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2008 GMC Canyon Safety Review

November 5, 2008

SAFETY | 8 out of 10

Expert Quotes:

Good," frontal offset test; poor, side impact test (without optional side airbags)
IIHS

Five stars, frontal impact (four-door) and passenger side impact; four stars, frontal impact (two-door) and driver side impact
NHTSA

Optional side-curtain airbags are a first for this segment
Kelley Blue Book

The 2008 GMC Canyon may not have a whole lot going for it, but at least you can feel safe behind the wheel of this Canyon GMC. Between the commendable standard safety features and generally strong crash-test ratings, there's little to fault on the GMC Canyon, provided you spring for the optional side airbags.

The crash-test results for the 2008 GMC Canyon were quite respectable. NHTSA tested all versions of the Canyon GMC, reporting that four-door models achieved a perfect five-star rating in front impact tests, while two-door models got four out of five stars in the same category. All body styles of the 2008 GMC Canyon also earned four stars for driver-side impact protection and another perfect five-star rating for passenger-side impact protection. The IIHS supports those findings, at least in terms of front impacts, where the GMC Canyon earned the Institute's highest possible rating, "good," in frontal offset impact tests. The ratings between the two agencies differed, however, when it came to side impact protection. Whereas the GMC Canyons tested by NHTSA had the optional side-impact airbags installed, and thus earned high ratings, the IIHS versions did not and therefore were slapped with a "poor" rating in side impact tests.

Reviews read by TheCarConnection.com show that the standard safety features list on the 2008 GMC Canyon includes most of the usual features required on today's vehicles but not much more. Car and Driver also likes that "one year's OnStar coverage" is included on all 2008 GMC Canyons.

As mentioned earlier, "curtain side airbags" are a $395 option, according to ConsumerGuide, and they're well worth it for the additional protection they offer.

Conclusion

The 2008 GMC Canyon is quite respectable in protection and safety features, despite other inadequacies.

SAFETY | 8 out of 10Expert Quotes:Good," frontal offset test; poor, side impact test (without optional side airbags)IIHSFive stars, frontal impact (four-door) and passenger side impact; four stars, frontal impact (two-door) and driver side impactNHTSAOptional side-curtain airbags are a first for this segmentKelley Blue Book The 2008 GMC Canyon may not have a whole lot going for it, but at least you can feel safe behind the wheel of this Canyon GMC. Between the commendable standard safety features and generally strong crash-test ratings, there's little to fault on the GMC Canyon, provided you spring for the optional side airbags. The crash-test results for the 2008 GMC Canyon were quite respectable. NHTSA tested all versions of the Canyon GMC, reporting that four-door models achieved a perfect five-star rating in front impact tests, while two-door models got four out of five stars in the same category. All body styles of the 2008 GMC Canyon also earned four stars for driver-side impact protection and another perfect five-star rating for passenger-side impact protection. The IIHS supports those findings, at least in terms of front impacts, where the GMC Canyon earned the Institute's highest possible rating, "good," in frontal offset impact tests. The ratings between the two agencies differed, however, when it came to side impact protection. Whereas the GMC Canyons tested by NHTSA had the optional side-impact airbags installed, and thus earned high ratings, the IIHS versions did not and therefore were slapped with a "poor" rating in side impact tests. Reviews read by TheCarConnection.com show that the standard safety features list on the 2008 GMC Canyon includes most of the usual features required on today's vehicles but not much more. Car and Driver also likes that "one year's OnStar coverage" is included on all 2008 GMC Canyons. As mentioned earlier, "curtain side airbags" are a $395 option, according to ConsumerGuide, and they're well worth it for the additional protection they offer. ConclusionThe 2008 GMC Canyon is quite respectable in protection and safety features, despite other inadequacies. 2008 GMC CANYON STYLING | [6 out of 10] Edmunds: "Distinctively rugged styling" Kelley Blue Book: "Interior layout is highly functional" Car and Driver: "A broad variety of body styles, wheelbase and cargo-bed lengths" A large part of any pickup truck's appeal is its macho exterior ...

Read More of this Review:

  1. styling
  2. performance
  3. quality
  4. safety
  5. features

Other Choices:

The Canyon shares its running gear with the Chevrolet Colorado, which you may find more attractive -- otherwise, the two are near-twins. The true competitor for the Canyon/Colorado is the Ford Ranger, an aging truck that still scores well in crash tests, gets decent fuel economy and comes in all sorts of flavors. Larger trucks like the Dodge Dakota, Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma are a distinct size larger, and have four-cylinder engines that aren’t quite as frugal as that in the 2008 GMC Canyon.

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See the GMC Canyon in Other Years:

2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004

Comments (1 total)

  1. By Mark #1, Posted: 3/4/2009

    Review scum by Edmunds and CarAndDriver

    Just a little history on allegedly underpowered 3.7l Canyon.Only road tests -comparisons between Canyon and competed compact pick-up trucks took place in 2005.Two major road tests were done by Edmunds and CarAndDriver.Performance data was published, impressions made and opinions formed.Since then they simply carryover their reviews from one year to another up to date. In 2007 GMC came up with bigger , stronger and updated engine. Since Canyon quite frankly is not up to competition with neither Nissan nor Toyota amd it is still essentially the same vehicle just with bigger engine, Edmunds and CarAndDriver simply decided ignore that fact.
    Yoy make take you calculator and go to 2005 test small pickup trucks performance data posted at Edmunds, and estimate Canyon performance with a new engine.Very conservatively speaking Canyon should be able to compete with Frontier and Tacoma. Only reliable information regarding measurable performance 3.7l Canyon, I found, is coming from TruckTestDigest at GulfCoastNews.com Comparable Tacoma and Canyon tested by the same team on drivers on the same track showed identical results for 1/4 mile and Tacoma being minimally faster at 0-60 test. It is worthy of mentioning that at 0-60 test Canyon lost slightly only because of significant wheel-hop and there was potential to go much faster (according to drivers testimony). So , actually was not Tacoma stronger engine but Tacoma technical superiority over Canyon.Many smaller car reviewers from all over the web copy and paste Edmunds opinions without even being aware that this information is somehow outdated.No major comparison tests were ever done between 3.7l Canyon and competition so there is no substantial proof that Canyon engine is any weaker that these of competition. Also is worthy of mentioning that driving impression and measurable performance are two different things in this regard Canyon is far behind Frontier and Tacoma.

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