Entered CNET Catalog: 07/07/2006
SKU: CNETGMC07YUKONSLT
Manufacturer: GMC
Product summary
The good: The 2007 GMC Yukon SLT provides a spacious interior and lots of useful tech to inform and entertain those onboard, including navigation, a DVD system and a decent stereo. The Yukon's active fuel-management system is a sophisticated economy feature.
The bad: Without four-wheel drive, the Yukon is limited to being a gas-guzzling, urban battleship with little to recommend its handling or performance. Both battery- and fuel-tank life are limited.
The bottom line: Big, brawny, and boat-like, the 2007 GMC Yukon is the poor man's Escalade or the outlet mall-shopper's dream. Decent interior tech options go someway to redeeming underwhelming performance and poor fuel economy.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 07/12/2006
The 2007 GMC Yukon SLT is a comfortable boat-on-wheels. As a two-wheel-drive vehicle, the standard Yukon is of questionable value as an SUV: There are few cars that are less sporty, and its size and ungainly handling are far from utilitarian. Nevertheless, with loads of interior space for five passengers, and a generous cargo area, the Yukon makes good use of its capacious dimensions. Drivers and passengers have plenty of standard and optional onboard tech to inform and entertain them: Our test model came with an optional GPS navigation system, which reduces the SLT's audio offering to a single-slot CD/MP3 player ($2,145), an optional rear-seat DVD entertainment system ($1295), and the SLT-1 Décor package ($2,430), which includes leather seats, trizone climate control and rear-parking assist. With other options, including a power sunroof ($595), an upgraded Bose speaker system ($495), a 3.73 ratio rear axle ($100), and a heated windshield washer system, our Yukon SLT tester weighed anchor at $43,985.
The first thing that drivers of the 2007 Yukon SLT realize is that they are about four feet higher than most other drivers on the road. Standing 6-feet 4-inches tall and measuring nearly 17 feet in length, the Yukon is hard to miss and even harder to park.
The SLT sits in the middle of the Yukon range, with the SLE below and the high-end Denali above. Our SLT-1 interior package included leather appointments, trizone climate control, rear-parking assist, and an MP3-compatible single-disc CD changer. Additionally, our car came with an optional DVD-based navigation and MP3-compatible CD/DVD player package, which adds an LCD information screen through which the driver can also control the audio system. The navigation/audio interface was the same as the one we liked so much in the 2007 Cadillac Escalade, and it gave us a number of options to configure maps and music information. The LCD touch-screen display made the Yukon's navigation system relatively straightforward to program. Although, for some reason, our car's default was for entry of addresses by cross street rather than by street number, which took some time to remedy.
Despite the fact that the 2007 Yukon's V-8, VORTEC engine can conjure up 320hp at 5200rpm, it is about as responsive as a battleship when called into action to change lanes or merge with traffic.
GM deserves tech-kudos however, for the engine's active fuel-management system, which enables the engine to operate on only half of the engine's cylinders (i.e. four) when full power is not needed. According to GM, this can improve efficiency by as much as 12 percent in some vehicles. An option on the Yukon's Driver Information Control system tells drivers whether the car is in four-cylinder or V-8 mode. Also in the VORTEC's eco-favor is its ability to run on flex-fuel, a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
GM makes a lot out of the 2007 Yukon's maximum NHTSA five-star rating for frontal-impact crash tests. While this is admirable in any car, it is not too surprising for one this big. Nor is it surprising that GM neglected to mention is that the latest Yukon gets a less impressive three-star rating for rollover safety.
Otherwise, the safety features on the Yukon are good: GM's Stabilitrak comes as standard, as do ABS, four-wheel disc brakes, and a tire-pressure monitoring system, which is built in to the Driver Information Control display.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7out of 7 user reviews
Great Riding Family SUV
Pros: Smooth Car-like Ride, Solid Sound System, Ethanol Ready, Engine adjusts between 8 and 4 cylinders for better fuel economy, DVD player w/ wireless headphones
Cons: Small Storage Space (non XL model), Rear pass door has a nasty corner that easily damages car you park next to if you're not careful, drink holders are horrible, hard to switch out headlights
out of 7 user reviews
Stellar SUV
Pros: Fit, finish, usability, space, looks, driving
Cons: Needs more gears
out of 7 user reviews
Biased anti-GM SUV review
Pros: Great when you need to move many people and luggage
Cons: Not an economical daily driver when a car will do
out of 7 user reviews
I find a fault with this review
Pros: Displacement on demand
Cons: no SS or sport model.
out of 7 user reviews
For 40K there are better values out there
Pros: Spaciousness
Cons: Handling seems awkward
out of 7 user reviews
NOT a poor-mans Escalade
Pros: Great ride and handling, comfortable and nice looking interior, powerful V8, many features
Cons: Active fuel management does very little to help its poor fuel economy, flex-fuel optional, no arm rests, center console very empty looking, lack or storage containers
out of 7 user reviews
Poor Mans Escalade?
Pros: Good Looks and Lots of Features
Cons: Poor Fuel Managment Feature
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