The Silky Smooth, But Pricy 2025 GMC Canyon AT4X AEV

A stock GMC Canyon will run you $40,095. That’s a chunk more than a $34,676 stock Ford Ranger, a $33,085 Toyota Tacoma, or a $33,595 Chevy Colorado, the Canyon’s platform twin. All of which is fine in our book, because the Canyon is the rare gussied-up truck in a workaday segment.

Go to full-sized pickups, and you can find all sorts of gilding, but hang down here on mid-sized land, and you’re strictly on meat and potatoes turf. So it’s good that GMC recognizes that some folks want a bit of bling—or a lot more than “a bit.” We just got done testing the AT4 AEV 4WD Crew Cab, which starts at $47,395, but ours was very well appointed, and tipped the ledger at $70,350. That’s a lot of dough for any truck, let alone one that’s mid-sized. So what do you get for that mountain of scratch? Here’s the tale of the tape.

2025 GMC Canyon AT4X AEV 4WD Crew Cab First Impressions: A Pretty Beast

No question, the GMC Canyon turns heads. Partly that’s down to the AT4X AEV Edition’s beadlock-capable Salta wheels and chunky, 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler Territory MT rubber. The rear-mounted full-sized spare in the bed also draws eyeballs, but we’ll dig into why that’s not so special in a bit.

This rig also gets flared fenders, which GMC says makes room for the truck’s widened track, but this is also to better show off the macho bling of Multimatic DSSV dampers at all corners, finished in obligatory gold, naturally.

What goes with that much tire is 12.2-inches of ground clearance, since the AT4X AEV is lifted 1.5 inches higher than the already elevated AT4X, and 2.6 inches higher than stock.

Exterior Dimensions

Driving Impressions And Performance

Oftentimes we’ve driven—we’ll be kind—’roided trucks and SUVs and found the tire roar relentless and migraine-inducing. Does that not sound kind?

Never fear, because in this case GMC clearly worked with Goodyear to make that a non-factor.

Actually, despite some soft-shoulder effect at the limits of the knobs’ adhesion, grip is decent on pavement and the truck’s steering is pretty great. We’ll add that although we have some gripes about the cabin dimensions, there’s excellent outward vision for seeing the front corners of the GMC, and it naturally doesn’t hurt that you sit quite high.

Although we didn’t get to take the Canyon AT4X AEV 4WD deep into its native habit, and only got to bomb some muddy two-track, which hardly caused it to break a sweat, on that kind of terrain it’s perfectly at home.

One callout here: The adaptive dampers are clearly very good. Whether that’s for taming pavement ripples, Interstate potholes, or some off-road washboard we sought out on a gritty nearby hill that’s legendary for building braking bumps, the Multimatic dampers just laughed at it all.

What you’re getting, then, by going for an off-road truck that you may use more on the pavement, is one well tuned for all kinds of driving. Which, vs. the bulk of the breed, says a lot about why GMC has a following.

Braking And Acceleration

This isn’t a light truck. At 4,970 pounds, it’s more than 300 pounds heavier than the Elevation grade 4×4 version of the Canyon, and we’d bet the bulk of that is in tire weight. (Then again, a

is 500 pounds heavier.)

As a result, despite 310 horsepower and 430 foot-pounds of torque from the 2.7-liter turbocharged inline-four-cylinder engine, the truck takes its time building acceleration. It’s not slow, but testing by Car And Driver logged 7.4 seconds to 60 miles per hour, which feels about right. A Ranger Raptor in their hands rocketed to 60 miles an hour in a mere 5.3 seconds, and that Ford is the most natural competitor to the GMC.

Still, once it’s in motion, the GMC feels quick enough, though we do wish for paddle shifters rather than an up/down toggle on the centrally mounted shift lever. This would also be useful for off-roading, where having both hands on the tiller and controlling engine braking would be a tad easier.

One bonus is that the brakes are excellent, and so is brake modulation. Trucks don’t tend to have this kind of sensitivity, but the GMC’s stoppers are standouts.

• Acceleration 0-60 MPH: 7.4 seconds
• Braking: 70-0 MPH: 188 feet.

Performance Specifications

Not a Fuel Sipper

During a mix of city and highway driving, as well as some mild off-roading in 4WH, the GMC Canyon AT4X AEV 4WD Crew Cab delivered the decidedly sub-par fuel economy the EPA finds. We averaged no better than the EPA’s data according to the onboard computer.

If there’s anything remarkable here, it’s that the mileage isn’t worse, because heavy tires and their rotational mass all work against motion. The standard 4WD Canyon gets somewhat better, but still not excellent fuel economy, with 17 city/21 highway figures. But to be fair to GMC, the Raptor Ranger only manages a combined 17 MPG. However, the TRD version of the 4WD Tacoma smokes both vehicles, getting a combined 23 MPG, thanks to its turbocharged, hybrid technology.

Sharp Digs, but Tight on Space

GMC offers a pretty cabin, with color-accented venting, matching red stitching cresting the headrests, and continues that theme by including red contrast components, even around the central display knob knurling.

They digitized a great deal, including all the off-road driving modes, which you adjust via a central knob adjacent to the shifter, and FYI, the feel of all the in-car controls is heavily tactile and well-suited to this truck’s mien.

But while the cabin is roomy enough up front, the second row is tight. Rear-seat legroom is way off from the Ford Ranger Raptor, trailing that truck’s capacious second row by nearly four inches. However, the

Off Road Double Cab’s second-row legroom is even tighter than the Canyon’s, with an inch less.

The biggest weakness, however, is that the giant spare tire in the bed behind the driver blocks all rearward vision on that side of the truck. You can use the sideview mirror to supplement, and the backup camera is a huge aid here, but should that get covered with mud while off-roading, you’re going to be flying a bit blind.

Interior Dimensions

Tech Heavy, But Decent Balance

We really like what GMC’s done with their dash, and we wish other carmakers would take note.

Essentially, the “piano keys” are toggles for stuff you want to do quickly, like kill start/stop when you’re in off-roading situations where you need the engine on when stationary. Or to switch the lockers on or off.

Then they have knobs below the central screen to adjust driver and front passenger temperature. And actual buttons (insert an eye-roll emoji here if you’re missing our tone of voice) below that screen enable quickly adjusting climate functions, like increasing fan speed, or redirecting air where you want it.

Yes, there’s screen functionality if you use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, unlike with some GM products, but there’s also a nice, grippy volume knob. This isn’t reinventing the wheel, folks. It’s just studying what drivers need to do all the time, and rapidly, so they can keep their eyes on the road ahead. GMC gets it right. Can they send a memo to everyone else, please?

Short Bed, Tight On Space

If there’s a race in the short-bed truck department, the Raptor Ranger, Toyota TRD, and Canyon are all pretty close—however, only the Ford’s width between the wheel wells is wide enough to handle a four-foot-by-eight-foot sheet of plywood laying totally flat. Which isn’t really why you buy a short-bed truck.

A five-foot-ish bed isn’t all that handy for contractors. You buy this size truck for off-roading, because a shorter truck is way easier to handle in dirt than a full-sizer.

Here, however, the big limit is that massive tire in the back. We tossed a bike in the back of our tester, and had to insert it sideways because there’s no way to put it in there straight. And if you were an active outdoors person, you’d find similar limitations to any gear you might park back there. We get why the spare is sitting up high rather than hanging below the bed, which would limit off-roading, but that doesn’t make the issue evaporate for daily, non-4×4 duties.

2025 GMC Canyon AT4X AEV Vs. Its Competitors

How The 2025 GMC Canyon AT4X AEV 4WD Crew Cab Compares To The Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro

The big distinction here is about comfort. The new Tacoma is better packaged than the prior model, but its cabin cannot touch the slickness of the GMC, nor the upscale nature. On the pavement, the GMC is also a kinder-riding, almost carlike creature. The Toyota is not that, and reminds you, too often, that it’s all about what it can do on dirt, where our own tests argue that it’s the superior truck for that kind of duty.

Performance

The Tacoma’s hybrid wins the day here. It not only bests the GMC for horsepower and torque, it does so while getting superior fuel economy.

Hybridizing also means the Toyota feels quicker from a standstill, and electric power is also easier to manage for maintaining power when you’re off-roading and rock crawling or trying to tackle a slippery grade.

Comfort

The GMC’s suspension is excellent. We didn’t get to challenge it with any rock crawling, but for washboard roads, dirt, potholed pavement, highway miles, and everywhere in between, the Multimatic dampers are clearly beautifully dialed and deliver a carlike ride. The road manners are simply superb—which is not what we’ve found testing the Tacoma.

Technology

Toyota significantly updated its cockpit on the Tacoma, which was exceptionally dated prior to the latest edition of the Tacoma. We can’t say if it’s a perfect match to the GMC setup, but we can say we very much like the way the GMC Canyon tackles and segregates functions by frequency of use and the likelihood you’ll need to stab a button in a hurry, then get your eyes back on the road ahead.

How The 2025 GMC Canyon AT4X AEV 4WD Crew Cab Compares To The 2025 Ford Ranger Raptor

Performance

The pros of Ford’s Ranger Raptor are that it’s fast on pavement, and the 10-speed automatic transmission makes gear changes smoothly, and evens out its significant grunt. Which, by the way, is more power than the GMC, while still eking out marginally better fuel economy.

The downside is that the Ford’s handling (on pavement) is more limited by its off-road rubber than the GMC. This is despite the fact that the GMC offers nearly two inches more ground clearance. Call this contest a bit of a tossup, depending on what you want your off-road truck to do and where you want that performance.

Comfort

Our testers have found the Ranger Raptor to be plenty comfortable, and attribute a lot of that smoothness to the uprated, Fox suspension, which is a good bogey vs. GMC’s Multimatic dampers. Across the board, we liked both Ford and GMC’s ride quality on pavement more than the Toyota TRD. We should mention here that the Ford’s cabin surfaces are about even with the Toyota’s, but the GMC’s digs are sharper, with softer, more luxurious touches.

Technology

Ford’s relying on more switchgear nested in its central tablet-like screen than you get with the GMC. Luckily Ford still leaves some hard controls for climate functions, and, much like GMC, Ford likewise gives the driver a centrally mounted knob just beside the driver’s right hip to control off-road settings. All of these vehicles offer wireless

and Android Auto as well.

Our Recommendation For Which Model You Should Buy

We like this truck a lot, but we think any potential buyer should cross-shop all three of the trucks compared here.

We also think you’d better really want the $17,000 worth of goodies that come with the AT4X AEV Edition package. You get locking diffs, significant skid plating, and many more elements, including the massive tires. But don’t forget those knobs will also be expensive to replace once they wear out.

No, none of these trucks, when optioned for serious off-roading, come at under $60,000. But the question is, how much serious off-roading do you plan on doing? And if the answer is, “not that much”, the $43,395 GMC Canyon Elevation 4WD is a pretty nice truck, too. And even the standard AT4 is “merely” $47,395.

Plus, going that route will let you see out the entirety of the back window.