The 2016 GMC Canyon, like its sibling, the Chevrolet Colorado, is now available with a Duramax diesel engine. Pickups with diesels are usually used for towing, so how does the new Duramax-equipped Canyon perform?
TFLtruck’s Nathan Adlen was in the small town of Beacon, New York, to drive the new diesel Canyon with a trailer attached. Unfortunately, it was only a lightweight jet ski trailer – with jet ski – so it was nowhere near the four-wheel-drive Canyon’s towing capacity of 7,600 lbs, but it did give a glimpse of the truck’s towing maneuverability.
The heart of the new Canyon is the Duramax engine, which is a 2.8-liter four cylinder turbo diesel rated at 181 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque. That’s enough to give a rear-wheel-drive Canyon a 7,700 pound towing capacity, 100 lbs more than the four-wheel-drive version.
The engine has an iron block and aluminum head and forged steel crankshaft and connecting rods. Fuel is delivered through a common-rail fuel injection system. The Duramax also has a 16.5:1 compression ratio.
It’s mated to a six-speed automatic transmission, and it also has an engine braking system that uses the exhaust to help brake on steep grades. To add to the Canyon’s towing pedigree, it also has an integrated trailer brake controller on the dash.
The engine braking system works either in cruise control mode or out. In cruise mode, the engine brake helps maintain speed downhill. Out of cruise mode, the engine brake and transmission automatically work together to provide needed braking regardless of the truck’s load.
The Duramax diesel will add approximately $3,730 more over a gasoline powered Canyon.
TFLtruck will eventually get a Canyon diesel in Colorado to take on the dreaded Ike Gauntlet. Until then, check out the full video of Nathan’s quick towing test of the 2016 GMC Canyon:
