GMC, and their stable mate Chevrolet, redesigned their trucks last year and they’ve done a very nice job. They are a little more rugged looking without the all out brassness of a Dodge Ram or Ford Super Duty. Being a Ford guy it pains me to say it, but I like the looks of the GMC Sierra better.

Let me see if I can decipher the name for you. Sierra has just has the right ring to it – think rugged mountains. 1500 is an internal GMC designation that used to denote the carrying capacity but looking over the specification sheet I see 1500s that go from a payload rating of just over 1600 lbs. to 3139 lbs. But who knows anymore?

Then there’s the HD and 4WD, easy stuff. HD is Heavy Duty and 4WD is, of course, four-wheel-drive. Then there’s the Crew Cab. Maybe truck makers ought to find another name for it. Crew cab is a left over from when trucks were for working men. A crew cab is a four-door truck with seating for the whole crew. Maybe they should change the name to Family Cab.

Or in the case of the test truck, Luxury Cab would be more appropriate. This Sierra was not a truck for dirty, done in the mud, working folks. This was definitely a truck for the upscale suburbanites who don’t need, or want a full on SUV. This baby was loaded. On the option side you had leather, power everything, a/c, cruise, electronic shift transfer case, fog lamps, and the always welcome, OnStar system, GM’s excellent communications system. You know, the one that can unlock the vehicle’s doors by satellite if you lock the keys inside it. Anyway, all this stuff is part of the SLT package that runs another $1,280.

Then we had the "front full-feature reclining bucket seats," heavy duty trailering equipment, a nice stereo with a cassette and CD player (GM knows that some of us still hang onto our cassettes. Heck, some of us still have our 8-tracks!) and aluminum wheels. Like I said, this is one nice truck.

Under the hood was GM’s newish Vortec 6000 V8, a 6-liter, overhead valve, cast-iron block, aluminum cylinder head V8. It puts out 300 hp @ 4400 rpm and 360 lb-ft of torque at 4000 rpm which is enough to tow a trailer up to 10,300 lbs. That should just about take care of the horsy set. One thing you won’t get with the Vortec 6000 is great fuel economy. I couldn’t find the exact figures, even at GM’s media web site, but there were two vehicles listed with this same engine, the Sierra Denali AWD and the C2500 HD 2WD. Expect something in the neighborhood of 11 mpg in the city and 14 on the highway.

I was quite impressed with the Sierra, even if I didn’t need all that space or the 4WD. It didn’t ride like a truck yet it seemed more than capable during the limited off-road test I gave it. Minimum ground clearance is just under 9" which should more than suffice for the type of use the Sierra will get. Let’s face it folks, very few of you will ever really test the off-road limits of this truck.

If you’re looking for a truck that can pull your boat or horse trailer, carry a generous load, and pack five adults in comfort and style, the GMC Sierra 1500 HD 4WD Crew Cab might be for you. Or maybe you own your own construction company. You need a truck, something capable of getting into and out of those really rough job sites, yet something nice enough to take the clients out in. This Sierra can handle both jobs easily.

So what’s this full tilt boogie version going to set you back? Try $36,573 plus tax and license. Of course with GM’s current 0% financing you can save a lot on the interest expense, unless your paying cash of course. By Bruce Hotchkiss © AutoWire.Net - San Francisco

Byline:  Syndicated content provided by Tony Leopardo © AutoWire.Net
Column Name:  A New Luxury Cab Pick Up Truck from GMC
Topic:  2002 GMC Sierra 1500 HD 4WD Crew Cab
Word Count:   825
Photo Caption:  2002 GMC Sierra 1500 HD 4WD Crew Cab
Photo Credits:  GMC Internet Media
Series #:   2001 - 34

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