2011 GMC Sierra Denali HD Pickup Truck Review

Every once in a while, I drive a truck that overwhelms me. I just can't figure out who needs its particular combination of features and capabilities, no matter how hard I flog my brain. The 2011 GMC Sierra Denali 2500 is one of those trucks. With a base price of $45,865 ($61,189 as tested), the 2011 GMC Sierra Denali 2500 4WD comes with a 3-year/36,000 mile basic warranty and a 5-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty. The EPA doesn't require fuel economy estimates for vehicles over 8,500 lbs GVWR, so we can only guess what the diesel-powered Denali will do. Let's drive.

What Our Star Ratings Mean

2011 is the first time that the Denali treatment has been applied to Heavy Duty (2500- and 3500-series) Sierra pickup trucks. In case you're not familiar with the Denali trim level, just imagine checking every option box on the dealer's order sheet, then dreaming up more flash and bling options, and checking those, too. Denali is not for the shy or faint of heart -- this is a truck that will get some attention, both positive and negative.

The Denali treatment is only available on 2500 Crew Cab 4x4 trucks with the standard (78.8" long) bed, or on the 3500 Crew Cab 4x4 with the long (97.7") bed. My 2500 HD test truck looked nicely balanced with its standard bed and 240.1" overall length.

Denali's most immediately identifiable feature is a massive, heavily chromed grille with a very assertive honeycomb pattern. Offset by a pair of stacked headlights, and underlined by a separate chrome honeycomb insert and fog lamps in the fascia lower, Denali presents an intimidating face in the rearview mirror of the traffic ahead.

Standard 18" polished aluminum wheels dress the corners -- though any self-respecting Denali owner will opt for the 20" forged polished aluminum wheels ($850) that my test vehicle wore.

I was quite unimpressed with the plastic drop-in bedliner in the Denali's bed. It was poorly sealed to the chassis, allowing water and dirt to sneak in behind, promising future corrosion problems. I'd toss it in the dumpster first thing, and get a spray-in bedliner installed post haste. That would also improve access to the tie downs, which are currently hidden behind snap-in panels in the bedliner.

The Denali treatment really flowers inside the cabin of the Sierra HD pickup, and this is where my confusion escalates. Is anybody really looking for a truck with an interior that is as highly finished as a luxury sedan? Denali's leather-appointed bucket seats get 12-way power, standard seat heat and 2-postion driver memory. My test vehicle even had optional ($650) heated and cooled seats and an optional ($150) heated steering wheel. GMC opts for a tilt steering wheel with power adjustable foot pedals -- I prefer a telescoping adjustment for the steering wheel, but I had no problem finding the right driving position.

I appreciate the simplicity of Sierra's center stack, but I think it's time to rethink the location of the touchscreen controls for the navigation system. The screen is set in the center of the dash, when it would be safer and easier to operate if it was mounted at the top of the stack. This dash design is starting to look a bit dated after four years, though fit and finish are excellent.

Sierra's second row is SUV big, comfortable and well appointed. The 60/40 split seat easily folds up to give access to a big, flat load floor within the cabin, which is great for securing big packages. A medium-sized dog kennel would slide right in the cabin, which would make ideal, safe transport for man's best friend.

My test vehicle was equipped with a very significant $7,195 option: a Duramax 6.6-liter V8 turbo diesel engine that produces 397 hp and 765 lb-ft of torque, up significantly from last year. Let me write that again: 765 lb-ft of torque, with peak torque available at 1,600 rpm. Man, oh, man. That engine gets hooked up to a 6-speed Allison automatic transmission (a $1,200 option with the diesel engine), and it is geared to get the most out of that torque. With that engine/transmission combination, the Sierra Denali 2500 can haul a payload of up to 2,631 lbs and tow up to 13,000 lbs with a ball hitch or 16,800 lbs with a fifth wheel. This truck can do some work, and if you need it for that reason, it will perform. I got over 15 mpg during my week driving the Denali for a week (in mixed conditions). Not a scientific test by any means, but I was quite impressed with the mileage.

The HD line of Sierra pickups feature fully boxed frames, torsion bar front suspension and multi-leaf rear spring suspension. Despite all that robustness, the empty truck still rides nicely, with much more compliance and smoothness than I expected. I didn't get to test a full-loaded Sierra, but I would expect an even smoother ride with some ballast in the bed.

The challenge with a 20'-long truck is maneuvering all that length on a day-to-day basis. One day, I pulled into an empty lot at a copy store, only to find the lot full when I returned to the Denali a few minutes later. I suffered a few nerve-wracking minutes of tight turns trying to escape the lot. I would not want this big truck to be my sole transportation.

So, I'm back to my confusion. Who is this luxury/heavy duty truck for? I guess if you tow a fancy rig and you can't bear to be without creature comforts, you might want to spend $60,000+ on a work truck. If you drive your truck for work every day, I might give up some of the luxury features for even more capability -- and choose a Sierra 3500 over the 2500.

Ford and Dodge each make a competitive diesel-powered heavy-duty pickup, and each has its fans. Both competitors have been redesigned more recently than the GM edition, and feature a few more innovative features that GM has yet to incorporate, particularly with regard to clever interior and exterior storage. Nobody has matched the power of the 6.6-liter Duramax diesel yet, though.

I guess that the Sierra Denali 2500 is the truck for somebody who has already worked hard, and now wants to be surrounded by luxury while they enjoy the fruits of their continuing labors. If that describes you, you've found your truck. For the rest of us, I guess we'll just have to work harder and longer to deserve this combination of luxury and capability.

2011 GMC Sierra Denali HD Photo Gallery

Disclosure: GMC provided a pickup truck for this review. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.