2007 GMC Acadia Review

PROS
Ample passenger and cargo room, Comfortable ride, Refined interior

CONS
Clumsy transmission, No Bluetooth

Attracting new buyers For decades, GMC has been the "truck" division at General Motors, producing clones of compact and full-size Chevrolet pickups. Recently, GM has positioned GMC as an upscale purveyor of sport-utility vehicles and began merging GMC dealerships with Buick and Pontiac stores.

The move to merge brands under one rooftop makes sense from two perspectives. It allows General Motors to better define the brands by offering fewer models but tailoring them to support a specific brand. Second, it allows dealerships to sell more vehicles per rooftop-thereby enabling them to lower prices.

In this new scheme, Buick is the luxury brand, Pontiac is the excitement brand, and GMC is the utility brand. In other words, if is makes sense for General Motors to offer a sports sedan, it's likely to be a Pontiac and Buick and GMC won't have similar offerings. Time will tell if the strategy will return dividends, but early results are encouraging.

The Acadia is one of three new midsize SUVs to be released by General Motors this year. It shares engines and chassis with the Saturn Outlook and Buick Enclave. Acadia offers seating for seven or eight passengers and competes with other midsize SUVs like the Ford Freestyle, Honda Pilot, Hyundai Veracruz, Nissan Pathfinder, and Toyota Highlander.

Acadia is available only as a four-door wagon and comes in base SLE and upscale SLT trim. Sole powertrain is a 275-horsepower 3.6-liter V6 engine mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. Front-drive or all-wheel-drive versions are available on both models. Front-wheel drive includes traction control. The all-wheel-drive system does not have a low range and is not intended for extreme off-road use. Towing capacity is 4500 pounds when equipped with the $425 Trailering Package.

Standard safety features on all models include antilock brakes, stability control, tire-pressure monitor, and front, front side, and curtain side airbags. SLE standard equipment includes front and rear air conditioning, tilt-telescope steering wheel, second-row bucket seats, split-folding rear bench seat, power mirrors, locks and windows, keyless entry, OnStar, theft-deterrent system, fog lights, rear-privacy glass, rear spoiler, roof rails and alloy wheels.

SLT adds to SLE three-zone automatic climate control, leather upholstery, heated front seats, leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, rear audio controls, and in-dash 6-disc CD changer. Key options include a rear-obstacle detection, navigation system, rear-seat entertainment system, remote starting, satellite radio, head-up instrument display, second-row split-folding bench seat, power liftgate, and 115-volt power outlet. Also available is a two-panel sunroof. It features a conventional sunroof above the driver and front-seat passenger and a second, fixed-glass panel over second-row seats.

The front-drive SLE has a base price of $29,255 and the all-wheel-drive SLT lists for $35,225. All models have a destination charge of $735.

Get up and Go
Acadia features the same 3.6-liter V6 that's found in Saturn Aura, Cadillac CTS, and a number of other General Motors vehicles. It's a smooth engine that is as refined as any powerplant in import competitors.

On the highway, the free-revving engine gains some legs and provides good passing response--provided you're willing to put your foot to the floor as the transmission is reluctant to downshift.

The all-wheel-drive system seamlessly delivers power to the wheels with the most traction. On wet or snowy pavement, there's nary a slip from the front tires in hard acceleration as the all-wheel-drive system silently goes about its job.

Also on the plus side, the V6/six-speed combination is very frugal given the Acadia's 4500-pound curb weight. Acadia is EPA rated at 17 mpg city and 24 mpg highway. Those numbers are comparable to other midsize SUVs and better than you might expect for a vehicle with eight-passenger capacity. In routine city driving expect to average about 17 mpg, in a typical city/highway commute perhaps 18-19 mpg would be a realistic number. On longer highway trips Acadia will easily average 23-24 mpg. GMC says that the V6 will run fine on lest-costly regular-grade fuel.

On the Road Make no mistake, Acadia is a large vehicle. It has a wheelbase of 118.9 inches. That's larger than many full-size SUVs and the largest of any midsize SUV--except for its GM siblings. GMC engineers have made the most of the wheelbase to provide a smooth and stable ride that's devoid of traditional SUV bounciness. Small bumps are well filtered and large bumps only register with a mild jolt. In addition, the long wheelbase helps quell oscillating body motions on scalloped surfaces.

On the road, Acadia is very quiet. At highway speed, there's little wind noise and almost no tire noise. The engine is subdued and has an expensive-sounding growl in hard acceleration.

Behind the Wheel Inside, Acadia blends contemporary design with quality materials to create an inviting yet very functional interior. The instrument panel features a large digital readout for trip-computer information. General Motor's corporate radio unit is among the best in the business in terms of ease of use and functionality. It's placed high in the dash and is easy to reach. Climate controls are a touch lower, but still clearly marked.

The optional head-up display is a nice feature. It projects speed and other important vehicle information onto the windshield. This display is easy to read day or night and allows drivers to keep their eyes on the road.

Front seats are armchair comfortable. Head and leg room are adult generous, meaning there's plenty of both. Tilt-telescope steering wheel and height adjustable seat make it easy for drivers of all sizes to get comfortable. Above-average outward visibility is helped by large outside mirrors and hide-away rear-seat headrests.

Second-row bucket seat are hard and not all that comfortable on longer trips, but adequate for kids and adults on short trips. Leg and head room are generous. The seat is also adjustable for and aft.

Third-row seats aren't the penalty box you'd expect. Two adults can ride in a modicum of comfort and three children will fit no problem. There's not a lot of room between the seat cushion and the floor, so adults will have to get used to riding "knees up." Getting back there is easy as the second-row seatbacks tip forward with the flip of a lever and then the entire seating unit folds forward flush with the front seats.

Interior storage is excellent with large front-seat map pockets and a thoughtful cell-phone holder in the center console. Sadly, Outlook does not offer a Bluetooth cell-phone connection. This is an obvious ploy to help sell OnStar, which offers pay-per-use cell-phone minutes. However, it really comes across as a slap in the face because all of the hardware to activate the Bluetooth connection already exists in the vehicle except the wireless receiver. GM should realize that all of its competitors offer Bluetooth connectivity and make it standard on vehicles of this caliber if for nothing else than the added safety of hands-free cell-phone operation.

Bottom LineWith Acadia, GMC has an opportunity to reach out to new customers. Like its siblings at Saturn and Buick, Acadia is head-and-shoulders better than the competition. There's so much to like and so little to dislike, midsize SUV shoppers would be foolish if they didn't give Acadia a test drive before buying a competitor.

Prices are competitive and realistic, but Acadia isn't as inexpensive as the similar Saturn Outlook. A well-optioned SLT lists for $40,000 and that might be a stretch for some budgets. Still, a smartly optioned SLE can be had for less than $35,000 and at that price Acadia is a great value.