If you're in the market for a premium-style four-wheel drive wagon with eight seats and a petrol V8 engine and you live in Australia, your choices have been rather limited. You'd be looking at something like the Nissan Patrol or the Land Rover Defender 130.
Well, that has now changed as General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) is importing the GMC Yukon Denali to Australia. This top-of-the-range Yukon arrives here as a left-hand drive vehicle and is converted to right-hand drive at a facility in Victoria to suit our market.
The Denali has a price tag just under $175,000, though, and that makes it a lot more expensive than most vehicles that could be considered rivals in the Aussie market. Is it worth it?
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Read on.
GMC Yukon 2025: Denali
| Engine Type | V8, 6.2L |
|---|---|
| Fuel Type | |
| Fuel Efficiency | 14.7L/100km (combined) |
| Seating | 8 |
| Price From | $174,990 |
Price and features – Does it represent good value for the price? What features does it come with? 7/10
7 / 10
The 2025 GMC Yukon Denali is a top-shelf, eight-seat, 4WD V8-powered wagon with a price-tag of $174,990, before on-road costs.
The standard equipment list is a comprehensive and its more notable features include a 16.8-inch touchscreen multimedia system (with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto - but no sat-nav), a 14-speaker Bose sound system, power-adjustable heated and ventilated leather-accented seats, a head-up display, 12.6-inch rear HD touchscreens for the second-row passengers, a panoramic sunroof and an auto-sense power rear door.
It also has a 360-degree high-definition camera system (with up to 11 camera views), power-retractable sidesteps, 24-inch machined and painted 'pearl nickel' alloy wheels (on Bridgestone all-season tyres), all-around adaptive air suspension and a maximum braked towing capacity of 3628kg (when it has a 70mm ball and weight-distribution hitch).
Exterior paint choices include 'Onyx Black', 'Summit White', 'Titanium Rush Metallic', 'Volcanic Red Tintcoat' (on the test vehicle and costs $2000), 'Downpour Metallic', 'White Frost Tricoat' and 'Sterling Metallic'.
Design – Is there anything interesting about its design? 7/10
7 / 10
The 2025 GMC Yukon Denali is 5337mm long (with a 3071mm wheelbase), 2378mm wide, 1943mm high and has a kerb weight of 2813kg.
Suffice it to say, it’s big.
The signature Denali grille – with LED headlights and chrome accents – is the size of a house and it’s eye-catching.
In terms of design, the rest of the Denali is standard SUV, but it's so massive it can't help but have plenty of presence on the road.
This 4WD has 24-inch rims, which are not suited to off-roading at all, but I’ll get to that later.
The Denali’s dual exhaust system, with polished stainless-steel tips, adds to the street-cool aesthetic.
The rest of the Denali exterior works – but it’s an in-your-face kind of success.
Inside, the space is cavernous and with leather upholstery, wood-look trim and soft-touch surfaces you’d expect it to feel like a plush, well-appointed cabin. But it doesn’t quite hit the mark.
Sure, all three rows of seats offer enough in terms of comfort and amenities but, for a $175,000 vehicle, the cabin lacks a distinctive premium feel, as you'd assume it should in a vehicle at this price point. That's a bit of a disappointment.
Practicality – How practical is its space and tech inside? 7/10
7 / 10
The Denali has retractable sidesteps, which is a big help to hobbits, such as me, and it also has big grab handles, again a welcome addition for the purposes of easier ingress for those on the wrong side of tall.
Once you climb inside, it’s easy to appreciate the fact that this wagon’s interior is vast, functional and comfortable, with plenty of storage spaces for everything – glove box, centre console, sunglasses case, door pockets etc – and plenty of charge points for your array of smart devices, even a wireless charge pad.
It’s a well-designed cabin but, as mentioned earlier, the Denali lacks the prestige fit and finish and even build quality usually showcased in something at this price-point.
Instead, there are expanses of hard plastic throughout, storage receptacles with flimsy lids, and lacklustre fit and finish here and there.
The vertically-oriented 16.8-inch touchscreen multimedia system is simple enough to use, even when the road gets bumpy, although it sometimes took a few stabs of my finger to get the system to register a command.
Climate control switches and the like are located under the screen.
The three rows of seats offer more than adequate levels of comfort – the front seats are heated and ventilated and the second row’s outboard seats are heated – and each row also has the appropriate amount of amenity to suit its occupants, including cupholders, USB-C sockets, map pockets and the like.
The second-row seats even have 12.6-inch HD colour touchscreens – one on the back of each front-row headrest – with which to enjoy… whatever. Those units also have wireless headphones so everyone else in the vehicle doesn’t have to listen to… whatever.
Those in the third row get air vents, a USB-C plug and two cupholders on both sides.
Rear cargo volume with all seats up is 722 litres. With the second row folded that number expands to 2056 litres, and with only the front seats left standing you have a 'yuge' 3480 litres to play with.
The boot area has tie-down points, a shallow section of underfloor storage and plenty of packing potential. The tailgate door is power-assisted with remote open and close.
As I mentioned, the Denali’s interior is very functional and very comfortable and that includes the second and third row, which offer plenty of space.
Overall, my thoughts on the Denali’s cabin interior boil down to [refers to notes] “massive”, “comfortable” and “feels cheap”.
Under the bonnet – What are the key stats for its engine and transmission? 7/10
7 / 10
The GMC Yukon Denali has a naturally-aspirated 6.2-litre V8 petrol engine – producing 313kW and 624Nm – and that’s matched to a 10-speed automatic transmission.
This is an impressive set-up – the Denali is punchy off the mark, smooth and refined at highway speeds and overall it offers a composed and comfortable driving experience.
The Denali has a full-time 4WD system, selectable driving modes include 'Normal', 'Sport', 'Off-road' and 'Tow' and an electronic limited-slip differential is standard.
Driving – What's it like to drive? 7/10
7 / 10
The Denali is imported to Australia as a left-hand drive vehicle and then Walkinshaw's subsidiary company Premoso remanufactures the US 4WD wagons to right-hand drive at their facility in Clayton, Victoria.
And that mob has done a commendable job.
Firstly, the Denali is very impressive on general driving duties – settled and composed, that V8 just rumbles along. It’s pretty close to flawless on the open road - smooth and refined.
But off-road is a different story – especially in low-speed technical low-range 4WDing – and a lot of that has to do with the Denali’s sheer bulk and its 24-inch wheels.
The big pizza plate rims and paper-thin Bridgestone all-season tyres (285/40) aren't suited to four-wheel driving as they don’t offer the grip of a decent all-terrain and you can’t drop air pressures because there isn’t enough tyre there. Worth noting the spare is a Maxxis Bravo HT-750 (265/70R17).
In its favour, though, the Denali has a range of drive modes – one of which is Off-road and that seems well calibrated for a variety of 4WD situations – as well as high- and low-range gearing and an electronic limited slip diff.
Steering has a nice balance to it at low speeds, throttle response is quite impressive and controlled. And you can call on that 624Nm from the big 6.2-litre V8 pretty much as you see fit, and it delivers it smoothly and in a controlled fashion.
This top-shelf variant has air suspension – that does some levelling out of even major imperfections in the road or track surface – and it does have a special damper system also working away to even out ride and handling.
In terms of off-road measurements, the Denali offers approach, departure and rampover angles of 24.8 degrees, 20.5 degrees and 22.5 degrees, respectively.
Ground clearance is listed as 205mm, wading depth is not quoted, but likely a guesstimated 700-800mm, and turning circle is 12.4m.
And again, this is a big vehicle – 2813kg – so it requires more consideration, more patience, more skill and probably more experience than perhaps some smaller four-wheel drives do.
The Denali's payload is listed as 634kg, which is not a lot for a massive vehicle like this. Its towing capacities are 750kg (unbraked) and 3500kg braked.
If you do, however, put a 70mm tow ball and a weight-distribution hitch on the Denali, you can tow as much as 3628kg legally (braked).
That's not a lot more than something like the Nissan Patrol, which is 3500kg, or the equivalent 4WD wagon or ute available in Australia already. So the extra towing capacity in the Denali is not that big of a selling point. GVM is 3447kg and GCM is 6577kg.
Ultimately, even though the Denali has sound four-wheel drive mechanicals and reasonable off-road traction control, it's hampered by its gargantuan dimensions and let down by its 24-inch wheels and paper-thin tyres.
If you got rid of the standard wheel-and-tyre combination and replaced it with a set of decent, aggressive all-terrain tyres on 17 inch or 18 inch, or even (if you had to) 20 inch wheels, those changes would go a long way to making this over-sized 4WD capable in some off-road scenarios.
In its current state, however, the Denali is a tow vehicle playing at 4WDing rather than the other way around.
Efficiency – What is its fuel consumption? What is its driving range? 7/10
7 / 10
Obviously, with such a big vehicle – almost three tons – driven by such a big V8 engine, fuel consumption is a concern. The 2025 GMC Yukon Denali has a listed fuel consumption figure of 12.8L/100km (on a combined, urban/extra-urban cycle).
I recorded 16.2L/100km on this test. I did a lot of high- and low-range 4WDing and this wagon was never working hard.
The Denali has a 91L fuel tank so, going by my on-test fuel-consumption figure, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 560km from a full tank.
Warranty & Safety Rating
Safety – What safety equipment is fitted? What is its safety rating? 7/10
7 / 10
The GMC Yukon Denali does not have an ANCAP safety rating because it has not been tested.
Standard safety features include six airbags (including full-length curtain airbags for all three rows) and a full suite of driver-assist tech includes AEB (with pedestrian detection), adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors, tyre-pressure monitoring, a surround-view camera, trailer sway control, trailer hitch guidance with hitch view and more.
Ownership – What warranty is offered? What are its service intervals? What are its running costs? 7/10
7 / 10
The 2025 GMC Yukon Denali has a three-year/100,000km warranty – which is on the wrong side of ordinary in this day and age.
Roadside assistance is available for three years but check with your dealership for more details on that.
Servicing is scheduled for every 12 months or 12,000km. The first three workshop visits come in at $398.33, $420.33 and $506.48, including GST. Not outrageous for such a hefty beast.
Verdict
The 2025 GMC Yukon Denali is a big, comfortable, eight-seat 4WD with few rivals in the Aussie market. However, while it may occupy its own niche, it doesn't offer enough in terms of premium look and feel and towing capacity over what could be considered its rivals – and it all comes back to that price tag.
While it lacks a competitive warranty and its price puts it way out of reach of a lot of 4WD buyers, if you are in the market for a big premium-style wagon with a V8 and eight seats – and the Nissan Patrol and Land Rover Defender 130 aren’t your cup of tea – then the Yukon Denali just might be the right choice for you.
But when all is said and done, for the price of the Denali, you could buy two Nissan Patrols – maybe not brand-new ones – and a camper trailer and a couple of cartons of beer.
Pricing Guides
Range and Specs
| Vehicle | Specs | Price* |
|---|---|---|
| Denali | 6.2L, 10 SPEED AUTOMATIC | $174,990 |
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