GMC Canyon

GMC’s redesigned Canyon mid-size pickup truck debuted as a 2023 model with an increased focus on upscale off-roading. We’ve driven the Canyon locally around our home office in Chicago, but as potholed and frost-heaved as the roads are here, we were still chomping at the bit to actually take a Canyon on a true off-road excursion. We recently got our chance when GMC invited us to Montana to test out a variety of its AT4X off-road pickup trucks (per Cars.com’s ethics policy, we pay for all travel and lodging on such manufacturer-sponsored events), including the Canyon and the new-for-2024 Canyon AT4X AEV Edition, which is a Canyon AT4X that’s been massaged by the mad scientists at American Expedition Vehicles to produce even more off-the-lot off-roading capability.

Related: New 2024 AT4X AEV Edition Is Most Extreme GMC Canyon Yet

What Makes a Canyon an AT4X?

When the Canyon redesign debuted for 2023, the AT4X was the premier off-road variant. With a 3-inch suspension lift, standard 33-inch mud-terrain tires, 10.7 inches of ground clearance, Multimatic Dynamic Suspensions Spool Valve dampers, front and rear electronic locking differentials, extra underbody protection, additional cameras and off-road-specific information menus, the AT4X was the go-anywhere-est Canyon buyers could get.

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Interestingly, the AT4X doesn’t include any major powertrain changes — you still get a high-output turbocharged 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine making 310 horsepower and 430 pounds-feet of torque, paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. An AT4X-exclusive Baja drive mode is for higher-speed off-roading, but the engine still has to contend with the extra weight of the AT4X’s equipment (the truck’s curb weight is nearly 5,000 pounds) and the physics of a lifted truck with bigger tires. All of this comes with a hefty price tag for a mid-size pickup: almost $57,000 (including destination) before any other options.

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There’s More to the AEV Edition

In case that isn’t good enough for you, GMC teamed up with the well-known off-road equipment company AEV to produce the 2024 Canyon AT4X AEV Edition. The formula takes the AT4X and adds more. A 3-inch lift isn’t good enough for you? How about a 4.5-inch lift and 12.2 inches of ground clearance? Since the truck sits higher, why not replace the already capable 33-inch mud-terrain tires with 35-inchers? Five hot-stamped boron-steel skid plates now protect the radiator, steering system, transmission, transfer case, fuel tank and rear differential. Steel front and rear bumpers from AEV add protection and allow for the addition of a winch. The front styling and fenders are also revised to accommodate the other upgrades, and a full-size spare tire is mounted vertically in the bed up against the cab to retain cargo box usability. (There are still no powertrain upgrades, though.)

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Driving Both On-Road

Neither the AT4X nor the AT4X AEV Edition are most at home on the pavement. Their knobby mud-terrain tires are noisy and don’t offer much grip in on-road cornering, leading to some understeer and concerning moments where I said, “I wasn’t even going that fast.” That engineers were able to eke so much power out of the four-cylinder engine is impressive, but with so much mass to move, the engine is often strained, especially on steeper grades. I’ve complained before about the sound it makes, which doesn’t fit the rough and rugged appearance of these trucks. It drones at high speeds and the exhaust note lacks oomph.

Ideally, neither one of these trucks would be a daily driver, but if I had to pick one, the obvious choice is the AT4X. It’s somewhat tamer, but it also doesn’t have a colossal spare tire obscuring rear visibility. We noted this with the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison, too: GM has an excellent rearview camera mirror, and this would be a perfect situation to use it. Alas, you’ll just have to use your side mirrors and do your best.

Shining Off-Road

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I forgot all about my on-road complaints whenever the pavement ended, however. My day started in the AEV Edition, and as we made our way to a logging trail on graded but unpaved roads, I got to play with Baja mode in both two- and four-wheel drive. Body roll was prevalent but well controlled, and while this isn’t a Raptor-esque desert runner, it did manage to maintain momentum during successive corners. The suspension ate up bumps and ruts, and the tires never lost grip even in icy sections.

Going up the trail required first 4WD and, eventually, low-range 4WD, but switching between 2WD and 4WD and the truck’s driving modes is easy with the controller in the center console. As things got slower, narrower and rockier, I kept the truck in its Terrain setting, which enables off-road one-pedal driving; releasing the accelerator pedal engages the brakes without having to separately press the brake pedal. Normally, I prefer traditional off-road driving, aka “two-footing” it, but the Terrain mode worked reasonably well and over time, I became more comfortable with it and its responsiveness. Occasionally, the brakes engaged too quickly for my taste as I let off the gas pedal (sometimes unintentionally), leading to herky-jerky movements over obstacles.

Our caravan up the trail lacked spotters (or the space for them), so the Canyon’s camera system came in handy. While GMC touts the underbody cameras on the AT4X variants, I preferred to keep the screen fully on the forward-facing camera with dynamic guidelines enabled. That gave me what I felt was the best chance to put my tires where I wanted, and having more than a foot of ground clearance also helps reduce concerns around what you may or may not be driving over. The AEV Edition handled everything we threw at it with ease, and when we encountered a significant step up on the trail, engaging the rear electronic locking differential made traversing the obstacle far easier, though we didn’t necessarily need to.

On the way down the same trail, I switched into an AT4X. The difference was stark: While still capable, the smaller tires and lower ride height required more careful route planning and camera use. Descending the trail in Terrain mode also resulted in a pungent and moderately concerning smell of hot brakes, but there wasn’t any noticeable fade on the trail or on the road afterward.

Both of these off-road pickups are well suited to unpaved fun right off the lot, and despite their massive size relative to other mid-size pickups, they didn’t feel too big for the trails. That’s a problem I often have with full-size and larger off-road trucks, but the Canyon is still small enough that you shouldn’t need too much paint and body repair even with frequent excursions. Both also have comfortable interiors with stylish, AT4X-specific color schemes (the AEV Edition gets some stitching in the head restraints, too), but I was disappointed that there’s still a lot of hard plastic, particularly on the door panels.

More From Cars.com:

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• 2023 GMC Canyon: Who Needs Roads?
• Driving the 2024 Chevrolet ZR2 Off-Road Pickup Family: 1 Hot Dog, 3 Sizes

Which Canyon Is Right for You?

If you’re planning to drive your truck to and from the trails, I’d recommend sticking with the AT4X. It’s a bit more composed on-road, you’ll probably have slightly better fuel economy, and you can see better out of the thing. If you’re focused on off-roading first, second and third, the expected premium for the AEV Edition is worth it. I’d put it up against any other mid-size pickup truck I’ve taken off-road — and a lot of the full-size ones, too.

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