Summary
- The GMC Yukon Denali has plenty of room for passengers, making it great for road trips with families.
- Lack of cargo space when seats are up can be an issue, especially for long objects like strollers.
- Super Cruise technology makes long highway stretches less stressful, but the vehicle is not fuel-efficient.
If you’ve got kids, you’re already well aware that traveling isn’t as simple nor as easy as it once was during your single years. Things can become considerably more complicated if your child is a still baby.
I am blessed to be the father of a 1-year-old boy. But once we had passed the crucial 12-month mark, celebrating Magnus’ first year around the globe, Samantha and I both realized that we had just spent an entire year cooped up at home adapting to our new reality as parents. We needed a vacation.
But we also wanted Magnus to follow us on our adventure. Where would we go? How would we get there, and how long would we be gone for?
We settled down on a simple one-week roadtrip along with my mother and brother. We figured a nice family escapade down to Cape Cod – a 300-mile drive from where I live in Canada – would suffice, allowing us to enjoy some beaches and eat some tasty seafood along the way.
The vehicle of choice would be a 2024 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate, a massive fortress of comfort and technology, supplied by the kind folks at GMC Canada. What I found out is that a full-size SUV is indeed a great companion for such a trek, but it’s also deeply flawed in the areas that truly matter.
The Good: Plenty Of Room For Everyone
The obvious reason I chose a full-size SUV from an American carmaker was because I needed a lot of room for the entire family, but also for all the gear we had to carry around.
I could have decided to opt for something electric, like the Kia EV9, but charging infrastructure in New England between the Canadian border and Massachusetts isn’t all that well established. Plus, we didn’t want to have to deal with a long charge time while the little one was having an existential crisis back there.
We figured a large Yukon would cost us more in fuel, but would require fewer stops. Each pit stop would also take less time, allowing us to get to our destination faster.
In the passenger space department, GMC’s big guy never let us down. Everyone, including the lucky candidate sitting in the third row, was treated to a generous amount of leg and headroom. Onboard Wi-Fi (paid for by GM) made sure everyone was able to connect without paying for roaming fees, while USB ports and a rear entertainment system ensured nobody got bored along the way.
The Bad: Not As Much Cargo Space As Expected
But all that passenger space led to an inevitable problem: we didn’t have much cargo space left to spare. My model wasn’t the longer Yukon XL, which meant that when all seats were in place, we were left with only 25.5 cu-ft of available cargo space.
For the record, 25.5 cu-ft is still a decent amount, more so than in a midsize sedan like a Honda Accord, for instance (16.7 cu-ft). The problem with the Yukon’s available cargo space when all its seats are in place is that it’s a mostly vertical loading area.
So long objects, like the necessary baby stroller, needed to be held upright. In our case, that didn’t leave much space for the cooler, which we had to squeeze between the two second-row captain’s chairs. It’s a good thing my example was fitted with that option, or else, it would have been impossible to bring the cooler along with us.
As for the rest of our luggage, we basically stacked everything on top of each other. Thankfully, the Yukon is fitted with a rear glass that pops open. This eased our access to some luggage without fear of the tower collapsing when opening the rear hatch.
The Good: Super Cruise Was Nearly Flawless
Perhaps the biggest highlight of this roadtrip was how well GM’s Super Cruise autonomous driving technology performed on the way there and back. I previously wrote an op-ed about this, which I invite you to read for more details.
Arguably the best system currently out there due to its high level of redundancy and ease of operation, Super Cruise helped us all focus more on the crying baby than on the road ahead.
Yes, I still needed to keep my eyes on the road the entire time (or the system would have turned off), but the fact that I could trust the car during the long and boring stretches of highway made my away-time that much less stressful.
It’s also worth noting how smooth and quiet the GMC Yukon rides. While it’s still a body-on-frame configuration, the Magnetic Ride Control adaptive dampers paired with the Air Ride self-leveling air suspension really transform this behemoth into a smooth and quiet living room on wheels.
The Bad: It Was Never Cheap On Gas
Anything that weighs 6,000 pounds and powered by a 6.2-liter V8 is bound to be hard on gas, and the 2024 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate is no exception.
We expected this thing to be a gas hog, but while GM did try to mitigate this with the 10-speed automatic transmission, the darn thing never really went above the 22 MPG mark. It also spewed carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at the rate of 442 grams/mile.
GM could have improved the Yukon’s fuel consumption by fitting it with some sort of hybrid technology or, even better, transforming it into a fully electric vehicle (EV). I guess full-scale SUV buyers are not there yet, since none of the big players in this segment currently offer either a hybrid powertrain or a fully electric alternative.
The Final Good: We All Felt Safe
But perhaps where the big Yukon truly shined during this family getaway is how safe it felt for everyone in the car. Venturing out to another country by car is always a bit worrying, so being inside a vehicle that feels strong, powerful and safe is an added bonus, especially when you’re carrying with you something as precious as your child.
We knew exactly what to expect when booking a Yukon Denali to go to Cape Cod: it’d be spacious and comfortable, hard on gas and not exactly subtle. But it delivered on all those fronts, with a few flaws that we nevertheless ended up working around.
I could go on about how dated the entire dashboard looks and feels and how tiny the infotainment screen is for a vehicle of this price bracket. But that should all be fixed with the upcoming 2025 facelift. Another roadtrip next year, maybe? Stay tuned.
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