Gmc Yukon vs Ineos Grenadier

What's the difference?

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. 

The Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster is best regarded as a charming old-school oddity in an increasingly cookie-cutter dual-cab ute market.

In the same vein as the Suzuki Jimny, Jeep Gladiator, and Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series, this ute is for those of us who really like driving to be a fully immersive experience and don’t mind a few sacrifices and some discomfort along the way.

Good on Ineos for giving it a crack.

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.

The Quartermaster is 5400mm long (with a 3227mm wheelbase), 1943mm wide, and 2019mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 2718kg and a 14.5m turning circle.

I’m always reluctant to talk about any vehicle’s design but it’s easy with something like this ute.

The Quartermaster has a distinctive look. It’s blocky, hard lines everywhere, and it’s straight up and down, old school.

Substantial side steps/runners, exterior utility belt (a integrated feature by which you can attach accessories, tools, or cargo to the Quartermaster’s exterior), and BFGoodrich All-Terrain KO2 all-terrain tyres on 17-inch alloy wheels add to this ute’s presence.

It certainly catches everyone's attention, for better or worse because some people like it, some people don't. I happen to be part of the mob who actually like the look of the Quartermaster and its sibling, the Grenadier station wagon, and the design pretty much works overall.

Extras like the black contrast roof, safari windows and raised air intake further set this Quartermaster apart from most other modern dual-cab utes on our roads.

The interior is somewhat spartan but well laid-out and comfortable. It has lots of controls and quirky styling to keep everyone inside occupied and while, at first, it’s all a confusion of buttons, knobs and dials, it soon takes on a more familiar feel as you become accustomed to everything.

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 “massive”, “comfortable” and “feels cheap”.

In terms of practicality, it's pretty good news inside the Quartermaster cabin when you first climb in. As mentioned, there is a confusion of dials, buttons, knobs, everything in front of and above you. But give yourself some time to locate controls and understand how to best use them, and you'll be absolutely fine.

As alluded to in Design, the cabin looks really good but it also functions quite well as a work or travel space. Once you are underway and you have a firm understanding of everything, it all feels comfortably familiar.

There are hard plastic surfaces in the cabin, leather accents, as well as plenty of quirky styling cues around the cabin, including port and starboard markings, aircraft cockpit-style controls and more, and you'll have fun discovering those.

The floor has drain plugs and the buttons and switches have an IP54K rating (protected from limited dust ingress and water spray from any direction) with the idea being that, worst comes to the worst, you can always hose out the interior if it gets really dirty.

The Recaro seats, front and rear, are very comfortable. There's not a whole lot of room in the rear seat. You don't get much leg and knee room, especially if you are tall, but the seats are raised for optimised visibility to the front and otherwise, with big glass everywhere and safari windows, it’s an airy and useable space. 

The auxiliary battery is under the rear seat.

All in all, it's a functional and comfortable interior.

Anyway to the business end. The tub is 1564mm long, 1619mm wide (1137mm between the wheel arches) and 485mm deep. It has a sturdy tub liner, four-tie-down points, a load-space light, power socket.

The full-sized spare was located in the rear left-hand corner of the tub and while that’s not ideal and certainly doesn’t optimise the load space, it can be shifted elsewhere – on the roof perhaps – and it’s not as much of an eye-sore as the spare in the GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV tub.

The spare tyre also has the optional lockable storage box ($490) attached to it, so you can throw a bit of gear inside there and keep it secure during your travels.

This ute is available in three different spec levels: the base-spec Quartermaster, the Fieldmaster and, this, the Trialmaster.

It’s available with one of two BMW-sourced engines: a 3.0-litre inline-six turbo-petrol engine (producing 210kW at 4750rpm and 450Nm at 1750-4000rpm) or a 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo-diesel engine – producing 183kW at 3250-4200rpm and 550Nm at 1250rpm-3000rpm.

I tested the diesel-powered variant.

The Trialmaster has a starting price of $118,000 before on-road costs, but our test vehicle has $15,386 worth of accessories onboard pushing its as-tested price up to $133,386.

Standard features onboard the Trialmaster include a 12.3-inch touchscreen multimedia system (with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), permanent four-wheel drive, centre diff lock, and front and rear skid plates.

Other noteworthy features inside this test vehicle include leather trim (black, $3405), heated front seats ($715), Nappa Leather Driver’s Pack, as well as auxiliary battery, auxiliary charge points, high load auxiliary switch panel and electrical preparation, 400W Inverter, and load bay utility rails.

Other features on the outside of this Trialmaster include a contrast roof – Inky Black ($2460), front and rear diff locks (standard on the Trialmaster), raised air intake, privacy glass ($770), safari windows ($2720), 17.0-inch alloy wheels ($1165), Class III 1-7/8” NAS tow hitch and electrics, a load bay liner, and a spare wheel lockable storage box ($490).

Exterior paint colours include the standard Britannia Blue (solid) or you can choose from Scottish White (solid, $1155), Magic Mushroom (solid, $1155), Eldoret Blue (solid, $1155), Sela Green (solid, $1155), Inky Black (solid, $1155), Devil Red (solid, $1315), Shale Blue (metallic, $1520), Queen's Red (metallic, $1520), Donny Grey (metallic, $1520), or Sterling Silver (metallic, $1520).

But what you want to know is how is it off-road and is it a replacement for the 70 Series, so let’s keep punching on through this yarn.

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.

The Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster is available with either a 3.0-litre inline-six turbo-petrol engine (producing 210kW at 4750rpm and 450Nm at 1750-4000rpm) or a 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo-diesel engine – producing 183kW at 3250-4200rpm and 550Nm at 1250rpm-3000rpm.

Both engines are from BMW. Our test vehicle has the diesel.

This Quartermaster has an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission and a dual transfer case (high- and low-range 4WD), as well as a front, centre and rear diff lock.

This is a nicely refined engine-and-auto combination, offering up a decent punch of power and torque across a broad rev range when it’s needed.

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. 

Official fuel consumption is 10.5L/100km on a combined cycle.

On this test, I recorded 12.3L/100km.

The Quartermaster has a 90-litre fuel tank so, going by that fuel figure, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 730km from a full tank. However, long-range fuel tanks are available, so there’s always that option.

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.

First things first, just to put your mind at ease – the Quartermaster is not absolutely terrible to drive on road, in fact it’s actually quite nice: planted, comfortable (on coil-spring suspension), and refined (for a ute).

It’s no surprise that a long four-wheel-drive ute does really well on-road, even if it is a heavy solid axle vehicle and not particularly dynamic.

What's also not surprising – because on paper this is an off-road beast – is that the Quartermaster is very capable off-road.

It has three diff locks (front, centre and rear), off-road mode, hill descent control and more, so it's an effective mix of traditional mechanicals and driver-assist tech. That's the dual range transfer case, but it also has electronic traction control. The 3.0-litre turbo-diesel engine and the eight-speed automatic transmission work well in on-road situations and it's also a clever smooth combination in off-road scenarios.

So there's plenty to like about this ute when it comes to 4WDing.

Be aware though: this is a big, heavy vehicle with a long wheelbase, so it takes considered driving to steer around – it has a big turning circle at 14.5 metres – but that's not to say those dimensions and those characteristics ruin it off-road because they don't. The Quartermaster simply requires a bit more thought when you're driving it.

If you haven't spent a lot of time or any time in vehicles like this, such as the Toyota LandCruiser 70 series or of that sort of ilk – big long old-school four wheel drive utes – then you may have a bit of an issue with the steering. It is slow, and there is a lot of play to it, especially off-centre. It does feel floaty and it takes a lot of effort and constant micro-corrections when you're driving to keep it on track and to keep it going where you want to. Put it this way: it’s not self-centred so you have to work at getting it back on track once you’ve taken on a turn.

But I like that, because four-wheel driving should be an entirely immersive experience, you should be always directly involved in the process and in this ute you are.

There’s plenty of power and torque across a nice rev range, with plenty of torque down low, which is crucial when off-roading.

And while the stretched wheelbase makes the underbody vulnerable to knocks and scrapes, especially over more severe 4WD-only terrain, the Quartermaster actually manages quite well.

Its approach, ramp breakover and departure angles – 36.2, 26.2 and 22.6 – are reasonable for something of this size and with 264mm of ground clearance and 800mm of wading depth, this ute has the measurements to cope with most off-road challenges you could throw dirt at.

Another thing I like about the Quartermaster is the fact it retains an old stubby stick, that’s working off the dual-range transfer case, to put the vehicle into low range and that's a welcome touch and a practical nod to the past, rather than a button or a dial.

As mentioned earlier, it has live axles, so there’s flex through the front and rear, although it'd be even better with a swaybar disconnect system onboard (as in the Jeep Gladiator).

This Trialmaster gets the BFG KO2s and where the standard tyres on a contemporary ute may not be up to scratch in off-roading terms, the KO2s work really well. It’s impressive what a difference decent all-terrains make, and if you want to get into the sloppy stuff, then you might consider getting some mud-terrain tyres.

So the Quartermaster is a very capable four-wheel-drive ute and there's a lot to like about it, but the issue with a vehicle like this is that people may come into it not understanding exactly how it rides, how it drives and how involved you actually have to be and the fact that there are lots of compromises, indeed some sacrifices.

You're not getting as much driver-assist technology as you get in other utes, and it doesn't drive as precisely or perhaps as comfortably as some other utes – but that's missing the point.

The Quartermaster is about that all-encompassing off-roading experience. And if you get in one of these things, you have to be all-in, ready for the bumps and the discomfort and the effort it requires but all of those things add to the appeal of this ute, rather than detract from it.

And that's a major point of difference with this ute over others in the market: in being faithful to the spirit of old-school 4WDing, Ineos has been willing to forgo those things which people have come to expect and as a result it may only draw the faithful, the committed, who are all-in for off-road adventure.

Where the Quartermaster falls short, however, is in terms of practical use because its payload is 832kg in the diesel version and that’s disappointing, especially when a 2.8-litre LC70 GXL dual-cab can cope with 1325kg.

It is rated to tow 750kg unbraked, and 3500kg braked and with a kerb weight of 2718kg it has a GVM of 3550kg and a GCM of 7000kg.

The Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster does not have an ANCAP safety rating because it has not been tested.

As standard, it has six airbags, electronic stability and traction control, rear park assist, a tyre-pressure monitoring system, and trailer-stability assist.

It does not have auto emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, or traffic sign recognition.

The Quartermaster does have a rear-view camera, but the screen is quite small.

Front and rear parking sensors are standard on the Fieldmaster and Trialmaster, but optional on the base-spec Quartermaster.

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.

The Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster is covered by a five-year/unlimited km warranty, not the best in terms of years of coverage, but on par with the likes of the LC70.

A 12-year anti-perforation warranty – covering body sheet metal panels and chassis frame against inside-to-outside corrosion caused by defective materials or workmanship – applies to this ute.

No capped-price servicing is available and service intervals are scheduled for every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs soonest, and total cost for the five years is $4626 for the diesel and $4896 for the petrol.

At the time of writing, Ineos has 25 sales and service centres, two sales-only centres and 55 service-only centres spread throughout Australia with a focus on regional and rural areas.