Introduction: The GMC Canyon was introduced in 2004 to replace the old GMC Sonoma/Chevrolet S10 which was introduced since 1982 but unlike cars was only updated once in 1995. Facing increased competition particularly from Toyota and Nissan, the Canyon will likely be updated much more often than the old Sonoma. Something that didn't get transferred from the older truck was the SS edition for the S10s, neither Colorado or Canyon have any special performance editions.
When I saw this truck, I've driven the Dodges by that point and don't quite have a high opinion of them. So when I was going to drive the Canyon I sort of had a slightly biased opinion against it, despite knowing that GM cars are better than Chryslers...I still wasn't sure about pickup trucks and that driving one of these will clear this up.
Performance: The Canyon gets a selection of 5 engines...I've only had exposure to one engine being the 3.7L I5, yes I typed that right its a 5-cylinder. The other selections are 2 I4 engines, another I5(a 3.5) and the 5.3L V8. As a rule of thumb, the more powerful the truck the more useful and I'm guessing the I4s are best used as inexpensive farm transportation. For carrying and pulling things you'll need at least the I5s. I'm not sure why they didn't go for an I6 since the Trailblazer already uses that. The I5 is reasonably powerful moving a pretty small truck, although its not the smoothest unit due to the odd number of cylinders, so its not balanced. That said I've driven accelerates to 100 km/h in about 8.2 seconds. That's not great but its a truck so its heavier than a typical car.
My Score: 6/10 - The engine is reasonably powerful, but isn't smooth nor that quick.
Handling: I understand this is a truck and that handling isn't their strong suit. Driving one of these things was pretty stable and the ride quality actually doesn't suffer all that much. Its no luxury sedan but its better than what Dodge could manage. The wheel has very good feedback and turns feel pretty natural. Its ability to corner is pretty similar to trying to corner a big heavy car so you do know that is a good idea to slow down.
My Score: 7/10 - For a truck, the ride was decent and didn't seem as awful as I was used to
Interior: The biggest thing about pick up truck interiors is you shouldn't expect luxuries. The best you can hope for is something functional and not totally depressing. I guess the Colorado does this, the seats are decent and...umm it has power options. I can't really describe any more since its just so basic and what you'd expect. This truck is made in the United States, I haven't seen any faults in the build quality yet although there's little in it for the interior to go wrong. Since this is a smaller pick up truck its easier to get in it.
My Score: 5/10 - A basic interior, nothing more nothing less.
Value for Money: This one is a bit more tricky for me, the Canyon is about the same price as a Camry. If you wanted a basic rugged road vehicle and intend to go off-roading then you'll definitely want a pick up truck more than a 4-door sedan. Against the other trucks its got the best engine selection choice from I4, I5 to V8 so it is the more versatile.
My Score: 6/10 - Its good good engine choices and isn't too expensive to buy
Styling: I do like the way the Canyon looks in both badge forms, but somehow the GMC badge makes it a tad bit better. Maybe it goes better with the grille, I don't know. The headlight setup is actually quite interesting but the rear is pretty standard.
My Score: 7/10 - Nice headlight set up, on an otherwise standard looking pickup truck.
Overall: 31/50 - A decent pickup truck on the road, nothing particularly outstanding though other than having a V8 option.
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