Luxury pickup trucks, once quite the oxymoron, have exploded into popularity in the last decade or so. Truckmakers formerly content simply to one-up each other on power, torque, or towing capacity are now engaged in battles over the nicest materials, the most potent stereos, the flashiest in-car tech, and the most comfortable seats.
But what’s under the hood still matters for many buyers, especially those who plan on using their trucks for work as well as play. Plenty of vehicles can do luxury, plenty of them can haul loads. But nailing both of those at the same time takes skill.
The GMC Sierra Denali has more experience at that than anything else on the road, having first landed in dealerships back in 2001. There is, as you might have heard, a newly face-lifted Sierra set to arrive shortly, but unlike the heavy-duty models, the turbodiesel engine in 1500s doesn’t change. So if you care more about torque than having the latest infotainment, look for these 2026 versions on the lot; you might find one for a deal.
The Lowdown:
Will Sabel Courtney
The GMC Sierra is one of America’s best-selling vehicles. Alone, it racked up more than 348,000 sales in America in 2025, more than the Toyota Camry or Tesla Model Y; add in its effective twin, the Chevrolet Silverado, and that number crested 925,000 last year alone. It’s been the keystone of the GMC lineup since 1968, offering a slightly more upscale alternative to the Chevy and delivering the full variety of beds, engines, body styles and beyond that buyers have come to expect from pickups.
The 1500 designation marks this as the mainstream light-duty pickup (formerly known as “half-ton”), versus the heavy-duty 2500, 3500, and beyond. Denali is GMC’s highly successful premium subbrand; the suffix Ultimate marks the recently added top trim within the Denali line, which piles on even more high-end features. Duramax is GM’s in-house term for the diesel engines used in its beefiest trucks and SUVs. Here, it refers to a turbocharged inline-six shared with the Silverado 1500, as well as the GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban.
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Vehicle Tested: 2026 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali Ultimate
Base Price: $87,195
Price as Tested: $89,204
Test Location: New York/Vermont
More Specs
Engine: 2992-cc turbocharged diesel inline-six
Power: 305 hp @ 3750 rpm
Torque: 495 lb-ft @ 2750 rpm
0–60 mph: 6.8 sec (Hearst Autos, similar model)
Transmission: 10-speed automatic, four-wheel drive
EPA Fuel Economy (City/Highway/Combined): 22/26/24 mpg
How Does It Drive?
Will Sabel Courtney
GM’s pickup trucks tend to sit at the front of the class in terms of driving dynamics—not that many actual buyers are likely to care, but we at Road & Track certainly do. Pay attention, and you’ll notice a level of fidelity coming through the wheel that Ford’s, Toyota’s, and Ram’s pickups lack; there’s a comparative crispness, a little extra reward for the enthusiast forced to drive a body-on-frame brute. But let’s face it, nobody would choose a pickup based on steering feel or lateral handling, so even if they’re appreciated, these aspects are largely academic.
The big news here is the turbodiesel engine. It’s notable because GM is the last truckmaker in America still selling an oil-burner in its mainstream light-duty pickups, Ford and Dodge Ram having given up a few years back. Their loss is the General’s gain, though. The Duramax suits the truck’s nature well, delivering a smooth rush of midrange power that makes highway driving breezy. The top end may be lacking compared with a burly gas-powered V-8, but down in the meat of the powerband, where most of the real work gets done, the turbodiesel provides an immediate, forceful shove that both instils confidence and handily pushes the Sierra past slow-moving traffic.
The biggest appeal of diesel power for truck drivers (and those weird Germans who tried building turbodiesel performance cars back in the Aughts) is low-end torque, and that’s certainly true here. In spite of a displacement of less than 3000 cc, this motor cranks out more torque than the 6.2-liter gasoline engine in the GM pickup line; in fact, it’s only 6 lb-ft behind even the brand-new 6.6-liter V-8. Plus, not only does it generate its full twist at just 2750 rpm, it’s also making 94 percent of that by 1500 rpm, so the force comes up quickly as you roll up from idle.
The motor is unexpectedly quiet for both a truck and a diesel, a trait that plays well with the Denali’s luxury mission. What engine noise does penetrate the cabin comes across with enough inline-six smoothness that I was able to convince myself for a moment that the motor there has some deep ties to the straight-sixes of Germany. (Ironically, the Silverado and Sierra’s gas-powered inline-four sounds more like a traditional diesel than the Duramax from inside the cabin.)
But diesels also generally see better efficiency, in no small part due to the fuel’s greater energy density than good old-fashioned gasoline. The EPA says the blocky Sierra will run 26 mpg on the highway, and I even saw the onboard fuel-economy gauge reach as high as 28.7 mpg on a long highway stretch, a number I’d be happy to see out of many sedans when doing 70-plus mph.
Will Sabel Courtney
What’s It Like to Live With?
Like any new full-size crew-cab truck, it’s incredibly capable, as long as you have the space to park it. I split my week with the Sierra between New York City and Vermont, and you can probably guess which felt like a better fit.
Will Sabel Courtney
Checking the Denali Ultimate box—instead of the one named solely after Alaska’s highest peak, without the superlative—means all the bells and all the whistles, many of which are appreciated but others a little extraneous. Power-folding steps and Super Cruise are handy, 22-inch chrome wheels perhaps less so. But at the end of the day, if you add up the standard features that are options on the regular Denali, you’re paying around $5000 for blacked-out chrome and nicer interior materials.
Admittedly, these are nice materials. I was impressed with the Alpine Umber full-grain-leather upholstery, which looks worthy of use on Filson jackets or lingering glances from the camera in a Taylor Sheridan show. Same goes for the trim, especially the open-pore wood used nearly as expansively as in your typical Bentley. And the topographic map-style details in both also add nuance to the cabin, helping it better justify its price point.
(Do note that the 2027 Sierra 1500 Denali Ultimate exclusively adopts both a black-on-black interior and lots of additional screen real estate, leaving the outgoing model’s Western warmth behind for clinical urban cool. If you like the current look, go for the ’26 or look elsewhere.)
Will Sabel Courtney
Will Sabel Courtney
While the back seats’ biggest advantage is S-Class–worthy legroom, the fronts deserve greater praise. Nicely padded and equipped with heating, ventilation, and a pleasant massage function, they are perfect for road trips using GM’s class-leading Super Cruise hands-free driving assist and a fuel tank large enough to enable 500-plus-mile highway stints without seeing a warning light.
Of course, there is the elephant in the room: the cost of diesel. As of this story, it’s around $6.50 per gallon on average. Fill-ups for a Sierra Duramax are liable to run $130 or so for the average American, and even for folks buying near-$100K pickups, seeing those sorts of numbers on a gas-pump display is likely to induce some heartburn.
Should I Buy One?
Will Sabel Courtney
The Sierra 1500 Denali Ultimate’s clearest rival at the top of the fancy-pants truck market is the Ram 1500 Tungsten; Chevy, Ford, and Toyota also offer their own top truck trims—Silverado High Country, F-150 Platinum, Tundra Capstone—but while they make for great places to knock out the miles, their cabins can’t quite equal the front-runners. The Ram’s Hurricane engine is in some ways a gas-powered analogue to the Duramax, displacing almost the exact same amount of air and delivering more power and torque while not requiring any of the minor annoyances of diesel life. Add in the Mopar’s nicer interior and air-ride suspension, and it’s hard not to see it as the better choice for those rare truck buyers without a brand allegiance—but the GMC feels like a solid silver medalist in this particular competition.
Ask for the diesel-versus-gas debate, much of it comes down to how much weight you tow, how often you tow that sort of weight, and even where you tow it. If the loads you pull close in on the truck’s 8800-pound maximum, or if you’re doing it often at altitudes where the turbodiesel’s forced induction pays dividends over GM’s naturally aspirated V-8s, then the Duramax probably sounds awfully appealing.
If you tow a lot, or if you take a lot of long road trips where you’d rather go farther without stopping and truck stops abound along your routes, I’d say diesel is the better choice. (If nothing else, you’ll avoid any worries at the back of your mind about V-8 engine reliability.)
Highlights and Lowlights
We love:
Design looks tough and confident without beating you over the head.Most interior materials you’re likely to touch are top-notch. Strong highway fuel economy for a three-ton blunt instrument.
We don’t:Ultimate package costs too much for what it brings.Cost of diesel quickly demolishes any hopes of fuel-economy savings.There are more luxurious luxury trucks out there.Favorite Detail:
Will Sabel Courtney
The pockets inside the rear bench. Much to the delight of fans of both the Second and Fourth Amendments, General Motors has long packed its large SUVs and trucks in particular with hidey-holes for handheld objects (hell, not just SUVs and trucks; even the C7 Corvette had a secret stash spot behind the infotainment screen), but the Sierra Denali’s back-seat storage spaces are large enough to be significantly more usable than any wallet-sized cubbyhole, while still being secret enough to go unnoticed if you tuck in their pull tabs.