Drive Time: GMC Sierra steps up with new tailgate

The 2019 GMC Sierra Denali Crew Cab on a snowy Sunday. (Bud Wells/For The Tribune)

It was a cold Sunday night in my driveway, 20 degrees with snow on the ground and wind blowing lightly. I stood behind the GMC Sierra tailgate with Brent Wells, Colin Lindenmayer and Matt Ward. This is the "tailgate within a tailgate" which is drawing so much attention since it showed up on the just-arrived 2019 Sierra pickup.

I had lowered the inner gate two stops, which left it protruding out as some sort of ledge or table surface or whatever. Ward knew to push one more button – the gate flipped one more time and suddenly was in place as a three-step entry into the bed of the pickup. A short post even emerged to be pulled into place for an assist in stepping up into the pickup box.

Full-sized, half-ton pickups are one of the most competitive automotive market categories in the country. And looking around Weld County, at the Fords, Chevys, Rams, GMCs, as well as the Toyota Tundras and Nissan Titans, indicates this must be a hotbed of loyalties from one to another.

The new feature among the pickups is known as the MultiPro tailgate and GMC says it offers use as a step, a workbench or a seat at a tailgate party.

Forget the tailgate for a moment. Out front are a large grille and massive hood, which stands 53 inches tall and houses a strong, smooth 420-horsepower, 6.2-liter V-8 engine and 10-speed automatic transmission. Among optional engines to the big 6.2 are a 5.3-liter V-8 and new 3.0-liter, inline-6-cylinder turbodiesel.

A more dominant presence is purpose of the enlarged hood, according to GMC, as it measures its Sierra more closely to the F-150 and Ram.

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An advanced cylinder-deactivation system lets the 6.2 Sierra run on a single cylinder or any other number of them to the full eight in certain driving conditions. A contrast to cruising on reduced cylinder-count is some 4-by-4 testing in the snow, including a bit of 4-wheel-low range, which Jan and I enjoyed for a short while following church on Sunday.

Forward-collision alert, low-speed forward automatic braking and lane-keep assist were part of a Denali Ultimate package which helped boost sticker price from a base of $58,000 to $67,340. The 6.2 Ecotech engine with Dynamic Fuel Management cost an extra $2,495. Among other Denali amenities are the MultiPro tailgate, 22-inch polished aluminum wheels, power sunroof and multicolor heads-up display.

The new Sierra is 360 pounds lighter than the outgoing model, through use of aluminum doors, hood and tailgate, and a carbon-fiber composite bed that is lighter and tougher, GMC said, than a conventional steel bed.

The Sierra Denali Crew Cab is built in Roanoke, Ind. Small storage spaces and large bins are positioned around the interior, including dual glove compartments. A 3-inch gain in length of the four-door cabin is devoted to the rear seating area.

Power running boards deploy when the door is opened, easing the climb into the luxurious cabin.

The Sierra averaged 17.9 miles per gallon overall, which included a 50/50 split of highway and in-town maneuvering, plus the 4-by-4 testing. Its EPA estimate is 15/20.

The 2019 Chevy Silverado, which was introduced a month ahead of the Sierra unveiling, does not yet have the MultiPro tailgate.

— Bud Wells, a native of Wray, is a former Page 1 editor of the Denver Post and has reviewed automobiles for the past 40 years. He can be contacted at budwellscars@comcast.net.

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