GMC Sierra 2500HD Denali

It’s always exciting to welcome a new vehicle into our long-term test fleet, especially when it’s the winner of our 2018 Pickup Truck of the Year test.

- Jason Gonderman

The truck we’ll be testing for the next 12 months is an ’18 GMC Sierra 2500HD Denali equipped with the new L5P Duamax diesel engine. When we placed the order, we checked all of the same boxes as the one on our test, the only exception being paint color. Naturally, we picked the most expensive color option, White Frost Tricoat, which adds $995 to the sticker but looks amazing.

We began our time with the Sierra with the epic 3,000-mile road trip that we featured in the previous issue (November/December 2018), and this report picks up from there. During our cross-country drive, we saw fuel-economy numbers tip into the low 20s, which is quite impressive for a nearly 8,000-pound truck with the aerodynamics of a barn. Back in the city, things have settled into a groove with the Sierra averaging between 12 and 14 mpg in combined city and highway traffic driving.