2022 GMC Yukon Review

LIKES

Bold looks
Upscale Denali trim
Tough AT4 trim
Available turbodiesel
Big and spacious

DISLIKES

Does it have to be this big?
Lots of options
Denali goes heavy on chrome look

BUYING TIP

The Yukon SLE and SLT want for little; pick the Denali if you must have the stronger V-8, but it’s not rated to tow more.

The 2022 GMC Yukon is big and richly appointed, with the technology and sticker price to match.

What kind of vehicle is the 2022 GMC Yukon? What does it compare to?

With the Yukon, GMC has a full-size SUV in two different lengths: long and longer. With seating for up to nine people and a luxe Denali edition, the Yukon rivals SUVs like the Lincoln Navigator, Ford Expedition, and the related Chevy Tahoe/Suburban and Cadillac Escalade.

What's new for the 2022 GMC Yukon?

This year GMC makes its 420-hp V-8 an option on the AT4 edition, and updates infotainment firmware to a new Google platform.

Is the 2022 GMC Yukon a good car?

It’s powerful, plush, exceptionally spacious, and rides very well, but safety scores aren’t complete. We give the Yukon a TCC Rating of 6.7 out of 10.

The Yukon looks ready to tackle remote terrain, just as the name implies. It’s blessed with chalk-snapped lines, C-clamp lighting, and a proud and massive grille that looks ready to try out for an SEC school’s secondary. Bluff and tall, the Yukon goes subtle and soft inside, with big digital displays, a handsomely shaped dash, and a tony Denali edition with wood and leather that’s downplayed to the right level.

GMC fits a 355-hp, 5.3-liter V-8 in most Yukons, but makes a 277-hp turbodiesel and a 420-hp 6.2-liter V-8 available. The base engine’s strong for acceleration and for exhaust bark, and connects with the 10-speed automatic for smart gear changes. Four-wheel drive and an available electronic limited-slip differential manage power down to the wheels, which range from 18 inches to 22 inches. Keep it simple for the better value, but we’re impressed with the mechanically complex and utterly capable adaptive dampers and air springs on the priciest Yukons; they help knit its mechanical gear together for a comforting ride, well-tuned steering, and seamless power, though fuel economy still registers a sad-face emoji.

With up to nine seats and enough cargo space for an apartment’s worth of flat-pack furniture, the Yukon has excellent seat comfort in front and second-row captain’s chairs, with lots of head and leg room and available leather upholstery, heating, and cooling. Even in row three, tall adults will fit; just ignore the cracking-knee noises, thanks.

Crash-test scores from the NHTSA raise concerns, but the IIHS hasn’t checked in yet. All Yukons come with automatic emergency braking, while GMC also offers adaptive cruise control, a surround-view camera system, and a host of camera views that come in handy when towing.

How much does the 2022 GMC Yukon cost?

It’s $53,745 for the standard Yukon SLE, with its power features, 18-inch wheels, cloth interior, and 10.2-inch touchscreen with Google infotainment interface and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. For $5,700 more, we like the Yukon XL SLT with its 20-inch wheels, leather upholstery, wireless smartphone charging, 9-speaker Bose audio, and cooled and heated front seats. Still, it’d be hard to pass up the $70,095 Yukon Denali, with its wood trim, multi-camera safety systems, and air spring/adaptive damping suspension.

Where is the GMC Yukon made?

In Arlington, Texas.

Styling

The Yukon’s chalk-line outline wears like high fashion.

The visual snap of the Yukon’s outline reads like a builder’s chalk line. It’s welcoming, too, and as a Denali it’s palatial. It’s an 8 for style, with two points extra for the exterior, one for the interior.

Is the GMC Yukon a good-looking SUV?

From the snout on back, the Yukon taps the same bluff energy as the Sierra full-size truck. With its massive grille, C-shaped LED headlights, and thick bands of metallic trim, it’s an SUV from the traditional school of design. And yet, the latest Yukon’s roofline tapers more, its sides get more sculpting, and there’s some range in its lineup, from the proud honeycomb grille and chrome ladled on the Denali to the matte-black trim and highly visible skid plates and red tow hooks of the AT4.

The Yukon interior knits together a set of digital gauges, a 10.2-inch touchscreen, and a push-pull gear selector for a modern spin on utility. Climate and audio controls lay in horizontal strips below the touchscreen, logically. Denalis have a distinct interior look with more wood trim and a more upright design, with an integrated touchscreen and panels of wood amid metallic trim and leather, for a handsome but subdued style.

Performance

The Yukon strikes V-8 gold, and air springs slick down its ride.

We give the Yukon a 7 for its towing and hauling performance and for its ride quality. The big V-8 might earn another point, if it were the most popular engine choice.

How fast is the GMC Yukon?

A trio of engines powers the Yukon. A 277-hp 3.0-liter turbodiesel-6 with 460 lb-ft of torque shows up in the Denali as standard, and as an option on the AT4. We’ve driven it in other GM SUVs and have found it smooth and capable, but with unclear payback versus the excellent gas-powered V-8s in the lineup.

Yukon SLE, SLT, and AT4 SUVs come with a 355-hp 5.3-liter V-8 with 383 lb-ft of torque. We’ve sampled it in the nearly identical Tahoe—and in truth its performance doesn’t fall far behind that of the bigger V-8. It’s strong in stoplight launches and in uphill passes, and can tow up to 8,400 lb working in concert with GM’s 10-speed automatic and rear-wheel drive. It’s the prime reason we recommend less expensive Yukons.

That said, the 420-hp 6.2-liter V-8 available in the Denali and AT4 makes the Yukon effortlessly quick and smooth. GM shows off all it knows about building V-8s here with the big engine’s unbothered hustle and lusty soundtrack. It has the same brute force as a twin-turbo Navigator, but makes sweeter music when it isn’t muted behind the firewall. It couples very well with the 10-speed here, though GM’s programming on this transmission it shares with Ford can rifle through gears more before it finds the perfect cog.

Is the GMC Yukon 4WD?

The Yukon can be configured with automatic four-wheel drive; it’s standard on the AT4, while all other models get rear-wheel drive. The Yukon also can be fitted with an electronic limited-slip differential that helps find better grip when the SUV leaves the road.

Most versions can tow about 7,800 to 7,900 lb, but the uprated tow package on 355-hp rear-drive Yukons unlocks 8,400 lb of pull.

The Yukon has excellent ride motion control and decent big-SUV handling. With a four-wheel independent suspension and electric steering, the Yukon can be upgraded with air springs and adaptive damping that lifts or lowers it by about four inches for higher-speed cruising or low-speed ground clearance. We sampled its ability during hurricane season, where the raised Yukon sloshed out of flooded terrain, gripped a grassy median, and cleared murky water and fallen branches alike. When the impassable roads were cleared, it cruised the interstate at a hushed 80 mph, with excellent steering weight that grants it great lane control and responsiveness, despite its enormous height and weight. The Yukon can lope along serenely even on the Denali’s 22-inch wheels; we’re ready to sample the small-wheel, short-wheelbase SLE for comparison.

Comfort & Quality

The Yukon can consume vast quantities of people, cargo, or both.

The Yukon earns a solid 9 for comfort and utility. If we rated it on the handsomely trimmed Denali, it’d be a 10.

With an overall length of 210.0 inches (225.2 inches on the XL), and a wheelbase of 120.9 inches (134.1 inches, XL), the Yukon doesn’t shy away from showing off its size. It can host up to nine passengers and 144.7 cubic feet of cargo in some versions.

The biggest challenge in the Yukon might be climbing into one. It’s so tall, the grille stands shoulder-high to a 6-footer. Most drivers can find a good driving position thanks to power front seats and a tilt/telescope steering wheel; once they’re in they have a commanding view of the road ahead, and a compromised view to the rear thanks to seat headrests and roof pillars. Cloth seats in front are surrounded by vast interior space; they get heating and cooling and leather on the more swank versions.

In row two, GMC offers captain’s chairs or a bench seat, depending on the trim. Leg room measures up to 42.0 inches in the Yukon XL, so tall passengers can sit cross-legged without scuffing the front seat backs. The captain’s chairs are supportive and can come with heating for better long-distance lounging.

Row three measures up with almost 35 inches of leg room and enough head and leg room for tall people willing to clamber back there.

The Yukon can store up to 25.5 cubic feet of stuff behind the third-row seat, or 122.9 cubic feet behind the front seats. The Yukon XL stows 41.1 cubic feet of cargo behind row three, or 144.7 cubes behind row one. The cargo floor sits high, but a power tailgate helps with loading.

The excellent Denali edition melds leather and metallic trim with matte wood for a low-key luxury look. It’s a handsome place to cruise; we’re looking forward to a stint in an SLE soon.

Safety

It’s not fully tested, but the Yukon’s scores give pause.

How safe is the GMC Yukon?

It hasn’t been tested by the IIHS yet, but the NHTSA labels the Yukon with four stars overall, and a three-star rollover-resistance rating. Those subpar scores cost it two points, which it makes back up with standard and available safety technology. It’s a 5 here.

All Yukons have automatic emergency braking, and options include active lane control, a rear camera mirror, adaptive cruise control, a surround-view camera system, blind-spot monitors, and a host of camera views that ease towing.

Features

Denalis are luxury trucks, but all Yukons have the upscale touch.

GMC fits a long list of standard features to all Yukons and makes lots of options available, including a wide-screen infotainment system now powered by Google. That racks up an 8 here, leaving points on the table due to an average warranty and value.

Which GMC Yukon should I buy?

We’d pick either the $53,745 Yukon SLE or the $60,495 SLT. The SLE has 18-inch wheels, a cloth interior, power features, and a 10.2-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Four-wheel drive costs $3,000 more; the XL body, another $2,700. The SLT pitches in 9-speaker Bose audio, 20-inch wheels, leather upholstery, wireless smartphone charging, and heated and cooled front seats.

The $68,195 Yukon AT4 works if you’re off-roading more than you’re on-roading, or if the look gets too tempting. It has 20-inch off-road tires, hill descent control, recovery hooks, and skid plates, as well as standard four-wheel drive and an option for the big V-8.

How much is a fully loaded GMC Yukon?

The $70,095 Yukon Denali has it all: 14-speaker sound, an adaptive suspension, heated second-row seats, wood trim, a power-folding third-row seat, a surround-view camera system, and blind-spot monitors, with options for 22-inch wheels, an air suspension, a power sunroof, a rear camera mirror, a rear-seat entertainment system, an electronic limited-slip differential, adaptive cruise control, and a trailer-tow package with trailer blind-spot monitors and a hitch-view camera.

The Yukon’s 3-year/36,000-mile warranty is average in its price class.

Fuel Economy

Even with the turbodiesel, the Yukon’s just OK for fuel economy.

Is the GMC Yukon good on gas?

The more common gas-powered versions score in the high teens for EPA combined fuel economy, which earns a 3 here.

With the 3.0-liter turbodiesel-6 the Yukon manages EPA ratings of 21 mpg city, 27 highway, 23 combined. That’s with rear-wheel drive; adding four-wheel drive drops it to 20/26/22 mpg.

With the most popular base V-8 it rates 15/20/17 mpg in standard or XL body styles with rear-wheel drive. With rear-wheel drive, the Yukons with the larger-displacement engine check in at 14/20/16 mpg. All other versions are rated at 14/19/16 mpg.

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