Review: 2025 GMC Yukon AT4 Ultimate

GMC's updated 2025 Yukon is a great interpretation of old school seen through a modern lens
GMC's updated 2025 Yukon is a great interpretation of old school seen through a modern lens

by Nathan Leipsig

Published June 13, 2025

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Many of us have historically had mixed feelings about GMs over the years, but we’ve all always liked their big SUVs, and the GMC Yukon has typically always been our favourite flavour of those mighty luxury lorries. This year, the popular traditional truck-based SUV receives a number of updates, so we spent a week with the 2025 GMC Yukon AT4 Ultimate to see what’s new with our old favourite.

Front quarter view of a grey 2025 GMC Yukon AT4 Ultimate at sunset, with trees and shrubs in the background

What’s new for 2025?

Immediately apparent is the new face on this AT4 Ultimate, a trim level that’s also new for this year. As is par for the course, everything is larger and more aggressive, with more angular LED headlights and a more pronounced grille, made even more pronounced by the AT4’s smaller bumper design for better off-road approach angles. I thought the outgoing Yukon was already pretty close to perfect, so it might take me a while to warm up to this new face, but we all agree it’s handsome enough and looks properly tough.

Whether it’s a base Elevation or a decked Denali, every Yukon gets a new dashboard layout with a colossal 16.8-inch touchscreen. It seems a little garish at first, but actually makes a lot of sense and is thoughtfully integrated. It essentially takes the previous widescreen and stretches it downward to incorporate the former climate control panel as well, which is usually something we don’t like seeing, but they’ve been smart about it and included a line of chunky physical toggle switches across the bottom of the screen for essential functions, as well as a giant volume knob. This is how you do big-time tech properly.

Interior view of the driver's side cockpit area and dash layout in a 2025 GMC Yukon AT4 Ultimate

Interior impressions, infotainment, and tech

The software behind the big-screen TV in the dashboard is a GMC-skinned version of Android Automotive. I’m delighted to report that, unlike some other recent GMs, it’s among the snappiest and most responsive on the market. Animations and transitions are quick and slick, and responses to your touch are immediate. The overall layout is intuitive and generally easy to understand, and its sheer scale means all the touch points are large and hard to miss.

The screen-stravaganza doesn’t stop there. The digital cluster is updated too, with a more customizable and attractive new interface that incorporates a new night-vision camera. Between the digital gauge cluster, heads-up display, and any auxiliary readouts you might want on the centre screen, you as the driver always know what’s happening. And the tech all integrates into itself well; no discordant redundancy here.

This truck is fitted with GM’s Supercruise hands-free driving system. It’s great and gets noticeably better year over year, every year, so you can sit back and enjoy the massage you’re getting from the full-grain leather seats. Those fancy chairs are standard on this new AT4 Ultimate trim, designed to incorporate the Denali Ultimate’s top-tier luxury bits with the macho hardware of the off-road-oriented AT4. Unlike the fancier Denali, the AT4 Ultimate certainly feels very nice, but its colourway is all business. It’s only available in Obsidian Rush—that means black—with open-pore ebony wood trim and red accents.

Under-hood view of the V8 engine in a 2025 GMC Yukon AT4 Ultimate

What’s under the hood?

Powertrain options remain unchanged, which is fine—there was mostly nothing wrong with them. I’ll grant Ford’s EcoBoost engines are a marvel and Stellantis’ new Hurricane is extremely impressive, but the fact remains that there is simply no replacement for displacement, especially in a truck like this. and we all adore GM’s commitment to keeping their venerable V8s not only available, but also the headline act in these trucks. We all love the sound, the power and torque, the overall classic feel and character of the 6.2-litre “L78” V8 engine, and even the fuel economy albeit just on the highway. I observed a pitiful 19.1 L/100 km combined over almost all city driving, but it bears mentioning the truck recorded a lifetime average of 13.4 L/100 km thus far.

But I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up the recall that’s been recently issued over the V8 powering this truck and so many others in GM’s full-size stable. As much as we love that GM is keeping the classic V8 going, it’s been increasingly difficult to honestly recommend them, knowing they have these catastrophic issues and have been letting down many thousands of real people. Anecdotally, someone I personally know had three of these engines, with hardly any miles on them, fail.

As of this writing, it looks like GM will have to replace 721,000 engines globally—about 50,000 in Canada—and the ones that aren’t at risk of obvious imminent failure will be fed a diet of high-viscosity oil until replacement engines can get built, which itself is an entirely separate rant. Why are we running all of these high-horsepower motors on watery oil to save one or two percentage points in efficiency if it’s killing the damn things? Or more commonly, just burning oil like an old engine, negating its strides in efficiency and compromising longevity?

Rear quarter view of a grey 2025 GMC Yukon AT4 Ultimate at sunset, with trees and shrubs in the background

Is the Yukon AT4 Ultimate worth it?

Knowing this issue was percolating in the background sucked a lot of joy out of this truck for me. We all like this engine; we want to keep liking this engine; and there’s a modicum of relief knowing that problem has officially been addressed and doesn’t affect these updated models thus far. It’s a peach of an engine that’s well-suited to the Yukon AT4’s character. For as well as it rides and handles, I’d struggle to see myself liking it as much without this big ol’ V8 running the show.

Either way, this updated 2025 GMC Yukon AT4 Ultimate looks well-suited to carry the torch that we’re all so fond of. It’s the most traditional recipe, being a body-on-frame truck with a big pushrod V8. But it’s also been updated over and over again to keep up with the the times, and ends up being a great interpretation of old school as seen through a modern lens. It may be the most basic recipe, but it’s packed with the best tech to make the most of it.

 

Vehicle Specs
Segment
Full-size body-on-frame SUV
Engine Size
6.2L normally aspirated V8
Horsepower (at RPM)
420 hp @ 5,600 rpm
Torque (lb-ft.)
460 lb-ft @ 4,100 rpm
Fuel Efficiency (L/100km, City/Highway/Combined)
16.6/13.0/15.0
Observed Fuel Efficiency (L/100km)
19.1
Cargo Capacity (in L)
722/2,056/3,480 (all seats up/third row down/all seats down)
Base Price (CAD)
$91,999
As-Tested Price (CAD)
$124,999
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About Nathan Leipsig

Deputy Editor Nathan is an eccentric car enthusiast who likes driver-focused cars and thoughtful design. He can't stand listening to people reminisce about the "good ole days" of cars because he started doing it before it was cool, and is also definitely not a hipster doofus.
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