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2017 GMC Acadia First Drive

We're in the midst of the Second Great CUV War, and the crossovers are winning by a lot. Compact sedans are being hauled around the side of idled factories and unceremoniously shot. FCA, whose be-sweatered CEO is either omnipotent or a troll of the highest order, is organizing a last stand around profit-dense SUVs and trucks on the off chance that gas prices don't rise ever again. It's the tall wagon's finest hour, and GMC is hoping the new Acadia will capture a share of the glory. The old Lambda-platform Acadia was introduced in 2007, leading the full-size, three-row crossover charge that spawned a quartet of semi-indistinct variants, including a Saturn. (Remember Saturn?) These four were truck-like in heft and capabilities, but lighter and better-mannered than their body-on-frame counterparts – and with an unusually stout 5,000-pound towing capacity. The Lambda siblings bombarded established beachheads on the sales territories occupied by minivans and truck-based SUVs. Last year, GMC moved nearly 100,000 Acadias in the US, the best year ever for the model. Now GMC shows up with a deflated Acadia for 2017, 7.2 inches shorter overall, 3.5 inches narrower, and with a 6.4-inch-shorter wheelbase. The company has even carved something like 700 pounds out of its previously portly unibody, mostly due to the size reduction but also through an increase in the percentage of high-strength steel and the use of lighter soundproofing materials. GM's C1XX platform was launched with the Cadillac XT5 earlier this year, and this GMC version is the second to appear. There's even an available four-banger, but more on that in a bit. What remains to be seen is whether the downsized Acadia represents a leaner, meaner fighter or if GMC is sending it into battle hamstrung. Outside, the new Acadia is stealthily innocuous. Gone is some of the lozenge-ness of the outgoing Acadia, but don't fret about it standing out from the crowd. The overall styling falls into lockstep with the Sierra and Canyon. The cut of the rear window, with an upsweep at the trailing edge, emulates the brand's mid-sized truck offering. A chrome mustache cuts across the front fascia below the grille, and there's more brightwork around the front side windows and at the crease below the scallop in the doors. The taillights are more contemporary than before, with an attractive elongated C element comprised of LEDs.

2019 GMC Yukon Graphite Edition offers Denali engine and features without the chrome

A sporty-looking option package called RST was recently introduced for the Chevy Tahoe and Suburban that also offered the option of a 6.2-liter V8 and magnetic suspension. Now GMC is getting in on the action with the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL Graphite Edition. The trim package adds a number of visual enhancements, and, if you're so inclined, has a performance version with the same 6.2-liter V8 and magnetic suspension as the Tahoe RST and Yukon Denali. As for appearances, the Graphite Edition adds black trim almost everywhere, including the roof rails, grille, fog light surrounds, and window surrounds. It also adds 22-inch wheels, regardless of whether it's just the appearance version or the performance version. The appearance package has machined-finish wheels, and the performance package has black painted wheels. As previously mentioned, the performance version of the Graphite Edition adds magnetic suspension and the 6.2-liter V8 with 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque found on the Denali and the Tahoe and Suburban RSTs. It's coupled to a 10-speed automatic transmission, and gets a rear axle ratio of 3.23:1. It also gets a few other Denali features such as a color heads-up display, Bose noise cancellation, a 170-amp alternator, and a trailer brake controller. The Graphite Edition can be had with both two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. The Graphite Edition can only be had on Yukon and Yukon XL SLT models. Pricing hasn't been announced yet, but it's likely it will be a bit more affordable than buying a Denali model. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2019 GMC Yukon SLT Graphite Edition Image Credit: GMC GMC SUV gmc yukon gmc yukon denali

GMC Sierra Denali CarbonPro bed is finally, almost here

GMC revealed the Sierra 1500 with the optional CarbonPro bed on March 1, 2018. The bed wasn't available at launch, though. You can't buy it now, either, but it will hit dealerships with limited availability after production starts in early June, exclusively for the Denali 1500 and AT4 1500 trims. The carbon floor and sides replace the steel panels in a normal bed, providing "strength, durability, and scratch resistance" and a potential 59-pound weight saving, depending on the truck's configuration. To make sure the bed had a chance, development engineers replicated "extreme use scenarios" like dropping 1,800-pound gravel loads, 450-pound steel drums, and cinder blocks from various heights. They put a 250-pound man on a snowmobile with studded tracks, had him drive into the bed and then go wide-open throttle. We're told the result was "minimal scratching." On top of the extreme weather testing any vehicle goes through, the team also put a generator in the bed and aim the exhaust into a corner to ensure vibration and direct heat wouldn't deform the carbon fiber. Because of the finer shaping area-specific strength possible with carbon fiber, the bed provides one cubic foot of additional payload space by having its sidewalls pushed further out. The CarbonPro bed doesn't need a bedliner, and is grained at the top for better traction but smooth on the bottom for easier hosing down and dirt removal. Tie-downs at the front of the bed work with molded indentations to hold motorcycle tires, and slots in the sidewalls hold two-by-sixes. The truck maker says the carbon-lined payload area confers "best-in-class dent, scratch and corrosion resistance," but we suppose the nation's pickup truck army will prove that or not. The trucks likely won't have the hardest life at the start, since the Sierra Denali costs $56,790 before even a basic option like four-wheel drive. The real test probably won't come until around 2029, when third owners begin treating their aerospace-inspired thoroughbreds like dray horses.