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2023 gmc sierra 1500 road trip cabin experience

My1stHemi

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Today I spent 4 hours riding in the back seat of a new gmc sierra elevation trim truck going to and from a bird hunt. Boy was I happy to get back in my DT.

The owner of my company is partial to gmc’s for our fleet and some of our project managers got the new sierras last December. These trucks are nicely equipped but they have the new 2.7l turbo. I drove one a few weeks ago and I was actually impressed with the power, but... The motor sounds like a turbocharged chevy cavalier on surface streets. On the highway the motor is quiet, or overpowered by the abundant road and wind noise. The ride was choppy and the rear seats were not nearly as comfortable as the DT. There was enough leg room but oddly no good space for my feet. I just could not get comfortable and got car sick.
While its not a bad truck and the dash was nicely laid out, the creature comforts were not on par with the DT.

The grass is not greener on GM’s side of the fence in my opinion.
 

Dewey

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At least GM gives you a dead peddle for your foot as the driver.
Coming from GM’s after almost 30 years I honestly never felt like that was even a minor concern. Must be an individual preference but never bothered me at all.
 

Darksteel165

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Coming from GM’s after almost 30 years I honestly never felt like that was even a minor concern. Must be an individual preference but never bothered me at all.
I got nowhere to put my left food in my Ram.
That's all I can find that is better in a GM that Ram lol.

Also the front passenger seat sucks, it goes too far into the left side of peoples legs.
 

My1stHemi

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I got nowhere to put my left food in my Ram.
That's all I can find that is better in a GM that Ram lol.

Also the front passenger seat sucks, it goes too far into the left side of peoples legs.
I appreciate the little things that can be major annoyances. My ‘95 E320 Mercedes has a dead pedal and it makes long drives so much nicer on the legs. Germans have ergonomics figured out. I do miss having one in the Ram, but i had other gripes that had taken precedence(leaky rear window, bad tranny, broken manifolds, bad driveshaft, wind noise/leaks, front end clunks...) but its still a great truck. 🤪
 

silver billet

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I'm not a fan of turbos, but the 2.7 is actually pretty good as a base engine, I'd take that over the 3.6 in the Ram. If I was paying to upgrade my engine, I wouldn't want a turbo at that point though.

I actually prefer having no dead pedal. I drive long distances often and never have any issues, occasionally I'll move my left leg up and put it flat on the floor, but I cannot stand cruise control either so my right leg ain't moving either.

Rams come with adjustable pedals. That's far, far more important for my comfort, and GM's don't come with them. I don't think they even come with sunglasses holders to be honest, the truck I tested didn't.

And the absolute deal breaker is having a 4x4 with no low speed transfer case, you need to get the Z71 or GMC equivalent 4x4 to get the low speed transfer case.

Very obvious how badly GM is decontenting their trucks. I'm not interested in that in the slightest.
 

Darksteel165

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I'm not a fan of turbos, but the 2.7 is actually pretty good as a base engine, I'd take that over the 3.6 in the Ram. If I was paying to upgrade my engine, I wouldn't want a turbo at that point though.

I actually prefer having no dead pedal. I drive long distances often and never have any issues, occasionally I'll move my left leg up and put it flat on the floor, but I cannot stand cruise control either so my right leg ain't moving either.

Rams come with adjustable pedals. That's far, far more important for my comfort, and GM's don't come with them. I don't think they even come with sunglasses holders to be honest, the truck I tested didn't.

And the absolute deal breaker is having a 4x4 with no low speed transfer case, you need to get the Z71 or GMC equivalent 4x4 to get the low speed transfer case.

Very obvious how badly GM is decontenting their trucks. I'm not interested in that in the slightest.
Not sure wtf you drove. My Silverado didn't need adjustable peddles, it has the same sunglasses holder my Ram has, and it has 4lo. It was only an LT which is 1 step above the base model. It's msrp was 49k (it had a 5.3). I got it for around 43k after rebates and discounts. Nothing on the Ram is free you need to pay for everything. Getting a Ram 1500 for 43k with a v8 would be pretty rare with the much higher price tag Ram has then Chevy, GMC is also 3-5k above a chevy for the same exact truck and features. Chevy has blue lights, gmc has red.

I am curious how you put your left foot down flat on the floor. My ankles can't bend that way. Only way I can get it flat is to bring my foot all the way to my seat which is not comfortable. I'm 5"7 for reference.

I don't miss my Silverado at all, but it was a fine truck for what it was. The Bose speakers it had also sounded way better then the ones on my Limited.
 

silver billet

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Not sure wtf you drove. My Silverado didn't need adjustable peddles, it has the same sunglasses holder my Ram has, and it has 4lo. It was only an LT which is 1 step above the base model. It's msrp was 49k (it had a 5.3). I got it for around 43k after rebates and discounts. Nothing on the Ram is free you need to pay for everything. Getting a Ram 1500 for 43k with a v8 would be pretty rare with the much higher price tag Ram has then Chevy, GMC is also 3-5k above a chevy for the same exact truck and features. Chevy has blue lights, gmc has red.

I am curious how you put your left foot down flat on the floor. My ankles can't bend that way. Only way I can get it flat is to bring my foot all the way to my seat which is not comfortable. I'm 5"7 for reference.

I don't miss my Silverado at all, but it was a fine truck for what it was. The Bose speakers it had also sounded way better then the ones on my Limited.

The 2.7 turbo cannot be purchased with two speed transfer case/4 low, last I looked. Many GM trucks with 4x4 just have 2 high, 4 high, and "auto". No 4 low. You need to get the z71 package or the x31 which allows you to get 4 low.

Just pull your leg bag, it's not that difficult. There is so much more room in the footwell of my truck vs the GM I tested. And if you have shorter family driving the truck they'll appreciate the movable pedals, just like we all appreciate tilt/telescopic steering wheels and movable seats.

Edit: just priced one out on chevy canada website, apparently now the package isn't required. However it's still an addon, 4 low checkbox is a feature you have to pay extra for and isn't part of the 4x4 - that's just stupid, and you still can't get 2.7 turbo with 4 low no matter what boxes you check.
 
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WXman

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My father has a newish GMC Sierra 3500. I've been given the chore of driving it when we go on long hunting trips a few times. I HATE hate hate riding in or driving that truck. The dash has components hanging down low. The floorboards are angled sharply upward at the feet. Those two things combined make it VERY uncomfortable for me. And I'm not a huge guy. 6'3" 225 with size 13 boots. There's nowhere to put my feet. It's just a weird and un-natural ergonomic design in their cabs. I just hate it.

I haven't been in a new 1500 from GM but if it's anything like the 2500/3500 there is no way in hell I'd own one simply because of the terrible seating positions/feet space in their cabs. I swear some of these companies are designing trucks around women.
 

silver billet

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My father has a newish GMC Sierra 3500. I've been given the chore of driving it when we go on long hunting trips a few times. I HATE hate hate riding in or driving that truck. The dash has components hanging down low. The floorboards are angled sharply upward at the feet. Those two things combined make it VERY uncomfortable for me. And I'm not a huge guy. 6'3" 225 with size 13 boots. There's nowhere to put my feet. It's just a weird and un-natural ergonomic design in their cabs. I just hate it.

I haven't been in a new 1500 from GM but if it's anything like the 2500/3500 there is no way in hell I'd own one simply because of the terrible seating positions/feet space in their cabs. I swear some of these companies are designing trucks around women.

They did finally correct the off center steering wheel lol. But yeah there is still something off in the cabins, might be the seating position. I love how in the Rams you sit "on top" of the truck, with GM's you sit lower in the cab.
 

Darksteel165

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The 2.7 turbo cannot be purchased with two speed transfer case/4 low, last I looked. Many GM trucks with 4x4 just have 2 high, 4 high, and "auto". No 4 low. You need to get the z71 package or the x31 which allows you to get 4 low.

Just pull your leg bag, it's not that difficult. There is so much more room in the footwell of my truck vs the GM I tested. And if you have shorter family driving the truck they'll appreciate the movable pedals, just like we all appreciate tilt/telescopic steering wheels and movable seats.

Edit: just priced one out on chevy canada website, apparently now the package isn't required. However it's still an addon, 4 low checkbox is a feature you have to pay extra for and isn't part of the 4x4 - that's just stupid, and you still can't get 2.7 turbo with 4 low no matter what boxes you check.
I wouldn't ever get a 2.7 Turbo in a full size pickup truck so I wouldn't know if those are lacking features in so small of an engine.
I don't let my family drive my truck, they can buy their own.
They did finally correct the off center steering wheel lol. But yeah there is still something off in the cabins, might be the seating position. I love how in the Rams you sit "on top" of the truck, with GM's you sit lower in the cab.
I'm not sure if there is something differnet about the trucks in Canada... I don't have that problem in my 18 Silverado. I was able to get my head 2 inches from the headliner with the electronic controls. I had cloth seats for reference, not sure if leather was\is different shapes.
The only vehicle I had that I would want to be sitting lower was my Camaro and Mustang and that's because of how the seat was angled being so low to the ground already.

I know Ram does funky things with packages in Canada, I wonder if GM does the same shenanigans? It almost sounds like we drove differnet GM trucks in differnet universes. Having just hit 12k miles on my Ram there is no doubt my Silverado was more comfortable on short and long rides. I did notice the seat material in the Ram got MUCH better after 5-6k miles driven in it. Originally I was getting massive leg craps after driving for longer then 25 minutes 100% of the time, very painful and not fun, especially with cruise control on so it's not even like I wasn't trying to keep moving my legs to keep them good.


My father has a newish GMC Sierra 3500. I've been given the chore of driving it when we go on long hunting trips a few times. I HATE hate hate riding in or driving that truck. The dash has components hanging down low. The floorboards are angled sharply upward at the feet. Those two things combined make it VERY uncomfortable for me. And I'm not a huge guy. 6'3" 225 with size 13 boots. There's nowhere to put my feet. It's just a weird and un-natural ergonomic design in their cabs. I just hate it.

I haven't been in a new 1500 from GM but if it's anything like the 2500/3500 there is no way in hell I'd own one simply because of the terrible seating positions/feet space in their cabs. I swear some of these companies are designing trucks around women.
The 1500s are differnet but the design for your feet is differnet then the Ram.
You had your seat too far forward if you were hitting the end which went upwards, there is a dead pedal for your left foot around the same depth of the peddles (but only on the far left), right foot shouldn't be near the back.
I had my steeling wheel fully extended towards me so I had proper room for my feet to hit the peddles but not be way too close like a short grandma trying to look over the steering wheel.

And for what it's worth 6'3 with size 13 is a pretty tall dude when compared to average at least.
Average in America is around 5'8 200lbs
Not to the point you would have any problems I would say, but some people might say 7 inches is a big difference 😎
 

Jus Cruisin

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My last Ram was a 2019 Ram Limited 4X4 eTorque. That was replaced with a 2021 F150 Platinum 4X4 Powerboost. I now have my first ever GM truck. A 2023 GMC Sierra Denali Ultimate 1500 4X4 with the 6.2l.
It's important when comparing the GM trucks to use the 2022+ refresh. It's the first GM truck interior that was acceptable for me. Comparing high-end packages. The GMC Denali Ultimate has an interior that is every bit as nice as the Ram Limited which I thought was the best. I've had adults in the rear seat of all and yep the Ram has about an inch and a half more leg room. Not a big enough difference for the adults that have been in the back of all of mine to have issues.
The landscape 13" infotainment system is my preference. The F150 had landscape, too. No need to split screen as the radio info shows in the center of the IP. I run the infotainment screen full Google maps. No more need to update the factory maps anymore. The pluses that the GMC has that no other half tons have are the heads up display and Super Cruise.
Up to now, my 2019 Ram Limited was my favorite. If the GMC Sierra Denali Ultimate remains reliable, it'll replace the Ram for #1.
I don't hand calculate mileage and just check the LOM I got 22.3 mpg on a 50 mile run yesterday with the 6.2l..
The small 22 gallon gas tank is a deal breaker for many. Me? Being an old fart, I require regular pit stops now ;) so not a big deal. But long haul towing, it would be a pain in the keister.
I'm not a fanboy of any (Ram, GM or Ford) but I like them all. But for the first time, I'm all GM in my garage. 20230323_184612.jpg 20230205_095006.jpg
 

SpeedyV

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Good review. But Ram has offered a HUD since the 2021 model year, so it sounds like Super Cruise is the biggest differentiator for you.

Personally, I’d love the full-screen Google Maps functionality. Perhaps you could share interior pics.
 

Jus Cruisin

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Good review. But Ram has offered a HUD since the 2021 model year, so it sounds like Super Cruise is the biggest differentiator for you.

Personally, I’d love the full-screen Google Maps functionality. Perhaps you could share interior pics.
I'll get some pics. Wife is driving it right now. This is a video I found on Youtube of the startup/splash screens when you get in the truck. I actually take a couple of seconds and watch it when I hop in.
 

silver billet

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My last Ram was a 2019 Ram Limited 4X4 eTorque. That was replaced with a 2021 F150 Platinum 4X4 Powerboost. I now have my first ever GM truck. A 2023 GMC Sierra Denali Ultimate 1500 4X4 with the 6.2l.
It's important when comparing the GM trucks to use the 2022+ refresh. It's the first GM truck interior that was acceptable for me. Comparing high-end packages. The GMC Denali Ultimate has an interior that is every bit as nice as the Ram Limited which I thought was the best. I've had adults in the rear seat of all and yep the Ram has about an inch and a half more leg room. Not a big enough difference for the adults that have been in the back of all of mine to have issues.
The landscape 13" infotainment system is my preference. The F150 had landscape, too. No need to split screen as the radio info shows in the center of the IP. I run the infotainment screen full Google maps. No more need to update the factory maps anymore. The pluses that the GMC has that no other half tons have are the heads up display and Super Cruise.
Up to now, my 2019 Ram Limited was my favorite. If the GMC Sierra Denali Ultimate remains reliable, it'll replace the Ram for #1.
I don't hand calculate mileage and just check the LOM I got 22.3 mpg on a 50 mile run yesterday with the 6.2l..
The small 22 gallon gas tank is a deal breaker for many. Me? Being an old fart, I require regular pit stops now ;) so not a big deal. But long haul towing, it would be a pain in the keister.
I'm not a fanboy of any (Ram, GM or Ford) but I like them all. But for the first time, I'm all GM in my garage. View attachment 155455 View attachment 155456

I looked really hard at the GM twins before getting my 2019 Ram. It was an easy decision back then for one reason: value. The ram rides better, had a bigger engine, more features, nicer interior (pre 2022 refresh of course), and cost less.

The GM does have the 6.2 (and that's what I wanted so bad), so yes it's bigger than the 5.7 but I couldn't get it in the trim/package I wanted. I just want an LT or SLE with the 6.2 and maybe one or two comforts like heated seats.

But no doubt your GM is a great truck, I just couldn't justify the additional cost of first paying extra for an upscale trim, than paying another upgrade for the 6.2; and the 5.3 was under powered vs the hemi and still cost 10K CAD more than what I paid for my truck.

I'm also not brand loyal in the slightest, for me too it really is a matter of priority and preference. Though I can't see myself getting a ford anytime soon, I just have an unhealthy bias against it probably due to its zealots thinking first in sales = best truck and they just drive me nuts. Also not a fan of the looks of the f150, especially the box and tail lights, there is just something wrong the styling there.
 

Darksteel165

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The GM does have the 6.2 (and that's what I wanted so bad), so yes it's bigger than the 5.7 but I couldn't get it in the trim/package I wanted. I just want an LT or SLE with the 6.2 and maybe one or two comforts like heated seats.

But no doubt your GM is a great truck, I just couldn't justify the additional cost of first paying extra for an upscale trim, than paying another upgrade for the 6.2; and the 5.3 was under powered vs the hemi and still cost 10K CAD more than what I paid for my truck.
The 5.3 is not underpowered...
Also you can only get the 6.2 on the Denali. no other trim allows it except if you go for a 2500.
Ram doesn't allow you to get a 6.4 on any 1500 except the TRX which is not apples to oranges. The Denali is like A Ram Limted +, the TRX is just a completely differnet truck.
The Denali with a 6.2L starts at 73k MSRP a 1500 Limited starts at 69k

Also the 5.7 to the 6.2 is only a differnet of 50 lb-ft of torque, not really a huge difference.

If you don't buy Super Cruise which seems to be $7,430 or $6,430 a nearly fully loaded Denali is 80.9k
A nearly loaded 1500 Limited with similar\equivalent options is 83.5k making it more expensive at least in the USA.
I believe Ram is the most expensive pickup you can buy in the states. I think it's worth the money.
 

silver billet

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The 5.3 is not underpowered...
Also you can only get the 6.2 on the Denali. no other trim allows it except if you go for a 2500.
Ram doesn't allow you to get a 6.4 on any 1500 except the TRX which is not apples to oranges. The Denali is like A Ram Limted +, the TRX is just a completely differnet truck.
The Denali with a 6.2L starts at 73k MSRP a 1500 Limited starts at 69k

Also the 5.7 to the 6.2 is only a differnet of 50 lb-ft of torque, not really a huge difference.

If you don't buy Super Cruise which seems to be $7,430 or $6,430 a nearly fully loaded Denali is 80.9k
A nearly loaded 1500 Limited with similar\equivalent options is 83.5k making it more expensive at least in the USA.
I believe Ram is the most expensive pickup you can buy in the states. I think it's worth the money.

The 5.3 is underpowered compared to the 5.7 (my opinion).
You can get the 6.2 on the rst, lt trailboss, ltz, slt, at4 etc. Many more trims than just the Denali.
The 2500 doesn't offer the 6.2 at all, it's a 6.6 gas or 6.6 diesel.
Ram doesn't offer the 6.4 at all. The TRX is 6.2 super charged.
GM 6.2 offers 50 lb/ft of torque, and 30 hp. Not insignifcant, those are peak numbers. When I tested, it felt stronger all around, more power under the curve during daily driving.
Price isn't just MSRP, it's what the dealer offers you. In Canada where I live, Ram dealers were much more willing to offer deals. YMMV.
 
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Rebelguy2020

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The 5.3 is underpowered compared to the 5.7 (my opinion).
You can get the 6.2 on the rst, lt trailboss, ltz, slt, at4 etc. Many more trims than just the Denali.
The 2500 doesn't offer the 6.2 at all, it's a 6.6 gas or 6.6 diesel.
Ram doesn't offer the 6.4 at all. The TRX is 6.2 super charged.
GM 6.2 offers 50 lb/ft of torque, and 30 hp. Not insignifcant, those are peak numbers. When I tested, it felt stronger all around, more power under the curve during daily driving.
Price isn't just MSRP, it's what the dealer offers you. In Canada where I live, Ram dealers were much more willing to offer deals. YMMV.
2023 Ram 2500 base engine is the 6.4L V8, option is the 6.7L I6 Cummins, new is the 2023 Rebel 2500 it’s available with the 6.4L V8 or the 6.7L Cummins.
I’m very satisfied with my 2020 Rebel 1500 with the small 3L V6 VM Motori Ecodiesel engine.
 

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