GMC Canyon AT4X Take ‘Roids, Earns 3 Letters
It’s a great time to be a fan of midsize trucks with an off-road bent. Ford has finally Raptor-ized the Ranger, we know Toyota has tricks up its sleeve for the next-gen Tacoma, and General Motors has numerous dirt-road variants of its Colorado/Canyon cousins.
The latest? What appears to be an AEV variant of the already-capable Canyon AT4X.
First, a primer. The AT4X is the new king o’ the hill in Canyonland, packing a set of those tremendous DSSV Multimatic dampers which first appeared for pickup truck duty on the Chevy Colorado ZR2 about five years ago. This time around, GMC dealers get to play in the dirt with an equivalent variant, equipped with that trick suspension and a raft of other off-road goodies.
Appending the letters AEV to any GMC AT4X truck is a ticket to equipping the thing with features and tools one generally plucks from an aftermarket catalog. Above and beyond the standard AT4X is gear such as stamped-steel bumpers, accessory winch capability, extra-stout steel bash plates, and the typical smattering of special badges. Aggro-grade wheels and tires further set the thing apart.
Alert readers will recall the last-gen Colorado had a burly Bison package to layer on top of the ZR2 trim. Checking the Bison box gifted the truck off-road items similar to those described for the AEV, though it is worth noting the Bison was introduced first as part of a collab between GM and Dave Harrington, the boss of American Expedition Vehicles. Engineers at The General essentially tossed him the keys to a new ZR2 and told him to equip it as he would if it were his own truck and planning a tough off-road journey. In quick succession, the Bison name migrated to other pickups in the Chevy lineup.
It didn’t take long for an equivalent effort – simply called AEV – to appear in GMC showrooms. If you think that decision was a result of GMC dealers whinging to RenCen for a Bison of their own, you’re probably right. There was a covered prototype on display at a GMC event attended by this author a few weeks ago; it’s safe to say this thing will have presence on the trail.
The introduction of a Canyon AT4X AEV on July 6th will complete a trifecta of burly off-roaders for GMC: the Canyon, Silverado 1500, and Silverado HD can now all be equipped with the package.
[Image: GMC]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.
More by Matthew Guy
Latest Car Reviews
Read moreLatest Product Reviews
Read moreRecent Comments
- THX1136 That's so cool. This one is close to what I had accumulated with the 84 Shelby Charger I owned. Since it only had a 5 digit odo no one would know it had over 406k. I kept track of everyplace it turned over with only 2 still lodged in my 71 yo brain. If I had taken care of it cosmetically as well as I did mechanically I still think I could have gotten to 500k which was a goal I set for myself. The Toyota mentioned is quite impressive at over 900k. Thanks for the write up, Murilee!
- Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Nice to see. I like the Top 10 list and seeing "80s Mercedes" within.
- Redapple2 jeffbut they (gm) dont want to ... their (gm ) pick up is 4th behind ford/ram, Toyota. GM has the Best engineers in the world. (gm has )More truck profit than the other 3 (manufacturers (ford, ram , toyota)). (The combined sales of ) Silverado + Sierra+ Tahoe + Yukon sales = (yields ) 2x ford total (profit from trucks) @ $15,000 profit per. (therefore gm has )Tons of $ (money ) to invest in the BEST truck. No. They make crap. Garbage. Evil gm Vampire. (expound / corrections )
- UnoGeeks Great information. Unogeeks is the top SAP ABAP Training Institute, which provides the best SAP ABAP Training
- ToolGuy This thing here is interesting.For example, I can select "Historical" and "EV stock" and "Cars" and "USA" and see how many BEVs and PHEVs were on U.S. roads from 2010 to 2023."EV stock share" is also interesting. Or perhaps you prefer "EV sales share".If you are in the U.S., whatever you do, do not select "World" in the 'Region' dropdown. It might blow your small insular mind. 😉
Comments
Join the conversation
I hit the US Forest Service roads once in a while. Never the radical stuff. Question. These beefed up for off roading trucks - $70,000 +++. So, this gives you the ability to hit radical stuff > but that stuff can damage your truck> the truck you just paid $70,000.
Do they come with Offroad-Mode Automatized Self-Driving? No? Then they are behind the times. Forget it!