On Wheels by Brooks Peterson

Saturday, May 19, 2001

Sonoma Crew Cab offers a lot to like

George Tuley/Caller-Times

The GMC Sonoma 4WD Crew Cab is easy to enter. Compact-pickup veterans should like the passenger accommodations in this vehicle. While some crew cabs on the market offer only jump seats in the back, the Sonoma is waiting with some comfort for adult passengers.

For whatever reason, I've never been what you'd call a big fan of the current generation of General Motor's compact pickups - the Chevrolet S10 and its stablemate, the GMC Sonoma.
   It isn't that there's anything inherently disagreeable about them, you understand: They go about their business capably enough; they lend themselves to any number of applications; and - in comparison to their hulking full-size counterparts, they offer welcome insulation both from sticker shock and fuel-pump horrors. But in terms of winning a place in my heart, it's been no sale . . .
   Until now, that is. A week with a Fire Red edition of GMC's Sonoma Crew Cab left me far better disposed to these little guys than I have ever been before.
   How come, you ask? Good question, I reply.
   To begin with, there's the fact that I find the crew-cab format, with four full doors - a natural for just about any compact. It makes far more sense for ordinary folk (as opposed to professional oil-well firefighters, NFL defensive linemen and so on) than any full-size crew cab ever will. In the junior size range, the crew cab addresses one of the most serious drawbacks of small pickups - inadequate people room (even in the extended-cab versions) - without doing any real damage to the vehicles' ability to tote and haul.
   Oh, sure, you'll wind up with a smaller cargo bed - but let's be honest: How

George Tuley/Caller-Times

A free factory-installed bed-liner comes with the GMC Sonoma 4WD Crew Cab. Other features include front and rear disc brakes, power assisted with standard anti-lock. The base price of the model is $25,083.

many compact-pickup owners ever use their vehicles for major heavy-duty hauling?
   And in case you do occasionally have to tote some bulky goods, most compact crew-cabs offer one of those flip-out bed-extender rigs to boost cargo capacity - though, near as I can tell from the literature, GMC doesn't offer one on the Sonoma. On the other hand, you do get a free factory-installed bed-liner with the Crew Cab. Call it a wash.
   In any case, compact-pickup veterans will find the passenger accommodations in the Sonoma Crew downright stupefyin'. No jump seats out back, Nossir: Instead you've got a handsomely upholstered and intelligently contoured rear bench capable of accommodating three adults. Granted, it's better suited to two than three, but when the need arises, it can tote the extra bodies. Leg- and foot-room is a little tight, but, again, it's all relative, right?
   A pleasant surprise

George Tuley/Caller-Times

General Motors has made the familiar 190-horsepower Vortec 4300 V-6 the standard engine for the four-wheel-drive GMC Sonoma Crew Cab.

   So: On the first count - people packaging - a pleasant surprise. But we're not through yet: Our tester, as it happened, came with 4-wheel drive - but with a difference.
   Let me explain: So far as I'm concerned, 4WD is a many-splendored thing if you need it. However, I've long been of the opinion that most of us don't really need it - and the jarring ride and tippy handling that go with it.
   The Sonoma Crew, however, was almost - almost, understand - enough to make me reconsider.
   Thing is, while the ride is taut, it's damped down much more effectively than has been the case on most other 4WD trucklets I've experienced. The handling, too, seems to be of a higher order. In this department, at least, someone over there at GM really is sweating the details. The Sonoma 4WD won't carry you to victory at your local autocross, but neither will it scare the bejabbers out of you as you negotiate a freeway cloverleaf.
   Wisely, The General has chosen to make the familiar 190-horsepower Vortec 4300 V-6 the standard engine for the Sonoma Crew Cab. Entry-level 2WD Sonomas get the Vortec 2200 four, which is entirely adequate in such an application - but the big ol' Crew, especially with 4WD, would just totally overmatch the pore little four.

George Tuley/Caller-Times

Dashboard controls are easy to see and reach for the driver. And occupants will find an impressive stereo, with CD and cassette player.

   The V-6 itself is not exactly a road-burner in the 4WD Crew - and a certain amount of commotion intrudes when you get into the upper rpm ranges - but it gets you down the road briskly enough. And to combat the din, such as it was, an impressive stereo, with CD and cassette player (no small matter: how else can we listen to those taped lectures on The Great Books?) turns to its work with every appearance of gusto.
   Easy to enter

GMC Sonoma 4WD Crew Cab Five-passenger, four-wheel-drive pickup: Base price: $25,083 Price as tested: $25,643 Drivetrain: 4.3-liter V-6, 190 hp; four-speed automatic-overdrive transmission Brakes: Front and rear discs, power-assisted, with standard anti-lock (ABS) EPA mileage: N/A Web site: www.gmc.com

   Under the heading of Other Business, I should point out that you'll find the Sonoma Crew Cab surprisingly easy to enter. Unless GMC has worked some kind of engineering magic, this suggests the Sonoma Crew may have a bit less ground clearance than some of its competitors. However, having clambered in and out of my share of high-ridin' pickups - full-size and compact alike - this is one compromise that wouldn't bother me a bit.
   Don't misunderstand: While I emerged from the Sonoma far more favorably disposed to it than I had expected it to be, I'd walk right past it and into the arms of the first sultry, seductive ragtop that came along. But that's just me. Truck-drivin' folk, and others who never thought they'd be, will find a lot to like in this Crew.
  

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