2025 GMC Yukon Denali Review (incl. Video)

The GMC Yukon Denali (from AUD$174,990 before on-roads) is the biggest, boldest, flashiest, chromiest SUV available in Australia, and we’ve spent a few days behind the wheel of the locally converted RHD showstopper to see what all the fuss is about.

They sell nearly 8,000 of these a month in America, which is eight times that of a Toyota LandCruiser Downunder, so what have we been missing out on? Well, a 5.3-metre long, eight-seat, V8-powered SUV that can tow over 3.5-tonne for one. However, what we wanted to find out is how it compares to the local competition and where exactly it sits in this ever-changing car market. Does it carve out a niche of its own? Can it compete with the European offerings? Does it even care about them? These are the things that we wanted to find out.

Well, now that we’ve had a chance to jump behind the wheel for a few hundred kilometres at the local launch on the south coast of New South Wales, we have a pretty good idea. Let’s check out the review of the GMC Yukon Denali.

Price and Competition

GMC Yukon Denali is priced from $174,990 plus on-road costs in Australia. This makes it one of the most expensive options in its class (SUV Upper Large > $120K).

The brand is betting on its highly specified list of standard kit (Denali) and V8 engine to entice buyers, but it’s going to be challenging to move volume at this price, and it sits in a class of its own for buyers after a true 8-seat configuration and V8 powerplant with over 3.5-tonne towing capacity.

Before we get into the details, let’s look at its on-paper competitors, which include:

• Land Rover Defender 130 D300 X-Dynamic SE – from $126,670 plus on-road costs
• Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series Sahara ZX – from $146,910 plus on-road costs
• Nissan Patrol Ti-L – from AUD$102,100 plus on-road costs
• Lexus LX600 Sports Luxury – from AUD$181,361 plus on-road costs

If you’re shopping at this price point, you should also consider the European competitors. While these tend to live in the suburbs and are mostly used for school drop-offs, they provide a superior driving experience.

• BMW X7 – from AUD$171,300 plus on-road costs
• Mercedes-Benz GLS – from AUD$171,000 plus on-road costs

Many assumed that the GMC Yukon Denali would undercut the European SUVs, but that hasn’t panned out. With a $5,000 price rise before launch, it will now compete closely with entry-level specification variants of these impressive vehicles. However, it’s important to note that the Yukon does have three distinguishing features that might help it stand out to the right buyer. It’s powered by a V8 engine, it seats up to 8 people, and it can tow more than 3.5 tonnes.

Only one other vehicle can compete with that on paper, the Land Rover Defender 130, which boasts an 8-seat configuration and a potent 294kW 6-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, but it’s limited by 3 tonne towing.

They’ve sold more Defenders (1,277) in Australia this year than BMW X5s (1,103), and while we’re not sure GM intended to be in the same conversation as the Defender, it’s not a bad one to be in.

While it’s hard to categorise, the Yukon might find most of its sales success with LandCruiser Sahara ZX customers who want eight seats. It also might find some buyers who want an upgrade from the outdated Nissan Patrol.

Design and Presence

This is a large vehicle. No sh*t! But you don’t appreciate how large it is until you sit in the driver’s seat and realise your passenger is sitting in a different post code. Look out over the bonnet, down the side when changing lanes, and then pull up next to a LandCruiser 300 Series in traffic and completely dwarf them.

Here’s how it measures up compared to its closest competition:

• GMC Yukon Denali – 5,337mm (L), 2,058mm (W), 1,943mm (H), 3,071mm (Wheelbase)
• Defender 130 – 5,377mm (L), 1,996mm (W), 1,970mm (H), 3,022mm (Wheelbase)
• Toyota LandCruiser 300 – 4,980mm (L), 1980mm (W), 1,950mm (H), 2,850mm (Wheelbase)

The Defender 130 is longer and taller than the GMC Yukon Denali, but it’s also narrower, which makes it easier to keep between our Commonwealth-sized lanes. You’ll also notice that it’s a full 357mm longer than the Toyota LandCruiser, nearly a full 100mm wider, and it certainly feels that way when you’re driving.

Built on the same body-on-frame chassis as the Silverado 1500, the GMC Yukon Denali has unmatched road presence. Standard are 24-inch Pearl Nickel wheels—the largest on any production car in Australia and New Zealand.

They’re joined by a Denali-exclusive satin-chrome grille, LED lighting (headlights, taillights, fog lamps, and DRLs) and chrome accents all around. You can black out the chrome as an option, and you can even add a light-up badge to the front if that’s your cup of tea.

Colour choices for the GMC Yukon Denali in Australia include:

• Onyx Black
• Downpour Metallic Blue
• Volcanic Red Tintcoat
• Titanium Rush Metallic
• Sterling Metallic
• White Frost Tricoat

There’s a range of 25 optional accessories available from launch, including various roofrack options and exterior design choices.

Interior and Technology

With stiff competition from Europe in this segment, the interior of the Yukon Denali has to be top-notch, and it does a pretty great job.

The first point of call is the conversion. While it might not be built from the factory in right-hand-drive, you can’t tell, even in the top-of-the-range “Denali” model, which is loaded to the teeth with comfort and technology features.

Then it’s the comfort. Power-retractable sidesteps greet you as you climb up and take a seat in the heated and ventilated perforated leather front seats. You immediately get a feel for why people buy these things by the boatload.

It’s like sitting in your favourite leather couch, and these seats are 12-way power adjustable for both driver and front passenger with the all-important memory function. They’re matched with heated outboard seats in the second row with 60/40 split-folding functionality and a push-button flat-folding third row that offers up to 3480 litres of total load space.

Notably, you’ll find three child seat anchor points (ISOFIX), four USB ports (front and rear), and a power tilt/telescoping heated steering wheel.

This is an expensive vehicle, but there are some questionable material choices. The fake wood design that fades into black on the door feels (and looks) cheap. Meanwhile, the stitching on the leather is oddly wide, to the point that it will leave a mark on your arm if you rest it on the glovebox for too long. Strange, but noteworthy. Generally, the plastics feel scratchy, and there are simply too many buttons. I know! Imagine complaining about too many buttons in 2025!

Still, there are features in the cabin that we’re only used to seeing in higher-end vehicles from Europe. This includes the acoustic laminated glass throughout, automatic tri-zone climate control with dedicated overhead vents for all seating rows, an 8.0-inch climate control display for rear passengers, and of course, the obligatory eight cupholders that fit your oversized jumbo diet cokes.

Rounding out interior comfort is a large panoramic dual-pane sunroof (with sunshade) that offers power tilt and slide functionality, and illuminated and embossed “Denali” side plates that greet you on entry to the cabin.

Technology wise, there’s no missing the stonking great 16.8-inch vertical colour touchscreen (with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto) in the front of the cabin. It’s matched to an 11-inch digital driver display with clear speed readouts and 15-inch colour head-up display (HUD). Both work very well.

The screen is massive, and the Apple CarPlay is comically large, but it would probably look even larger if it weren’t for the sheer size of the SUV. Importantly, the brand has kept key physical buttons and knobs as physical units, including the majority of the climate controls, recirculation, temperature, sync, and the volume dial.

Sound comes from a Bose 14-speaker surround sound system (with CenterPoint audio processing), and your phone is kept charged in a wireless phone charging pad up front.

Finally, the entertainment continues in the rear where passengers have access to dual 12.6-inch colour HD touchscreens in the headrest to stream Netflix and other services.

It’s an impressive package, and unlike the many brands that are hell-bent on minimalism inside the cabin, GMC has cleverly thought through all of the necessary features and funnelled the most important ones in front of the driver, within arm’s reach. We’d need more time with the vehicle to figure out any annoyances, but even during our test drive, we can confidently say the most important ones are here and easily accessible.

No glaring issues! You could easily spend an extended period inside the cabin on road-trips, but also in traffic on the daily commute.

Power and Performance

• Engine: 6.2-litre EcoTec3 V8 (L87 Small Block)
• Maximum power: 313 kW
• Maximum torque: 624 Nm

The GMC Yukon Denali has a 6.2-litre V8 petrol engine that produces 313kW of power and 624Nm of torque and sends it to the ground through a 10-speed automatic transmission and Active Response 4WD System with an electronic limited-slip differential and a two-speed transfer case with 2WD HI, 4WD Auto, 4WD HI and 4WD LOW.

It’s a similar engine to that found in the Chevrolet Silverado 1500. However, it’s a newer unit that’s not subject to the REC-006344 (Chevrolet MY21-24 Silverado LD) product recall that’s affecting hundreds of thousands of vehicles in GM’s global fleet.

With a “Dynamic Fuel Management” system (cylinder deactivation), the fuel economy is surprisingly good for a petrol V8, and we achieved close to the claimed 12.8-litres/100km on our combined test route.

That said, with a 91-litre fuel tank, you’re unlikely to get more than 600km to a tank in the real world, and it’s not exactly aerodynamic on the freeway (even though the suspension drops 20mm for efficiency purposes). Towing figures would be closer to 20 litres per 100km during our limited on-road test.

On-Road Review

I only recently hopped out of the new Lexus GX550 and top-of-the-range Defender 130 V8, so I had a pretty good reference point for where the GMC Yukon Denali.

How does it compare? Well, that depends on what you’re looking for as a buyer.

If you’re after a cushy and soft SUV that can tow and haul at the drop of a hat, the GMC Yukon Denali is up amongst the best when compared to other body-on-frame vehicles like the Lexus GX, LX, LandCruiser 300 Series, and Nissan Patrol.

The standard Air Ride Adaptive Suspension system is controlled electronically at all four corners and adjusts automatically based on load and road conditions. It has selectable ride height that can raise the vehicle by 50mm and also lower it for easier entry/exit, too. This combines with a Magnetic Ride Control system with continuously variable dampers filled with magnetorheological fluid to adjust suspension every 5 milliseconds based on road inputs.

It works very well to keep the body of the vehicle level when travelling across undulating flat ground, but struggles somewhat in corners (even in Sport mode).

Where it doesn’t struggle is with power. The 6.2-litre EcoTec3 V8 delivers it effortlessly, and while it won’t shove you back in your seat, it goes about its business with nothing but a lowly grumble. The ten-speed automatic gearbox stuck on the back of the engine does the same. You can pull paddles to change gears (after pushing a button to activate it), but it can figure it out on its own quite well, so you probably won’t.

The on-road dynamics are impressive, but only when you compare them to other body-on-frame vehicles. While great off-road and for towing, they’re flawed by design on-road compared to unibody (all-aluminium monocoque design) SUVs like the Defender and the various European competitors.

Throw a corner at the GMC Yukon Denali, and it starts to showcase some of the inherent flaws of this architecture. The turn-in is hard to judge as the steering is quite vague, and while this is never a standout feature of large SUVs, the steering rack, which is locally converted, struggles to provide a confident driving experience. Simply put, it lacks the feel and feedback that you’d expect from an SUV priced at $174,990 before on-roads.

It’s a similar steering set-up to what you’d find in the Chevrolet Silverado, but you care a whole lot less about it when you’re plugging around in a pick-up truck with large off-road tires.

The Yukon Denali did well out on the highways, where the steering, aided by adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist, might be in its favour, but I expected to find Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series levels of quality here, and it felt closer to a Nissan Patrol.

We were thrown some pretty tasty roads on our launch, and the vast majority of owners will only spend time driving to and from the boat ramp on Sydney “stroads,” but I certainly wouldn’t go into a test-drive expecting to find a BMW or Mercedes-Benz-like driving experience. This is a big yank tank, and it drives like it!

Towing and Utility

We’ll have to load up the GMC Yukon Denali with a boat trailer or similar to test the full potential of the vehicle before we report on how well it tows, but you can probably come to a pretty decent conclusion given the engine, gearbox, and weight of the vehicle.

Nonetheless, the max braked towing capacity of the GMC Yukon Denali is 3,628 kg in Australia (with a weight distribution hitch).

Here’s a list of the standard towing equipment:

• Factory towbar
• 12-pin integrated wiring harness
• Tow/Haul Mode
• Integrated Trailer Brake Controller
• Trailer Sway Control
• Hitch Guidance with Hitch View (camera-assisted)

You’ll also get a suite of cameras that should help with towing, including hitch guidance with hitch view, trailer Views (including side blind zones when towing), and a top-down view for low-speed manoeuvring.

Safety and Driver Assistance

The GMC Yukon is unrated by ANCAP.

There’s no Euro NCAP score, and the US Insurance Institute of Highway Safety hasn’t tested it.

It comes with the following list of standard safety equipment:

• 6 Airbags (front, side-impact, and curtain airbags for all seating rows)
• 360° HD Camera System (up to 11 camera views)
• Adaptive Cruise Control – Camera
• Automatic Emergency Braking – Front
• Automatic Emergency Braking – Intersection
• Brake Pad Wear Indicator
• Electrical Theft-Deterrent System
• Enhanced Automatic Emergency Park Assist
• Following Distance Indicator
• Forward Collision Alert
• Front & Rear Park Assist
• Front Cyclist Braking
• Front Pedestrian Braking
• Head-Up Display (15″ multicolour)
• Hill Start Assist
• Hitch Guidance with Hitch View
• Immobiliser (integrated with theft-deterrent system)
• IntelliBeam® High Beam Assist
• Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Zone Alert
• Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning
• Rear Camera Mirror (with washer)
• Rear Cross Traffic Braking
• Rear Pedestrian Alert
• Rear View Camera
• Reverse Automatic Braking
• Safety Alert Seat
• Side Blind Zone Alert
• StabiliTrak® Electronic Stability Control System with Traction Control
• Trailer Sway Control
• Tyre Pressure Monitoring System with Tyre Fill Alert (excludes spare tyre)

Notably, there’s no front-centre airbag in the GMC Yukon Denali.

Warranty and Service

You’ll only have the assurance of a three-year, 100,000km warranty and roadside assistance on the GMC Yukon Denali in Australia, which is amongst the weakest offerings in the market.

Servicing comes every 12 months or 12,000km, and there’s no capped-price servicing available.

Verdict

With a $174,990 sticker price, the GMC Yukon Denali sits in a class of its own.

It has the looks, size, towing, performance, ride comfort, technology, and importantly, a true 8-seat configuration that you won’t find in the high-end Toyota LandCruisers. However, despite its comfort, it doesn’t have the same on-road performance as unibody vehicles like the Defender or European competitors, nor does it have the wow factor on the interior, where the choice of materials could be better.

Ultimately, it sits in a niche for those who want more (and are willing to pay for it) than Toyota and Lexus are willing to offer. Maybe the closest thing to it will be the new Nissan Patrol, but that’s still a long way off.

If you want the biggest, flashiest vehicle to tow your toys, the GMC Yukon Denali could be the ticket!