Management will do its business invisibly. 2019 GMC Sierra AT4. Andrew Moseman Even with such fuel-saving tactics, the Sierra has got plenty of muscle to move you. Sport mode, in particular, impressively tightens the steering and throttle response. I wasn’t expecting a full-sized truck to corner with so much agility as Canada’s constricted byways snaked through Heart’s Delight, Carbonear, and, of course, the town of Dildo, Newfoundland. What a country. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>The 2019 GMC Sierra is basically the luxury-branded version of the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado, offering number of fun tech goodies that the Chevy doesn’t. But as fun as those are, it’s really the styling of the off-road model, the AT4, that makes the Sierra stand out. Advertisement (Full Disclosure: GMC flew me to St. John’s, Newfoundland in Canada, put me up in a nice hotel, and fed me foods that had to be described at length by waiters prior to consumption.) The GMC brand is an odd one, with all of its vehicles being based on the same platforms as Chevrolets, but with unique styling and a few features that GMC hopes will help its products look a bit more “premium” than the ones with bowties on their grilles. It works, too. These things sell like hotcakes. The 2019 GMC Sierra, for example, is built on the very same bones as the Silverado, and is powered by the same engines. But to make it stand out, the “professional grade” truck has some fun tech features like a crazy multi-mode tailgate and a fancy carbon fiber bed . (Expect a bigger deep dive into the tailgate soon.) But as cool as I found them to be , the one thing that would compel me to snag the GMC over the Chevy isn’t the gizmos. Advertisement What Is It? GMC claims that the new Sierra has been more differentiated from its Silverado chassis-mate than ever before, with the luxury-branded truck getting a unique hood, unique fenders, a different front fascia, a special box, and GMC-tailored rear lights. The only major body parts shared with the Silverado, GMC representatives told me, are the cab and the rear doors. On top of that, the GMC gets a bunch of fancy features not available in the Silverado, like an available adaptive damping suspension setup, that optional carbon fiber box, and of course the ridiculously complex six-position MultiPro tailgate. Plus , the Sierra can be had with a special ProGrade Trailering System that includes cameras and apps to ease the burden of towing. As far as mechanical bits go, the GMC gets the same powertrain options as the Silverado. There’s the old 4.3-liter V6 and 5.3-liter V8 from the outgoing generation of trucks, both of which are bolted to six-speed automatics. Plus there’s a new 2.7-liter turbo inline-four and an updated 5.3-liter V8, which are both hooked up to eight-speed autos. Advertisement And there’s an updated 6.2-liter V8 and a fresh new 3.0-liter turbo diesel inline-six, which both spin input shafts of 10-speed autos. The updated 5.3-liter and 6.2-liter now have what GMC calls “Dynamic Fuel Management,” which is an advanced cylinder deactivation technology that—instead of switching between eight and four cylinder modes—actually allows the two motors to run in 17 different patterns between two and eight cylinders in order to optimize efficiency. Also new for the 2019 Sierra is an “AT4" trim level, which represents GMC’s version of the Chevrolet Silverado’s “Trail Boss,” and which, like the Chevy, gets unique styling to separate it from other trim levels. Like the Silverado, the AT4 also gets a two-inch lift, underbody skid plates, Rancho monotube shocks, optional Goodyear Duratrac all-terrain tires, and—most importantly—a locking rear differential. Advertisement What’s Great I’ll begin by saying that the AT4 Sierra is just a sharp looking truck. It takes the standard Sierra, throws some black chrome in the fog lamp bezels, fender surround, and grille insert, plus it turns the grille surround, door handles, and bumpers body-color—a huge improvement over the gaudy chrome that accentuates the weird shape of the grille on other trims. On top of that, the AT4 trim slaps on some red tow hooks onto the lower fascia and bolts on unique 18-inch or 20-inch wheels. GMC says the AT4 offers “authentic off-road capability,” and while that’s totally subjective, I will say that there were three features that—based on the extremely light off-roading during my time with the truck—really help the AT4 when it comes to wandering off the trail Advertisement The optional Goodyear Duratrac tires not only look great, but they are just fantastic, and highly respected in the off-road scene. The rear solid axle, as you can see in my little flex above, offers an impressive amount of articulation, even if the front independent suspension setup does not. Plus, the two-speed transfer case’s low-range gearing (activated through a simple switch on the left side of the steering wheel, shown below) made crawling a breeze. I’ll also say that the two-inch lift kit—which, it’s worth mentioning, is surprisingly bone-simple, consisting of a two-inch block in the rear and lifted spring perches up front—yielded respectable ground clearance, even if that front fascia’s chin is a bit closer to the dirt than I might like. I only drove the 6.2-liter V8 during my time with the GMC Sierra. The motor makes a solid 420 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque, and lugs around about 5,400 pounds of weight respectably, making a pleasant growl with the pedal mashed to the floor. Sure, it only manages about 15 MPG in the city and between 19 and 21 on the highway depending on trim, but the power is worth the thirst. (These are good words to live by). Advertisement The 10-speed automatic—the same one used in the Chevy Camaro and GMC Yukon, though calibrated differently—shifted nicely and felt like it was always in the right gear at the right time. And, to be honest, when I wasn’t deep on the throttle, I just forgot about it and that big V8, as the cabin isolated me into a cocoon of comfort. Speaking of comfort, I can’t say the Adaptive Ride Control made the Sierra’s ride any nicer than that of the latest Ram 1500 I drove, but it actually did a decent job shrugging off the the heavily-potholed roads in Newfoundland, especially for a heavy body-on-frame, leaf-sprung pickup. Another area where the Sierra excelled was in the clarity of its Cameras. The backup camera, the Surround Vision “bird’s eye” camera, and even the rearview mirror camera were all beautifully sharp. Advertisement The picture on that rearview camera can even be tiled and zoomed in, and though I found myself just using the standard mirror, there’s no denying that this camera was well executed. The trailer hitch camera on the tailgate gave a nice view just above the center of the hitch, and though I didn’t have a chance to actually back up and hook up a trailer, this is one of those features that seems like it’ll be a godsend when trying to pick up a project car with a U-Haul. Image: GMC I did use the big three-inch by seven-inch head-up display pretty much the entire time, and thought it was great, giving me the speed limit and navigation information I needed without being overly obtrusive. Plus, the gauge cluster was also crystal clear and easy to read. Advertisement Plus, I found the truck’s MultiPro tailgate, which can be configured into six different positions, to be intuitive and a hell of a lot of fun, even if I don’t think buyers of $45,000 to $70,000 trucks are necessarily going to take advantage of the added utility. (A full review on the tailgate will come later). What’s Weak I spent much of my time driving the nearly $70,000 GMC Sierra Denali, and as nice as the interior was comfort wise, I didn’t find the design particularly appealing. The dashboard looks like it’s giving birth to the chunky center console (sorry for that image everyone), the dual gloveboxes with their huge handles aren’t particularly pretty, and the eight-inch infotainment screen is just a little boring. Advertisement By comparison, I recently sat in a Ram 1500, and just look at how well FCA hid the second glovebox by using a button instead of a handle. And check out that impressive display in the center that reminds you that yes, this is an expensive-ass truck. The GMC Sierra is also an expensive-ass truck, but despite the aluminum bits and the nice leather trim, GMC’s devotion to looking “professional grade” (i.e. chunky) yields an interior design doesn’t make that obvious enough. I also wasn’t particularly impressed by the automatic rear locker, which required quite a bit of wheelspin before actually locking up—that’s not something you want when traversing a technical rock-bed. Advertisement The underbody skid plates also looked a bit modest, with GMC saying there’s just a front oil pan skid plate (that silver thing shown above, presumably), and a transfer case skid plate. The fuel tank, I noticed, was unprotected. Early Verdict GMC Pickups GMC Pickups Sierra Denali & AT4 Sierra Denali & AT4 For Daily Driving...B It's comfortable enough, powerful enough, and practical enough. Though a bit thirsty. For The Enthusiast...B The AT4 and Denali will tow 9,300 pounds and carry over 1,600 pounds of payload. Vehicle Type Pickup Truck Powertrain 6.2-liter V8 Power 420 horsepower Weight ~5,300-5,400 Price ~67,000 (Denali) Data Via GMC The GMC Sierra can be had with a lot of fun features, like a wacky and fun multi-mode tailgate, a carbon fiber bed (which I didn’t get a chance to really put to the test), a crystal clear rearview mirror camera, a big head-up display, and adaptive damping. These features aren’t only fun, they do a decent job at masking the fact that, at its core, this truck is a basic machine with a pushrod V8 sending power through a solid axle connected to a frame via leaf springs. But in the end, to me, what makes the Sierra compelling isn’t all the tech, it’s something a lot simpler: the styling. (The new, controversial Silverado is growing on me too, I’ll admit.) In AT4 guise, the Sierra is a sharp looking machine. That more than anything, along with its general competence, is what draws me to it. Advertisement Correction Aug. 31, 2018: The 3" x7" head-up display is not a GMC-exclusive feature; it’s also available in the Silverado, as is the rearview camera mirror.<doc-sep>
Arguably the biggest feature that distinguishes the 2019 GMC Sierra from the Chevrolet Silverado other than the styling is the fancy “MultiPro” tailgate, which I had a chance to spend an entire day with last week. My conclusion: Even if it’s more of a novelty feature than it is an essential bit of tech, the MultiPro tailgate is still plenty of fun. (Full Disclosure: GMC flew me to Newfoundland, fed me seafood, and put me up in a hotel—all so I could drive the new Sierra.) Though I’ve played with the 2019 GMC Sierra’s MultiPro tailgate before, I recently had a chance to spend hours with one and actually use it for a bit of work, and I came away a fan. Mostly because it’s just downright weird. It’s literally a tailgate within a tailgate within a tailgate—here’s a look at this tailgate-ception in action: I’ll begin by saying that I’m into the general concept, mostly because I’m the kind of person who spends money on fancy pocket knives, ridiculously ornate anodized aluminum flashlights and other crap . So this kind of mechanical nerdiness is right up my alley. The first of the GMC Sierra’s MultiPro tailgate’s six positions (which I enumerate in my MultiPro tailgate explainer) that I had a chance to put to use was the work surface created by clicking the top button on the tailgate and folding only the inner section. Someone apparently took a photo of me, so here I am doodling pictures of Jeeps—I mean writing notes—as GMC execs talked about their new truck: The surface is exactly at the right level for someone of my height (I’m 5'8"), and though it’s ribbed and coated with a textured bedliner, using my notebook’s cardboard backbone made this a supremely comfortable place to scratch down some ideas for my postal Jeep project—I mean a few words about the Sierra’s “bold” design. I will say that folding the tailgate down would have done the job, too. Sure, it would have been a bit lower and not quite as comfortable, and I’d likely have sat on it and written off to the side, but for temporary use like reading maps and quickly writing a few notes, a standard tailgate suffices. So I’d say the work surface is helpful, but maybe not entirely necessary unless for some reason you need to stand and write notes or type on your truck for multiple hours. Next, I dropped the main tailgate, and tried out the “easy access” position, which dropped the center section of the gate out of the way to let me push a few items farther into the bed, and to more easily snag stuff from the front of the bed. It seemed fairly straightforward, and helped get my reach about a foot farther in. I will say that, as I noticed during the initial reveal, trying to find the button that drops the center section of the tailgate when the main gate is in the down position takes a bit of getting used to, as there’s no visual indicator of where that switch is. With the inner tailgate down, folding the step simply requires pressing the button at the center of the tailgate, pointed out above. I found that that button, especially when pressed to deploy a load stop—also took a bit of getting used to, as it had to be pushed in rather far, and could only be pressed by my fingers. I’ll also say that the step isn’t particularly low, requiring me to bend my knee over 90 degrees. The cut-outs in the corners of the rear bumper appeared to be only maybe an inch or so higher, and I found that using it while grabbing onto the bedside wasn’t much more difficult than using the fancy tailgate step. I’ll admit, though, that when coming down off the bed, especially while carrying a heavy load, the tailgate step is much friendlier than trying to use those steps in the bumper. This is probably a good place to mention the MultiPro side steps, which aren’t new to the 2019 GMC Sierra, but are still incredibly useful. Just kick a button on the back side of the side steps, and they come out, and rearward. Especially because they’re lower than the tailgate step, they make getting things from the front of the bed a breeze. I found myself using this feature more frequently than the tailgate for throwing things into the bed, and snagging them back out.