By Tom Crosby
AAA Carolinas

GMC’s rear-wheel drive, half-ton pick-up truck, the Sierra 1500, gets a new look this year, along with an increase in size and a more powerful engine.

GMC touts the Sierra as entering a new era following a more than 100-year heritage of building professional grade trucks. The previous era began with the 1999 design, which will still be available in 2007 as a GMC Sierra Classic. The same marketing strategy is being used for the Chevrolet Silverado and Silverado Classic, trucks that are nearly identical twins with GMC’s Sierras.  In the light-duty segment of pick-ups trucks, Sierra delivers the highest-rated towing capacity at 10,500 pounds, and our test drive 1500 Crew Cab 4-wheel drive
SLE1 had a payload capacity of 2,010 pounds with its short box truck bed. SLE1 upgraded the 4.8-liter engine to a 5.3-liter, and with other options, increased the final price tag to $37,965 with destination charges.

Like most pick-up trucks, Sierra offers a smorgasbord of choices to meet individual preferences. Choices include five models, 2- or 4-wheel drive, three cab sizes, three truck bed lengths, five suspension systems, three transmissions, nine paint colors and eight engine types. All come with Stabiltrak for better traction control and includes rollover mitigation technology, roof-mounted head curtain air bags and safety belt pretensioners that activate during rear-end crash, a segment first. With active fuel management that cuts from 8-cylinders to 4-cyclinders when power need is reduced, our test drive averaged only 14.2 miles per gallon traveling 319.1 miles, nearly all in the city, according to the Sierra’s information display.

Our Z85 suspension produced a comfortable and quiet ride; but with noticeable lean in turns and curves at higher speeds. Mono-tube front and rear shocks, a coil-over shock front suspension design and rack-and-pinion steering helped gentle the ride, which was quiet enough for whispered conversations. Inside, General Motors’ “pure pickup” interior included large, easy-to-reach/read controls and big door handles to accommodate work gloves. The front seat bench has a fold-up armrest that allows three passengers and the slightly tilted rear bench folds flat with a 60/40 split, for extra interior cargo space. Driver entry requires grabbing the steering wheel; it is the only door without a grab handle.

A stronger frame and body structure come with exterior changes, such as more rounded edges, muscular character lines and chrome hood molding between larger headlamps. Safety features include remote start, a free year of OnStar assistance and tire pressure monitoring system.