Jalopnik
I first became acquainted with the 2008 GMC Yukon Denali when I called up the folks at the General in January and said "Hey, we need a mobile command center for the Detroit Auto Show...and oh yeah, it's got to seat six plus gear." GM's media fleet people claimed they had the right vehicle for us. I was skeptical, but from the moment this GMT-900-bodied beast of burden showed up at my front step I found there to be one truism about the Yukon Denali. And that is this — with all the different blank-UV options in the marketplace, very few people need this barge of a full-size SUV. But, if you do need one, you know who you are.
I think I'm now one of those people who "knows" I need one — at least some of the time. Since January, I've now spent so much time in the 2008 GMC Yukon Denali, I almost feel like GM should just hand over the keys. But I can't help it. The Yukon just seems to be a convenient choice whenever we've got the team in the Detroit area and we need a heavy hauler to lug our portly auto-writing frames around. Not to mention seemingly having more equipment in tow than is needed to put together a Top Gear segment.
Case in point. My most recent time spent behind the wheel of the new up-optioned Yukon was the end of last month — for a quick photo shoot with an upcoming vehicle being revealed at the New York Auto Show. With an extra two guys in town and their assorted video and camera equipment, that standard CUV's just going to end up getting stuffed to the gills. Not the Yukon.
As if hoisting myself into the driver's seat isn't enough, all it takes is a quick look out the front windshield (or into the rear-view mirror, across the cavernous double rear rows of seats and out the rear window) and you notice your vision falling well above the roofs of most cars in your line of sight. That's all you really need to remind you this ain't no pansy crossover you're rumbling down the road in.
Or you could just look at your gas gauge. Yeah, it's no 20 miles-plus per gallon CUV, that's for sure. Close to 20, maybe — we saw 17.8 MPG in mixed city/highway driving (EPA 13/19) — but definitely not 20-plus. But you're also not going to find any crossover on the market with a 6.2-liter V8 under the hood giving you 380 horses to play with and max torque of 417 lb-ft. But you'll need an engine that big with an animal packing 5800+ pounds unladen, like the Yukon truck-UV. Anything less would be pokey given this elephant of a vehicle's pack animal purpose.
It kills me when I see a MILF driving a Yukon or it's Chevy brother, the Tahoe, through the suburbs of Metro Detroit. That's because the Yukon, like any pack animal, isn't designed to pick the kids up from soccer practice or bring the groceries to your suburban home. Save those suburban tasks for something smaller, more pedestrian and definitely more pocketbook friendly at the pump. No, this camel of a cargo-carrier should only be used when you've got seven souls in the seats and all 45.8 cubic feet of cargo area behind the third row packed to the gills with equipment. Soccer moms need not apply.
I, on the other hand, feel like I need a vehicle like this. Well, at least I do when I'm not paying for it.
Comments
"soccer mom is need not apply"?
(first post always has to be grammatically-oriented)
I wish more need-based buyers owned these. I'd probably like them a lot more. But this is one of those three-tenths utility vehicles for most people. I see them in the Lowe's parking lot as I load a 12' ladder into the back of my midsize sedan.
And every time you see a suburban mall mom in one she's got a maximum of 1 bag of groceries and a toddler. But she's safe. Nobody else is because she's yappin on her damn phone and got one eye on the kid and paying absolutely zero attention to the road or anybody else. But she's safe.
I hate that Barbie bitch and her pink Corvette too.
Yeah, its nice to know that the people who drive these monstrosities can barely see me in my car either.
My buddy just bought one of these, fully-loaded in black... Looks great and drives awesome.
It is the "un-pretentious" version of the Escalade.
@Ω βгåғғ™: not after you install the Dubs...
Funny thing is that I'm seeing more of the later-model SUVs trickling down into the lower classes. It used to be that every tenth one I'd see had 24" rims. Now it's like half of them. And they're either the local gangsta wanna-bes or a greasy white guy with Illinois plates, yapping on a cell phone, weaving while trying to do 80mph on I-65 during rush hour so he can get the family to the FL Gulf coast before dark, even though it's his 10th straight hour of driving. Usually with a vanity plate like "VITO" or "PRINCE G" or something.
All of these car reviews are great. Keep up the good work!
You should see them lined up lined up dropping kids off at schools around here. One at a time stopping right at the beginning of the sidewalk while the rest of us wait.
OR MY FAV self-created traffic jam waiting halfway in the street and blocking the entrance. Don't forget the princess wave after we all stop for you.
Rant over.
-Peace out
So, basically, you're initial review is saying that this is a great job site and work vehicle-- great for moving a group of dudes and their gear around. I can buy into that. Sounds like it's still worthless and silly for most families, lest they regularly haul the powerboat to the lake cottage on weekends or whatever.
I used to say the Astro van was the perfect alternative to big SUVs, but, well, they don't make that anymore.
@prndl: I hear you. Before I started homeschooling, that was one of my main complaints with those people - their kids are somehow too special to walk the extra 50 feet? I always let mine off as soon as we came adjacent to the sidewalk.
Further evidence of the "me first" beating out the more civic-minded "you too" mindset.
I have absolutely no need for one of these. I'm a single guy, with no kids or dependents. I live in an apartment, in the city, and I'm about five miles from work. I like small cars that handle well and don't use much gas. And my towing needs could be filled by a Miata (well, I'm assuming a Miata could tow a motorcycle). I'd still love one of these.
@acarr260: true... but his will stay stock.
If I owned it, it would probably end up Flat Black with 22" flat black rims... similar to Rob Drydeks vehicle...
I love the Yukon/TaHoe. It's like driving a big fluffy couch down the highway. But low teen mpg #'s cant be justified for a grocery getter. We purchased a Acadia instead, it has just as much room with better fuel economy. I do miss the V8 goodness though and it feels like a minivan (I like minivans, wifey dosn't).
Hehe, yesterday's white Beemer X5 got more torque out of less than half of the engine displacement and gets a hair under 30 MPG.
Still a very very lovely SUV this GMC though I'm really yearning for some torquey oil burning goodness to go along with it.
The future GM 4.5 liter Diesel unit swapped into this should be heaven.
@ash78: Nice. Fixed.
With an extra two guys in town and their assorted video and camera equipment, that standard CUV's just going to end up getting stuffed to the gills.
3 guys and some cameras?
There's this tiny little woman all of five feet tall a block over from me, and watching her try to launch her tight little frame off the running boards to get inside her behemoth Excursion is YouTube material. They have two kids (like me), they don't tow anything (like me), and they commute better than 40 miles/day (like me, well I do over 60), I just don't get it. Claustrophobiacs of the world, Rejoice! The end of enclosed car rides is here! It's the open concept on wheels!! Pretty soon we'll have an SUV decorating show, "TRADING SUV'S"!
wow.
a SUV write-up... who woulda thunk that here on Jalopnik.
(well, maybe if Al Navarro was using one to tow his newly aquired Rotus...)
I need to go look outside to see if the sky is falling.
But seriously, Guess you gotta do what ya gotta do for those free wheels...
Wow.
Still floored.
Can't wait till day three (like the comments from the Subi Forrester... :)
wow i'm spaced... out... man.
@elhigh: Oh like you've never seen a self-centered Civic driver...
@Unregular: Plus Ben. Plus another body at one point. So total of four guys (five guys at one point) and cameras, laptops, video cameras, tripods, overnight bags, etc.
Growing up the oldest of 4 kids in a family that spent sunny days towing boats and snowy days in the mountains, big truck based SUVs are my automotive equivalent of Mom's Home Coookin'. We had a 3/4 ton Suburban (4.10:1 rearend FTW).
Of course, that was during the $1.10/gal, pre-oil wars, pre global warming (kinda) 90s. Not to mention most cars of the era totally sucked.
In the intervening years, I've come to realize how my family's active lifestyle came to represent the "Active Lifestyle" that so many dirt-o-phobic suburb dwellers use to justify their purchases. I've realized how few of these things are used in a manner that justifies their ownership, and it kinda sickens me.
@Mad_Science: it's not your fault. it's not your fault. it's not your fault.
@PASTOЯ POLAЯ: I would have to go with an Excursion or a Suburban/Tahoe XL to justify getting something bigger than my GranMa. The only advantage that a Tahoe has over my full size BOF M75 is that it is four wheel drive and my car is rear wheel drive.
I really hate the bug-eyed look the Yukon has, if I have to get one make it the Chevy.
@jakay11: jalopnik has always reviewed SUVs. They usually pull a Farago and bash them for poor gas mileage, which makes one wonder what the point is of reviewing them in the first place, but they have always reviewed them.
However, you are right about the change in the air. This review doesn't bash at all, and there was a lukewarm review of an Audi a few weeks ago. Something strange is going on...
@jakay11: We've done SUV's before. For instance:
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8
2007 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon
2007 Ford Expedition EL
2006 Hummer H3
2007 Mercury Mountaineer
And don't forget our review of the 2007 GMC Yukon Denali.
@Ray Wert: Nice writeup.
As the owner of a one generation removed GMT SUV, I've found great practicality with my 'Burban.
Besides using it to crush small Hybrids and Segways, its come in extremely useful in long distance trips, for loading with a ton of people and gear, and towing competition vehicles long distances while loaded with people and gear.
I still manage high teens mpg wise with mixed driving (unloaded), although my UV packs around 130 less horsepower than the modern version.
Looks like a joke car. About as desirable as herpes.
it does look like a joke. couldn't get a good angle for a photo? nice headlights and rounded door glass. the rearend should say "wide load". the only people i EVER see driving these are 250lb+ women sitting 14" from the wheel, talking on the phone, going to pick up some fat kid who is certainly snacking on something.
if you drive this on the road, i am laughing at you. you, however, are oblivious to that fact. and most other facts.
Despite the fact that most of these are unnecessary, it's worth pointing out that a ladder-frame "real truck" SUV makes more sense than most crossovers or something like a Toureg/Cayenne/GLK.
These things can actually tow. And by tow, I mean 5 people + gear + 4000lb trailer, not a jet ski or little utility trailer.
When crossovers first started coming out...I could never figure out the appeal of a vehicle with all of the drawbacks of an SUV, but none of the capability.
@Unregular: Even though the numbers would probably favor your position, my personal experience makes me knee-jerk for a counter point. There have got to be more people than you think who use these for more than shlepping.
@Mad_Science: A Toureg can pull a jumbo jet [www.autoblog.com]
Jalopnik looks like a website from 1994 when viewed with Safari at the moment. :(
@Mad_Science: yeah - it's being in the city that i see these people... one woman driving this thing around town/on the highway. on the phone. oblivious.
there should be certain requirements to owning these. including special drivers licenses, but also proving the need to own one in the first place.
@Unregular: I'm glad there are still commenters like you around on Jalopnik. Lately, I've had so little to get fired up about.
@Mad_Science: I understand the need to tow large loads and lots of people, and I concede that for that purpose, there's no vehicle that works as well as a large SUV. But until people stop buying these cars as a fashion statement, then there's always going to be the hate.
@danio3834: what can i say? most of the people i see driving these are fat women, solo, sitting 14" from the wheel, endangering everything within a 50 yard radius. am i lying?
@Unregular: Then how about special licenses to own cars that are capable of hitting speeds over 110mph?
I agree that the typical owner you find on the road is either of the small-wife or douchebag variety... however, these do have their use and when used properly make for a very effective and useful vehicle.
@amblito: I'm aware of the clip, and I know it's kind of a different point, but I have a hard time believing I'd rather own a 70k mile Toureg that's seen a lot of towing than a 70k GM truck that's seen a lot of towing.
@Unregular: I agree with you wholeheartedly.
There's just one problem with justifying a need: the same logic makes sports car ownership seem even more silly. How does one rationally justify the need to drive really fast?
I'd bet the most SUVs come do more time towing or off-roading than most sports cars spend on the track.
@Ω βгåғғ™: i can agree with that.
i personally think an evasive maneuvers course should be a standard requirement for all drivers licenses.
Soccer-Mom or Queen-of-Denali ?
Has the font used for comments been changed?
How many agree with me that legibilityhasbeensacrificed?
M a y b e i f I a d d l o t s o f s p a c e . . .
@Unregular: I hope the "you" you speak of is not the "you" who is writing this review. Then, the you who wrote the "you" will not be very happy when I'm through with you.
@Mark Miller: Yeah, we've made note of it.
There's a need for vehicles of this sort. I just think that anything this big ought to have a diesel or at least smaller-supercharged engine rather than a big-honking V8. Probably would add too much to the initial outlay and GM profitability tho...
@Ray Wert: no it's more the more general you! not the actual you.
@Unregular: Oh good, I thought I was going to have to whip out my banning sword.
@Ray Wert: No need to get all Farago on us...
@Unregular: Yesterday we were all commended for being such good natured, tolerant folks.
The very next day, the Hatorade gets passed around.
Dont get me wrong, I still reserve your right to hate on specific vehicles(their drivers, thats a grey area), I just thought I'd point it out.
Joking aside, the only real beef I have is with the name. Seriously guys, was there just a jam session of every hardcore outdoors place you could think of? String 'em together!
I think it'd be awesome to have a Nunavut XLT or something like that. "The competition ain't gonna have Nunavut!"
@danio3834: As long as the driver isn't me without dang good reason, ya know?
@ash78: 2011 GMC Mongolia Siberia XLT Teva Sandals Edition
These photos must have been taken at Breckenridge, a resort that's pretentious but lacks the all-out luster of Vail or Aspen.
Or possibly Vermont's Mt. Snow.
@brandegee: Stratton... It is like Aspen East
Why do you want to drive in something as big as your living room?