2025 GMC Canyon AT4 Review: Magic Dampers Make The Perfect Spec

Rarely is it so easy to pinpoint what makes a particular vehicle feel special, or a success, as with the 2025 GMC Canyon. The midsize pickup isn't short on competition, not only from trucks like the Toyota Tacoma and Ford Ranger, but sibling rivalry in the shape of the Chevrolet Colorado. What the Toyota and Ford don't offer, though, are Multimatic dampers.

As usual, you pay a premium for the GMC badge, even though the Canyon is mechanically the same as the Colorado. GMC's range kicks off at $43,295 (plus $1,595 destination) for the Elevation 2WD trim; you pay $3,300 to add 4WD. A base 2025 Colorado WT 2WD starts at $33,495 (including destination) though creature comforts and 4WD don't start until you're edging past $40k.

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Base spec doesn't get you access to the Multimatic club, mind, regardless of the badge. On the assumption that you don't just want to go off-road capably, but do so without shaking your teeth loose, the special suspension is probably worth the upgrade. Question is, does the rest of the Canyon package live up to that?

It's a handsome pickup, especially in Sterling Metallic paint ($495), though GMC also has a number of brighter finishes, which is a welcome choice. LED headlamps and taillamps are standard, with the AT4 and Denali trims getting LED fog lamps too. The base Elevation gets 18-inch wheels as standard; the AT4 has 17-inch versions, while the Denali has 20-inch rims. GMC offers up to 22-inch wheels, for those prioritizing aesthetics over anything else.

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Inside, GMC takes a cabin familiar from the Canyon's Chevy Colorado sibling, and throws a bunch of fresh trim at it. The 11.3-inch Google-powered infotainment touchscreen is standard, as is an 11-inch digital driver display; wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also present (unlike GM's recent EVs). While the regular black cloth and faux-leather trim could leave the interior dark (and the same for the optional black leather/brown trim version), the Obsidian Rush of this particular Canyon has charming red stitching and some dash-lightening white panels with red trim on the vents and controls.

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Physical switchgear isn't in short supply, despite the big touchscreen. As well as a dedicated volume knob, HVAC controls, and a traditional shifter, there's a row of buttons for things like the locking differentials and engine stop/start. A dedicated knob handles 2WD/4WD transitions, as well as drivetrain mode — complete with animated graphics — though it can feel sluggish to cycle through.

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Generally there's a solid mixture of digital and physical, even if GM's decision to put headlamp control in a touchscreen menu still rankles. While the front cabin is spacious, the rear seats' 34.6 inches of legroom feels a little cramped (Ford's Ranger only has a tenth of an inch more back there, so this is par for the segment).

To take the regular Canyon 4WD AT4 ($45,700 plus destination) to the truck you see here, though, requires a bevy of options. The AT4X AEV Edition package adds $10,100 to the sticker, though you get plenty for that extra spend. Special wheel flares; skid plates for the front, rear differential, fuel tank, and transfer case; new AEV front and rear bumpers; a full-size spare wheel and carrier; and a prewired switch kit for accessories are all included.

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However, you also need the $6,690 AT4X Package first. That includes locking front and rear differentials; a 3-inch suspension lift; underbody cameras; the Baja drive mode; a spray-on bed liner; black exterior trim; and the Obsidian Rush interior with red seat belts. Oh, and the $1,395 AT4 Premium Package, with its seat memory; power front passenger seat; heating for the steering wheel; and ventilation for the front seats.

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That's not all, mind. You'll need to budget $3,050 for the Technology Plus Package, with its surround-view camera, sunroof, Bose audio system, adaptive cruise control, wireless phone charging, head-up display, and rear pedestrian alert. Even with a $1,500 AEV Edition discount that GMC is currently offering, you're looking at a near-$20k premium.

Even so, that still doesn't get you the Multimatic DSSV jounce-control dampers. On paper they're a $2,675 option, though since they also require the Technology Plus Package, the AT4 Premium Package, and the AT4X Package, you're looking at more like $14k over the base AT4 trim truck.

Curious to see whether the special suspension really does live up to its billing (and its hefty price), I pointed the Canyon at a particularly rutted, pothole-spotted length of asphalt. The sort of road that, after you drive down it the first time — grimacing all the way, at the noises coming from your suspension and tires — you'll actively pick a circuitous detour to avoid it.

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The GMC barreled along with nary a murmur. Things inside felt positively plush.

Emboldened, I headed out to the unpaved roads of farm country. Long, straight stretches of dirt and gravel, rutted by combines, tractors, and other heavy machinery: roads that wear their 55 mph speed limit signs as a joke, because the average car isn't going to want to do more than 20 mph.

At the speed limit, there was certainly movement in the Canyon's cabin. Not uncomfortably so, though, or indeed lacking in usefulness. I still had a good sense of what grip the big tires retained, I just wasn't being bounced in all directions in the process. I ran out of road long before my body started complaining (and then I turned around and repeated it in the opposite direction).

Indeed, it's easy to be lulled by the Multimatic magic. Hitting the brakes in earnest reminded me of the untrustworthy nature of the road beneath me, though I can't really blame that on the GMC. At least, as I wrestled things back on track via the heavily-assisted steering, the pickup remained level and composed (just a little bit sideways).

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I was left thinking of the IsoDynamic seats that Toyota fits in the Tacoma TRD Pro (from $65,230 including destination). They, too, rely on clever dampers to isolate you from the unruly road below, though applied to the driver and front passenger's chairs. Toyota's tech is clever and effective too, but GMC's attitude of steadying the entire body of the truck seems a more sensible one (especially if you're riding in the back seats).

The AT4X AEV Edition package includes the upright spare wheel holder integrated into the bed — which takes up space and blocks half the view through the rear window, though will probably justify those compromises if you actually get a puncture out in the wilderness — and knobby 17-inch tires. The latter are responsible for plenty of road noise, even if the Canyon's juicy jounce-control tech handles the ride quality side of things.

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GMC's single engine option is the 2.7-liter TurboMax, with 310 horsepower and 430 lb-ft of torque. It's paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission, and while 4WD is a $3,300 option on the base-spec Elevation, it's standard on the AT4 and Denali trims. That gets you 2WD HI/4WD Auto/4WD LO modes and — unless replaced by a package — an auto-locking rear differential.

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On paper, the TurboMax's numbers are good: it bests, slightly, both horsepower and torque from Ford's optional 2.7-liter EcoBoost offered on the Ranger, and even matches the Ranger Raptor's twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 on torque. In practice, while the Canyon has some pace if you're heavy with your right foot, it sounds pretty unrefined in the process. 

At least GMC's economy estimates hold up: my mixed driving came just short of the 16 mpg a Canyon of this spec is rated for across the board on city, highway, and combined.

In what you could describe as either irony or GM's perennial challenge, if you're convinced by the Multimatic tech, then the cheaper Chevy Colorado is probably the GMC's biggest competitor. Chevrolet only offers the trick dampers on the Colorado ZR2, but — since you can spec them separately and don't have to add that truck's $11,700 Bison Edition package — you're looking at $53,870 (including destination) in the cheapest Multimatic-equipped configuration. That's about $7.5k less than the cheapest version of the Canyon with the suspension upgrade.

Things are a little nicer in the GMC's cabin, certainly, but the Colorado ZR2 still gets leather seats, with heating and ventilation up front, and the same infotainment system. Oh, and the same TurboMax engine, though in non-Bison-Edition form that Chevy is rated for 17 mpg instead. Even then, there are more economical midsize pickups out there.

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I prefer the Canyon AT4's exterior aesthetic, personally, and there's no doubting that in fulsome AT4X AEV Edition spec it's ready for some serious fun off-road. GMC's insistence on adding all those packages just to get the Canyon's best feature is its biggest weakness, however. The end result is great, it's just an expensive route to get there.