2008 GMC Envoy

This review will be quickly done, we don't have too many Envoys and I forgot its practically the same as the Trailblazer so I'll admit this one will have quite a bit of copy and pasting.


Introduction: The GMC Envoy is GM's mid sized SUV marketed as an upscale version of the GMC Jimmy. Like the Jimmy the Envoy is a truck based SUV and thus is more rugged for off roading than a crossover. The XL trim version of the Envoy had a 3rd row of seats, it was also longer than the standard Envoy. The Envoy would remain in production until 2008 and continued to sell model year 2009s while the Jimmy would retire in 2005.

Much like I found with the Trailblazer, I didn't really find much interest in the Envoys due to how they're practically the same aside from interior and exterior design.


Performance: The Envoy has a 4.2L straight-6 engine which outputs 275 hp and 275 lb.ft of torque. It seems like a lot, but I can't help but think GM could have gotten more out of such a large I6. Anyways this engine moves the Envoy rather well, its a smooth unit as expected and accelerates the SUV from 0-100 km/h in 7.7 seconds. I don't really have much issues with this engine.

My Score: 9/10 - Its a good engine, not the most memorable one but it does do its job well.

Handling: The Envoy's handling is mediocre at best, for an SUV. With the very large wheel and its heavy weight it doesn't handle all that well. Steering doesn't feel all that attached possibly just by how large the steering wheel is. I may be rugged, but its not agile on the streets.

My Score: 5/10 - I know its an SUV, but there are SUVs that do a better job.


Interior: This is the biggest difference between the Trailblazer and the Envoy. The interior of the Envoy is a bit better than the Trailblazer's. Small details being the major thing between the two. The Envoy isn't colour limited like the Trailblazer meaning you don't have to have a depressing interior. The vents are a step up from the Trailblazer's bottom of the barrel ones, there's more chrome in the interior over the dark plastic of the Trailblazer. All in all these small changes manage to change the atmosphere inside from being disappointingly cheap to become disappointingly average. The build quality however is still atrocious.

My Score: 3/10 - Using better material can make more of a difference in interiors...too bad this car is still built badly and still shows some of its truck interior blandness.

Styling: The Envoy has more of a truck image than the Trailblazer does with its much larger grille. It doesn't have the same plastic bits slapped over the SUV like the Trailblazer does making it already less cheap looking. In Denali form it actually can look somewhat nice with an even better grille, however there isn't much worth noting on the style since the rest is pretty inoffensive and kind of uninteresting.

My Score: 7/10 - Pretty good SUV styling without attempting to leave behind its truck roots.

Value for the money: The Envoy is not a cheap SUV, like the Endeavor its also in the $30,000 range. Unlike that SUV, this does not act like a car and has some serious flaws. Considering how much money is spent, the build quality is unacceptable and other off road SUVs are better equipped for off roading making the Envoy not necessarily good at the road or off road. It should be much cheaper than GMC is asking for due to some of these flaws.

My Score: 3/10 - Not the worst SUV, but the awful interior quality and the lack of some off road equipment should have slashed the price.

Overall: 27/50 - Still a ho hum SUV but certainly a tad bit better than the Trailblazer.

2008 Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon

Time for a few new additions to the growing amount of reviews on cars. This update will include pick up trucks, keep in mind I have absolutely no idea what's necessary from a pickup truck on a farm, I assume power is very important and durability(which I can't test without being fired) all I can test are their road manners and whether its a decent idea(they get incredible rebates) or a stupid idea to get one as a road car. First one up, the Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon. I'll just refer to it as the Canyon since there's less typing...I didn't notice a single difference apart from badges.


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.