considering swapping the Titan for 07 Denali

C4RACER · 11-13-2007, 04:34 PM

I drove one and they are really very nice. The motor is superb, the interior is rather nice now, and finally GM has a decent tranny - a 6-speed.

I wasn't really planning to use my titan as my daily driver, but that is how things ended up. So it has become my 95% driver and I logged 20K miles on it last year. I really love it for the utility and the towing capability - I tow a race car about half a dozen times a year. But for daily use it is growing tiresome - a bit cumbersome to deal with in parking lots and making U-turns. I drive a fair bit for work - I am in outside sales in the semiconductor business. Which - yes, makes it a write-off for me

The kicker is the wife never liked the Titan and told me not to get it, which I ignored. Now she pretty much doesn't even want to ride in it - claims it is uncomfortable for her - and this is our primary trip vehicle. So that makes things a bit difficult for me....

So I started looking around at slightly smaller and more lux oriented SUV's - so far I've checked out the Denali and the GL450. So far I like the Denali better - more interior space, and that 380hp / 417lb-ft motor is just sweet!! The new 6spd tranny is nice too. The ride is pretty close to the benz. And I found one that I can assume a killer lease deal, so this is really tempting to make the leap.

If I keep the Titan I will have to sell my 69 Camaro and pick up a sedan of some sort to use for a good portion of my daily driving and for family road trips. Which also might be a pretty good option. Even if I switch to an SUV I may end up selling the 69 and getting a more practical car, but more likely would get something a bit more sporty like an M3 if I have something as nice as a Denali as my "truck" because that covers a lot of bases for me.

decisions, decisions....

My Titan is a 06 LE and now has 28K miles on it. 4x4 of course - skiier here.

redpickemuptruck · 11-13-2007, 05:13 PM

If you really only need to tow a few times a year I'd just get a serviceable old truck, keep the Camaro and drive something like an M3 or Audi S4 daily. I love my truck but there are more fun things to drive.

LS1POWERED · 11-13-2007, 09:13 PM

you talking Sierra Denali or the Yukon Denali? If i hadnt pickeup up my titan i would have probibly bought a sierra denali, they are nice trucks and you got 100k on the powertrain so covered for awhile. And on a side note if the wife likes it and it will keep her quiet its well worth it.

C4RACER · 11-14-2007, 12:34 AM

I'm talking Yukon Denali - the SUV. The 07 has a 380hp / 417ft-lb monster motor coupled with a 6-speed tranny.

Wife approval factor is a plus when it is our trip car - as it sits now we just aren't going on a trip unless we take her little Mazda, but that isn't very comfy to drive for long distances with 4 of us - although it goes easy on the gas at least...

I tow about 6-7 times a year to the track, plus always end up taking the car to a fab shop for this or that. I'm not really interested in having an old pickup that may or may not make it to the track - many of the tracks are 3-5 hours away and the last thing I need is a tow rig that has any possibility of breaking down. And I need a truck on a weekly basis to haul band equipment around, not to mention car parts, bikes, etc. Plus probably 10 trips to the mountains per year, and camping too. So I truly need a truck and use it quite often. It doesn't have to be a pick-up, it can be an SUV - but has to be a large enough truck based thing both for towing and hauling stuff around, plus 4WD for the snow.

I've owned 5 in the past dozen years and 2 have been pick-up trucks, 3 were SUV's (2 of those were Suburbans). Pick-up has certain advantages and SUV has certain advantages - for me there is no clear preference, although for my utility needs the pick-up does work better - especially with the race car. But I do have a buddy with a coupe work trucks for his business that lives down the block and any time I need to borrow a truck to throw a greasy rear end housing or something it is no issue. Wife prefers SUV's for sure - doesn't like trucks, but somehow SUV's that are built on the same truck platforms she is OK with. Go figure. I don't try to figure out women anymore - I tried for more than a decade - I'm tired of getting nowhere in that pursuit

I think whatever I end up doing I will also pick up a fun to drive sedan or coupe as well and sell my 69 Camaro. That is really a cool car, but tends not to be quite as useful for me - I can't carry my bike in it, loud so makes cell phone conversations all but impossible, and has no AC so tough to drive in the summer when I am out and about in the heat of the day. Plus the kids don't want to even ride in it - so when I get the opportunity to go somewhere with one or both kids and no wife - I can't take the fun car anyway. Wife won't ride in it either. So I'm pretty much hosed on that one. If it were just me I'd keep it and drive it pretty much everywhere on the weekends when I'm not wearing business clothes. But it just doesn't fit my life right now.

So I guess my two options are:
1. keep the Titan as my utility vehicle and get a reasonable sized car for daily use and for family trips - would have to be at least the size of a 5-series BMW, so S4 is out - probably a 535i or M45 or E class or maybe even a S6 or S8 Audi if I could find one. Although I prefer manual trans. Hmmm - that new Pontiac G8 with the LS2 could be interesting, but I don't think the 6-spd version will be out until at least summer 08, maybe fall. Maybe another E39 M5 - I owned a 2000 for awhile.

2. sell Titan and pick up a Denali SUV and something like an M3 or S4 to go with it. Maybe even a C5 Corvette.

gyrate · 11-14-2007, 01:48 AM

Just get a tahoe.. same piece of crap only 12k cheaper.

or how about a plan that makes sense? keep the titan and buy the vette. Win win.

Riverratt · 11-14-2007, 05:55 AM

Premium fuel is recommended for the 6.2. Non-fold flat 3rd row seat. Other than that, the Yukon Denali is very nice. Same as a Tahoe?....OK if you say so.

**anmut** · 11-14-2007, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C4RACER

I drove one and they are really very nice. The motor is superb, the interior is rather nice now, and finally GM has a decent tranny - a 6-speed.

I wasn't really planning to use my titan as my daily driver, but that is how things ended up. So it has become my 95% driver and I logged 20K miles on it last year. I really love it for the utility and the towing capability - I tow a race car about half a dozen times a year. But for daily use it is growing tiresome - a bit cumbersome to deal with in parking lots and making U-turns. I drive a fair bit for work - I am in outside sales in the semiconductor business. Which - yes, makes it a write-off for me

The kicker is the wife never liked the Titan and told me not to get it, which I ignored. Now she pretty much doesn't even want to ride in it - claims it is uncomfortable for her - and this is our primary trip vehicle. So that makes things a bit difficult for me....

So I started looking around at slightly smaller and more lux oriented SUV's - so far I've checked out the Denali and the GL450. So far I like the Denali better - more interior space, and that 380hp / 417lb-ft motor is just sweet!! The new 6spd tranny is nice too. The ride is pretty close to the benz. And I found one that I can assume a killer lease deal, so this is really tempting to make the leap.

If I keep the Titan I will have to sell my 69 Camaro and pick up a sedan of some sort to use for a good portion of my daily driving and for family road trips. Which also might be a pretty good option. Even if I switch to an SUV I may end up selling the 69 and getting a more practical car, but more likely would get something a bit more sporty like an M3 if I have something as nice as a Denali as my "truck" because that covers a lot of bases for me.

decisions, decisions....

My Titan is a 06 LE and now has 28K miles on it. 4x4 of course - skiier here.

I had someone tell me just recently that they big motors GM is using now need 93+ octance gas to get the full 380hp out of them. He's a chevy guy himself but could be wrong...

Sammy Sandbag · 11-14-2007, 07:53 AM

Just sell me the '69 Camaro..... errr, yeah that's all I got.

honiton · 11-14-2007, 11:00 AM

I rather keep the titan

C4RACER · 11-14-2007, 03:08 PM

Tahoe is the same thing as a Denali? Not even close. The powertrain of the Tahoe consists of a 5.3L making ~300hp and a very weak 4-speed tranny. Denali has a 6.2L making 380hp and over 400lb-ft of torque and a stronger 6-speed tranny. The interior is a bit nicer too, but the main thing for me is the drivetrain - I had a burb with a 5.3L / 4LE60 4-spd combo and it is far inferior as a tow powertrain compared to the Titan. I expect the Denali will have an equal or superior towing powertrain. So that is a huge difference.

In many ways I do prefer the Titan and more specifically the pick-up format. I talked with my wife last night and her suggestion was to use her Mazda Protege5 as our trip car. Which won't always work, but maybe that is something to try for awhile. She doesn't want me to make a change just for her. That said - not sure I could hang with taking the Mazda on a trip to LA or something..... So probably the end result is that I need to get a decent sedan to double as my daily driver and that we can take on family trips. And give up the idea of a Corvette or M3. I've owned several Corvettes and I end up hardly driving them. I also had a previous gen M3 as a daily driver for a couple years and that car was perfect for me - but at the time we used a Suburban for any trips - wife didn't like the rough ride of the M3 very much - she didn't mind the Z06 C5 that I had, but can't take the kids with us in that thing!!

TrevoRR · 11-14-2007, 03:28 PM

I dont know why you would want a Vette over any of the other cars you mentioned. Im sorry but I just dont think that vettes are anything special anymore. They are overpriced and JUNK! When I had my Ws6 and Cobra, my mother had a C5 and it was **** compared to the Ws6. My car was faster with some minor bolt ons and more comfortable with more space at almost 1/3 of the price. I know that Vettes are like some special club or whatever(the corvette wave..lol) but the ride sucked, there is NO room for anything and they are very loud on the highway(wind noise). The HUD is badass but not worth the extra money over a SS or Ws6. Hell they have the same motor(vette has a different cam) and the same tranny. Plus the mods are cheaper for the f-body's. I could blow the doors off Z06's after I cammed my Ws6 also.

Anyways, I have always like the E Class and M35/45 AWD. Not to mention you could pick up an E Class CDI that would get good mpg. Or the new GL320 CDI would be a great trip car with good mpg also.

I say do what suits you best, but if I had to choose I would sell the Titan and the 69 and get a nice trip car like the GL and a fun full size car to drive daily. Maybe the new CTS? They look badass and ride great. Plus the whole family will fit and they arent too bad in pricing.

BayStateSuks · 11-14-2007, 04:25 PM

Check the tow specs on the Yukon Denali - I think max. towing capacity is less than 8k despite having a larger engine and more horsepower and torque than our titans. So, the BT package on a titan permits you to tow a bit more.

I like most of the stuff on the Yukon Denalis. One complaint I have heard is the nav. screen is pretty small and very difficult to see if sunlight is hitting it.

As far as a people mover, the Denali's are pretty sweet. I would get an XL though because if you have people in all three seats you pretty much have no storage space behind the third seat in the regular Denali.

C4RACER · 11-14-2007, 04:51 PM

I pretty much only carry 4 people - our family. It is nice to have the option to carry a couple more in a pinch, but it is very rare for me to carry more than 4-5 people and need luggage space.

the Denali is rated to tow 7900lbs, so there is plenty of margin with my 5Klb trailer and 1000-1500lbs of cargo.

One advantage of getting a bigger sedan like the M / E / 5 is we could use it for most of our family trips and not pay for truck mpg. Ride is also way better in a car, although the Denali rides pretty damn good - far better than the Titan does for sure.

I just like vettes - what can I say!! But I think this go around I do need to get a couple cars that fit my needs better than just my desires (vette, 69 Camaro's, etc.) and in the end I will be a lot better off.

gyrate · 11-14-2007, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riverratt

Premium fuel is recommended for the 6.2. Non-fold flat 3rd row seat. Other than that, the Yukon Denali is very nice. Same as a Tahoe?....OK if you say so.

So you are trying to tell us that the armada/QX56 are two completely different vehicles? If you say so then i guess the denali has nothing to do with the tahoe.. nothing at all! completely different! no carry over parts, no carry over frame........

C4RACER · 11-15-2007, 12:35 AM

The Armada is much closer to a QX56 because it shares the same drivetrain.

Sure - the Denali is a Tahoe chassis with slightly different suspension tuning and more sound deadening and better interior features - kinda like the difference in Armada to QX56. But where that analogy breaks down is the QX56 has the exact same engine / trans / rear end as an Armada. I used to own an Armada too btw - the wife didn't like that one either. go figure - I loved it. The Denali has a completely different motor / trans combo that makes a HUGE difference in the performance between the two - it is not just a cosmetic change like the QX56. The Denali has 60 more HP and 77 more ft-lbs of tq and a beefy 6spd tranny instead of the POS weak 4LE60 4-speed in the Tahoe. I would not even consider a Tahoe because of the motor / tranny combo. Denali is in a whole different league power-wise.