Holden Acadia – What you need to know

With SUV sales outgunning passenger vehicles, Holden re-entered the fray with a large, new SUV, the Acadia, late in 2018.

The Holden Acadia is a family-friendly seven-seater with a single engine and transmission combo across three variants, each offering front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.

Kicking off the Acadia range is the front-drive $43,490 (driveaway) Acadia LT with the following standard features:

• Traffic sign recognition
• Satellite navigation
• Three-zone climate control
• Eight-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Side blind zone and rear cross traffic alert
• Lane Departure Warning with Lane Keep Assist
• Active noise cancellation
• Rear Park Assist and rear view camera

Red or white paint comes at no extra cost. Any of the other six colours incurs a $550 premium.

All three Holden Acadia models – entry-level LT, mid-range LTZ and flagship LTZ-V – feature traction and stability control systems, anti-lock brakes and seven airbags.

Also standard is a plethora of driver-assist features including; low-speed autonomous emergency braking, lane keep assist and lane departure warning, side blind alert, rear cross traffic alert, lateral impact avoidance, pedestrian and cyclist detection, traffic sign recognition with intelligent speed assist, following distance indicator, forward collision alert with head-up warning, and driver mode control.

There is also automatic high beam assist, a rear view camera, tow hitch guidance with hitch view, rear park and hill start assist, descent control (AWD only) and trailer sway control.

A step up to the LTZ adds advanced-(self parking) and front park assist, and another rung up to the LTZ-V gives you autonomous emergency braking at all speeds and a 360-degree camera.

All models come equipped with an eight-inch infotainment screen with satellite navigation, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and the usual audio and phone streaming functions. While the Holden Acadia LT and LTZ feature a six-speaker audio system, the LTZ-V has a premium eight-speaker BOSE system.

Black cloth trim is what you'll find in the Acadia LT, but just one move up to the Acadia LTZ gives you leather throughout, with premium leather a further step up to the Acadia LTZ-V.

Do you want a powered driver seat? Head to the Acadia LTZ and treat yourself to a 10-way electrically-adjustable seat and an eight-way power-adjustable seat for your front passenger; both have a heating function. The Acadia LTZ also comes with a hands-free powered tailgate and wireless phone charging to make life easier, along with rain sensing wipers and an auto dimming rear view mirror.

But for the full comfort experience, the Acadia LTZ-V has 10-way powered seats up front with both heating and cooling functions.

Do you want to minimise stress on journeys using adaptive cruise control? Then head to the Acadia LTZ-V as it is the only one with it. By choosing this model you also get manually adjustable adaptive suspension.

While the Acadia LT has body-coloured door handles, a move up to the Acadia LTZ adds a chrome strip to them for a bit of bling, and the driver-side exterior mirror features an auto-dimming function.

Is a sunroof something you have always wanted? Tick the box for the Acadia LTZ-V and its yours, along with body-colour fascias and aluminium roof rails.

Are fog lights on the shopping list? You only have to select the Acadia LTZ to get them, as well as silver roof rails. But the Acadia LTZ-V is the only one in the range to get the brighter HID headlights, so consider that if you do a lot of country driving at night.

The Acadia LT and LTZ ride on 18-inch alloy wheels, whereas the Acadia LTZ-V is easy to spot with its 20-inch alloys fitted.

The Acadia offers a simple recipe of one engine and one transmission across all models: a 231kw/367Nm 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine hitched to a nine-speed automatic and a choice of two-wheel drive (2WD) or all-wheel drive (AWD).

The all-new Acadia is a sizeable vehicle that can easily lug the family around in comfy and quiet surroundings. Given the price hike between two and all-wheel drive, think seriously about how often you'd head off pisté before buying. That said the entry model LT, (in two-wheel drive guise) appeals to me for its decent level of creature comforts at a mid-size SUV price.

But if I were to loosen the purse strings further I'd opt for the Acadia LTZ, once again as a 2WD, and enjoy the extra kit and caboodle it offers, especially the upmarket look and feel of the leather interior.