2022 GMC Yukon XL Denali Duramax Diesel First Test: You Can’t Miss It

• What’s New With the 2022 Yukon XL Denali?
• How Does the Yukon XL Denali Duramax Drive?
• Inside the Yukon XL Denali

gmc yukon Full Overview

Pros

• Stylish and showy
• Refined driving experience
• Smooth diesel power

 

Cons

• Latest software is buggy
• New digital gauges don’t add much
• Still needs better interior materials at this price

The 2022 GMC Yukon XL Denali Duramax is not easily missed. As large as a house and as heavy as the band Gojira, it’s fitted with wheels so huge and chrome trim so bright, your Boomer neighbors will toss out words like “dubs” and “bling” to describe it, like it’s 2002 all over again. Despite its larger-than-life persona, GMC has been steadily improving the Yukon since its 2021 launch. While the headline change this year is the new Yukon Denali Ultimate Edition, GMC also rolled out some changes to the Yukon Denali’s infotainment suite, and that—plus the fact we hadn’t yet tested a rear-drive diesel Yukon XL—spurred us into the driver’s seat of this example.

What’s New With the 2022 Yukon XL Denali?

Although it’s easy to reduce the changes to the 2022 Yukon XL Denali as just “new screens and some Google,” they’re a bit more extensive. Perhaps realizing the workaday GM infotainment system left a bit to be desired, the 2022 Yukon Denali now features the same Google-based infotainment system as the GMC Hummer EV Pickup. This new suite features the Google Maps functionality we were all already using via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus access to Google’s app store, and it allows you to log in with your Google account to seamlessly transition from desktop, to mobile, to car. GMC also updated the Yukon Denali’s instrument cluster—it’s now a reconfigurable 12.0-inch digital screen that pairs with a 15.0-inch head-up display.

The Yukon XL Denali is available with two engines; the 3.0-liter turbodiesel I-6 in our GMC is the standard engine, and a 6.2-liter gas V-8 is a $1,500 upcharge. You’ll trade the shouty 420-hp V-8’s burble for the clattery Duramax’s 277 hp, but the diesel’s V-8-matching 460 lb-ft of torque and 23-mpg EPA combined rating (versus a measly 16 mpg for the 6.2) makes it an easy sacrifice. All Yukons sport a 10-speed automatic transmission.

How Does the Yukon XL Denali Duramax Drive?

We’ve yet to meet a single human that doesn’t like the experience of a V-8—if such a person exists, we probably don’t want to meet them—but the Yukon XL Denali’s Duramax is such a lovely engine that we don’t miss the classic GM small-block eight-cylinder. The inline-six is a torquey, smooth-revving engine that doesn’t run out of breath like a lot of other diesels. If it weren’t for the 10-speed auto’s quick, decisive, nearly imperceptible shifts and the Duramax’s soothing purr, it’d be easy to call the experience electric-like.

The rear-drive diesel Yukon XL Denali is slower than the gas-powered version, though. We clocked it at a respectable 8.0 seconds to 60 mph and 16.2 seconds through the quarter mile at 85.4 mph. We haven’t tested a 6.2-powered Yukon XL Denali, but a mechanically identical Cadillac Escalade ESV reached 60 mph in 6.2 seconds and covered the quarter mile in 14.7 seconds at 95.2 mph. In the real world, the differences are bound to be so slim as to be irrelevant. You don’t buy a Yukon Denali to drive fast—you buy it for the cushy, luxury experience.

Inside the Yukon XL Denali

And on that, the GMC starts to falter somewhat. The fundamentals are good, as the Yukon steers well and its ride quality is firm but forgiving—credit the MagneRide dampers and air springs for taming the 22-inch, uh, “dubs.” However, interior material quality is on the wrong side of the luxury ledger, which is especially hard to ignore considering this Yukon’s $84,420 sticker price.

As for the new software, well, that’s hit or miss, too. The good news is that the Google integration in the main center infotainment display is generally successful. It’s easy to log in with your Google account, and the Maps feature accurately replicates the phone app. The screen can be a bit laggy to respond at times, but provided GMC stays on top of software updates, this can likely be improved in the future.

The new digital instrument cluster is a nice add-on, too, but its main flaw is that it doesn’t add any new functionality—it just replicates analog gauges digitally. There are a handful of layouts available, but they just present the same data differently. We also had a few software bugs with the display, including that it wouldn’t load data such as the drive mode or tire pressure when exercising what little customizability exists in the system. GMC missed a huge opportunity to leverage its new Google integration into an experience that rivals Audi’s Virtual Cockpit digital dashboard display.

Verdict

The GMC Yukon XL Denali’s new technologies are promising if incomplete; however, they’re not likely to be a major purchase consideration in the first place, so there is some leeway to be granted. And while GMC (and GM as a whole) still needs to improve the quality of its interior materials in upscale vehicles, the Yukon XL Denali Duramax largely succeeds at being a comfortable, spacious, nice-driving SUV that can’t be ignored.

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