Holden Acadia 2017 Review

Holden (GMC) Acadia Denali

International Launch Review
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The second-gen Acadia is lighter (by around 320kg) and more compact than its predecessor, but the 4917mm long wagon has still retained its seven-seat format. Offered with GM’s LGX 3.6-litre V6 (also used by various Cadillacs and the Chevy Camaro), the 231kW Acadia offers punchier performance than expected. But what we’re here to find out is how it stacks up as an overall package.

Holden’s line-up will be fortified in 2018 by the US-sourced GMC Acadia, ensuring the General has a credible alternative to the likes of the Hyundai Santa Fe, Nissan Pathfinder and Toyota Kluger in the seven-seat, medium-large family SUV segment. Of course, the GMC nameplate will be replaced by a Holden badge, but the Acadia moniker will not to be changed.

The newbie is underpinned by GM’s new C1XX architecture also used by the recently released Cadillac XT5. It replaces the old Lambda platform that formed the basis for its bigger and substantially lardier predecessor. This is a monocoque SUV, not body-on-frame like the Trailblazer. Think Territory rather than Everest, in local Ford parlance...

We tested the range-topping, all-wheel-drive Denali, which comes equipped with GM’s LGX direct-injection V6 that ekes out 231kW at a lofty 6600rpm and 367Nm at a similarly peaky 5000rpm. Out in the real world, though, the motor serves up lively performance right across the rev range… More on this later.

In the USA, buyers also offered a 2.5-litre four-pot with 145kW and 257Nm, broadening the target audience for the Acadia. For Australia, the line-up may include a diesel version, which is obviously crucial in this end of the SUV segment.

The Denali range-topper comes with part-time AWD, selectable via a ‘Terrain Selection’ knob adjacent to the gearlever, but under normal conditions drive is sent only to the front wheels (the rear driveshaft is decoupled as a fuel-saving measure).

The Acadia is also offered with an impressive safety arsenal that includes pedestrian detection with automatic emergency braking, 360-degree ‘birds-eye-view’ cameras, lane-keeping assist, intelligent high beam LED lamps, and forward collision warning, enabling it to emphatically trump most of the opposition in this domain.

Measuring 4917mm long, 1915mm wide, 1676mm tall and with a 2858mm wheelbase, the Acadia falls more or less in line dimensionally with the vehicles it will be competing against – the Nissan Pathfinder (5008mm long, 1960mm wide, 1768mm tall, 2900mm wheelbase), Hyundai Santa Fe (4700mm long, 1880mm wide, 1690mm tall, 2700mm wheelbase) and Toyota Kluger (4865mm long, 1925mm wide, 1730mm tall, 2789mm wheelbase).

But with a lithe kerb weight of 1794kg (in base form), the Acadia substantially undercuts the Pathfinder (from 1876kg) and Toyota Kluger (from 2065kg) in the battle of the bulge, although the more compact four-cylinder Santa Fe (1726kg) sneaks in just below it.

The Acadia has them all covered in the grunt stakes though, as its 231kW/367Nm outputs comfortably eclipses the Santa Fe (138kW/241Nm), Pathfinder (190kW/325Nm) and Kluger (201kW/337Nm). This on-paper superiority translates through to the real world, as the GMC proves surprisingly sprightly in the daily cut and thrust.

There’s ample pulling power across the rev range, and it’s delivered with an adequate degree of smoothness. Okay, the 3.6-litre V6 gets a little coarse when flogged, but one must remember this a mainstream SUV (pricing likely to be in the $45-60K bracket), and not a German luxo offering costing six figures.

The six-speed auto is also agreeably smooth and intuitive, so you’re never left feeling flat-footed when a surge of acceleration is called upon. It slurs through the ratios virtually seamlessly, yet is quick to kick down when required.

As you’d expect of an American vehicle, the Acadia’s suspension settings are a little on the soft side, so it does tend to feel a tad floaty at times. That said, it’s far from being a blancmange, and there’s an acceptable degree of body control and grip even if you fling it through a corner or two. Not that you’re really likely to do this in a vehicle of this ilk.

On the whole, the Acadia feels well planted at cruising speeds, and both wind and road noise are notable for their relative absence. We’d argue it’s superior to the opposition in the comfort/refinement stakes, but only a head-to-head test will provide a conclusive answer.

However, where the Acadia does fall down slightly is in the generally compromised visibility in all directions. The chunky A-pillars obscure forward three-quarter vision, while the smallish glasshouse means lateral and rear views aren’t fantastic either. Even the wing mirrors are a bit smaller than one might have liked.

On paper, the Acadia offers pseudo off-road capability, but by this we mean rutted tracks and gravel roads rather than anything too serious. The Acadia offers just 183mm of ground clearance, and the AWD system is tailored more for slippery road conditions (ie: snow) than scrabbling over boulders and ploughing through knee-deep mud.

GMC quotes an okay-ish towing capacity of just over 1800kg (with the optional towing package), so the Acadia is up to the task of hauling mid-sized boats and caravans. Holden may tweak that by the time the vehicle arrives Down Under.

The Denali we tested was fitted out with the optional middle-row captain’s chairs, which offer both slide and recline functions to boost versatility, and they’re agreeably comfortable to perch in. But the same can’t be said of the cramped pair of third-row seats, which are best left to the junior brigade.

The second row-seats fold flattish via the yank of a lever, while a tug on a pull cord and a shove on the seatbacks achieves this for the third-row pews. Cargo volume is a modest 362 litres with all the seats in place, expanding to 1181 litres if you dispense with the third row, and 2237 litres if you fold down the second row as well.

Australian trim/spec levels will only be announced closer to the vehicle’s local launch in late 2017, but the Denali range-topper we tested came kitted out with a host of mod-cons that include an eight-inch touch-screen, sat-nav, configurable virtual gauges and GM’s IntelliLink phone integration system, which offers support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

As mentioned earlier, there’s a surround-view camera system and adaptive cruise control with collision mitigation, putting it a step ahead of its competitors. Another novelty is the seat-buzzing function that sends a vibrating message to your backside whenever one of the parking sensors is triggered. It seems like a clever idea, but personally I found it quite disconcerting.

The interior is well presented, with generally good quality materials used throughout (yes, there is some hard plastic, but not in excessive quantities), and the bells-and-whistles Denali came with decent looking cream leather trim. The cabin layout has more flair and panache than past American offerings, which tended to be lumbered with slab-surfaced, ill-fitting dashboards.

The Acadia’s exterior styling is generally inoffensive, but Australian buyers may find the fussily styled headlights and chrome hyper-excess at the front a bit much for their palates. However, this is pretty much the norm for GMC products – in fact, it’s a trademark of the brand.

The big SUV’s overall proportions gel well enough though, and we don’t see it looking like a fish out of water in the Holden line-up. What’s more, we’ve yet to see if there will be any other exterior tweaks to accompany the badge swap for Australian-bound vehicles.

All told, the Acadia stacks up as a credible rival to the Japanese/Korean large SUV brigade, and it could emerge as a key player for Holden in a burgeoning segment that accounted for 118,486 sales last year.

One thing’s for sure, the GMC-sourced newbie is certainly a big step forward from the Captiva.

2017 Holden (GMC) Acadia Denali pricing and specifications:
Price: $45,000 (estimated)
Engine: 3.6-litre six-cylinder petrol
Output: 231kW/367Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 12.0L/100km (estimated)
CO2: TBA
Safety rating: TBA