The Canyon AT4 strikes a nice balance between on-road comfort and off-road good times. Its clackety-clack engine isn’t fun to listen to, but it’s certainly capable of pushing limits.

We really enjoyed the 2023 GMC Canyon in its AT4 package. It’s a great all-around mid-sized pickup and a solid off-road goer. Its closest competitor, the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2, is a strong contender, though, and might be more up our alley overall. The choice really comes down to what you expect in the cabin.

The GMC definitely delivers there. The interior is spacious, comfortable, and full of nice touches and upscale appeal. That’s where GMC really shines the most and it’s made clear with this truck.

Our chief complaint with the Canyon (and it’s Colorado near-twin) is the engine. It’s good for driving and getting around, but makes a lot of off-putting noise while doing so. The amount of ticking and “I need oil!”-sounding clack is terrible. It’s a sad byproduct of moving to a more efficient turbo-4.

When on or off the road, though, the 2023 GMC Canyon AT4 fits a nice balance between on-road comfort and off-road capability. We drove it through town and onto the highway with comfort and then bounced it through the hills without complaint.

The Canyon and the Colorado are largely the same truck in terms of design and general capability. The GMC is more upscale, of course, and there are differences between the AT4, AT4X, and the ZR2 packages. The AT4X and ZR2 are similar in capability and the decision as to which to buy will mostly come down to budget and badge preferences.

The Canyon AT4 and the Ranger Tremor are similar in overall packaging. The AT4 is a bit more capable, thanks to better breakover and a less twitchy turbocharger on its engine. It’s easier to keep your footing. The AT4X and Raptor are not the same, the Ranger Raptor having more going for it in that regard.

The Gladiator Rubicon is building on a legend and it shows. The AT4 is not its equal. The AT4X, however, can do just as much as the Rubicon, it just doesn’t have the same finesse about it. In the end, though, you’re going to have to decide whether you feel that the Jeep is really a pickup or if you’re in the “it’s just a Wrangler with a bed on it” camp.

The base model MSRP for the Canyon AT4 is about $45,000, but most buyers are going to add a few things and more likely end up in the $48,000 range. That’s expensive compared to other mid-size pickup truck options, but there’s a lot of equipment included in that cost.

The table below shows the most common trim levels and how much they will run you.

The 2023 GMC Canyon has been completely redesigned as the third generation of the pickup. Big changes are to body styling and sizes, including a move to crew-cab, short bed configuration as the only body option.

The V6 engine has been dropped in favor of a turbocharged four-cylinder with more transmission gearing. Off-road gear and tires are now standard as well. Four trim levels consolidate earlier options into packages that reflect popular gear-ups. The AT4 and AT4X are the most off-road-oriented of those packages.

The only engine offered for the 2023 GMC Canyon is a 2.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that outputs 310 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque. This matches to an eight-speed automatic transmission. Rear-wheel drive is standard in the base model and four-wheel drive is found in the rest of the trims.

The engine does a nice job of motivating this truck. It’s more powerful than its tiny displacement would suggest and the added gears to the transmission make for a good combination of power output and efficiency. This truck only rarely feels less than confident. That’s usually during towing.

What bothers us is the sound the engine makes. It’s a clackety typewriter noise that is off-putting and not very muscular. Compared to the rest of the truck, the engine just sounds lugubrious.

On and off road handling are both very good in the GMC Canyon, though. It’s not as light on its feet as smaller trucks back in the day were, but it’s definitely easier to pilot in the bush than most full-sized rigs.

The 2023 GMC Canyon received four out of five stars for crash tests done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This is about par for the mid-size pickup truck market overall.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has not yet published crash test results for the 2023 model year Canyon. We expect they’ll be as good or better than NHTSA results and the previous-generation Canyon’s tests.

There is not much data for the 2023 GMC Canyon yet, but early results are promising. It appears to be beating out the second-generation it replaces in terms of reliability scoring.

Even with its typewriter-esque engine.

The standard package for the AT4 is really well done in the 2023 GMC Canyon. We would not add anything.

Except the Bose audio, which is pretty well done and well worth the upgrade. If you off-road a lot, the 360-degree camera system in the Technology package is also a nice addition. And if you have old man back problems like I do, get the heated seats.

The warranty for the 2023 GMC Canyon is about average for the segment. A few competitors have longer warranties, but most are roughly in the same grade.

• Basic: 3 years / 36k miles
• PowerTrain: 5 years / 60k miles
• Rust / Corrosion: 6 years / 100k miles
• Roadside and Courtesy Transportation: 3 years
• If buying used look at our best extended warranties

The GMC Canyon underwent a complete revamp this year, marking the third generation for this pickup. Given that, finding a used model that is of this generation for the truck will be difficult.

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