The front seats are chair height, which gives the driver excellent visibility over the hood. Still, our biggest gripe with the Canyon is directed at its seats: The seat bottoms are flat and lack sufficient lateral support, so we always felt like we were sinking to one side or the other.

The Extended Cab is large enough to orient the back seats facing forward, so no one will have to endure the pain of sideways-mounted seats. The rear seats are raised, which improves leg room for rear-seat passengers. Don't expect them to be comfortable, though. The back seat in the Extended Cab is too cramped for anyone but Munchkins on relatively short jaunts. Better to flip the rear seats down, which opens up space for cargo. With modifications (like a fleece mat), it would work passably for a medium-size dog. (None of the midsize pickups are particularly good for canines.) This area works best as interior cargo space, and the front-hinged doors on both sides of the Extended Cab offer good access to this area.

The base Canyon work truck has a no-fault interior right down to its rubber floor mats, so you can get in with muddy work boots and not feel guilty. The SLE models are more comfortable, with carpeting and more luxurious seat fabrics. And they've been brightened a bit for '07, with new chrome accents on the interior door handles, air outlet control knobs, small speaker bezels, instrument cluster rings, and front door sills. Additionally, the center stack and HVAC trim are now painted Nova Silver on SLE and SLT.

Operating the Canyon is easy. The instruments are easy to read at a glance, with big white numerals and orange needles on a black background. Lighting functions are clustered on the dash to the left of the steering wheel; there are no switches in any remote location. Turning on the dome light requires spinning the small wheel used to dim the instrument lights, and we found this a bit challenging in the dark. Particularly for this reason we liked the map lights integrated into the rear-view mirror on higher-line models.

The center stack neatly groups together 4WD, audio, and HVAC functions. The emergency flasher button is high in the center where it's easily seen. The cruise control switches, however, are the same turn-signal-stalk system GM has used since the 1970s, albeit refined. Some people hate it; others are familiar with it and don't seem to mind.

The Canyon features triple seals around the doors, another example of its refinement. The seals not only reduce water and dust intrusion; they also reduce wind noise for a quieter cab.