Flat-screen TVs and pickup trucks prompt owners to play the same game: Mine's bigger. And they trigger the same anxious second-guessing: I shoulda bought the bigger one.
Easy to see with TVs, because bigger has meant better - more bells, whistles, features, picture. But among pickups, bigger has meant heavier-duty, able to tow and haul more, make the owner look more like a serious truck person. Not necessarily nicer, or more pleasant, or more livable - usually less livable, in fact.
Lately, though, truck makers have been shoveling the fancy trim from their half-ton, standard-duty pickups into their heavier-duty models, the so-called three-quarter-ton and one-ton versions.
And that's what General Motors' trucks-only brand, GMC, has done. When it overhauled its heavy-duty Sierra pickups for 2011 - only a front stabilizer part is carried over from 2010, even though the new ones don't look much different - it added the successful Denali luxury package as an option.
Despite the stiff price premium and more expensive fuel, diesel's the choice of most heavy-duty buyers. Diesels have more power to pull heavy trailers while using less fuel than a gas engine would. Diesels also have a reputation for lasting longer.
We wanted to see how such a hefty rig served in ordinary duty. For specifics on how the new GMC and corporate sibling Chevrolet models fared in tougher duty, check with our pals at pickuptrucks.com.
Read more at http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/reviews/healey/2011-04-28-test-drive-denali_n.htm