It’s a indisputable fact that crossovers are getting bigger, costlier and extra truck-like of their look, and no mannequin exemplifies that greater than the third-generation GMC Acadia. Inside, exterior and beneath, GMC has fully redone the Acadia for 2024. It’s a complete lot greater than the outgoing automobile, prices extra, and it borrows a ton of styling cues from different GMC mainstays just like the Yukon and Sierra.
The 2024 Acadia is ready to pack plenty of tech, options and area into its new, brawnier look, and it has a brand new engine and transmission too. Due to that, it’s a three-row crossover that may just about hold with the very best Korea, Japan and the remainder of the U.S. have to supply in case you’re OK with your loved ones automobile wanting extra aggressive than its soft-roader underpinnings would recommend.
Full Disclosure: GMC flew me all the way down to Savannah, Georgia, put me up in my very own cabin in a really pretty resort and fed me all types of meals and drinks simply so I might drive the 2024 Acadia.
GMC simplified the lineup to simply three Acadia fashions: the base-model Elevation ($44,640 together with $1,395 for vacation spot), the off-road-focused AT4 ($51,395) and the top-of-the-line Denali ($55,695), as is GMC custom. No matter trim, each Acadia comes with a turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-4 that pumps out 328 horsepower and 326 pound-feet of torque by way of an eight-speed computerized transmission to both the entrance or all 4 wheels. All-wheel-drive may be added to the Elevation or Denali trims for $2,000, and it comes as customary on the off-roady AT4.
The powertrain works fairly effortlessly and — because it ought to in all crossovers — principally fades to the background as a nonentity. It does what it must do and little extra. My solely gripe is that the powerplant doesn’t sound significantly good and a bit extra engine noise will get into the cabin than I’d like, nevertheless it’s not that unhealthy. The AWD system additionally works fairly effectively. I drove each the Denali and AT4 (on and off-road) and the system was greater than as much as the duty for many base-level off-roading that Acadia house owners will do. It’s not a rock crawler by any means, nevertheless it’ll get the job accomplished down a rutted, muddy highway simply high quality. The AT4 will get a extra critical AWD setup that comes with twin clutches for partaking and disengaging the system. GMC says the AT4 can ship as much as 70 p.c of its energy to the rear wheels, whereas the Denali and Elevation are capped at 50 p.c.
On the highway, it’s not precisely thrilling to drive, nevertheless it was by no means presupposed to be. It is a automobile for hauling your children and your shit round city and down the freeway on an extended journey, and for that, it really works rather well. Sporty driving isn’t actually a factor within the Acadia. Positive, there’s a Sport mode, nevertheless it doesn’t do a lot apart from remap the throttle and make the steering a bit heavier. There’s nothing GMC can do this’ll make a 6,200-pound crossover with a turbo four-cylinder motor thrilling to drive. That isn’t the purpose.
The actual level of the Acadia is being a cushty cruiser, and that’s what it does by way of a very nice inside and class-leading expertise. Like the outside, GMC has fully redone the crossover’s inside with a brand new point of interest: a 15-inch vertical touchscreen.
I’ve used dozens of infotainment programs, and that is definitely among the many finest. Every part is straightforward to learn, straightforward to make use of and straightforward to configure. There are even exhausting button toggle switches alongside the underside in your core HVAC controls. You may inform GMC’s designers actually took their time in growing the display. Positive, the headlight controls are nonetheless in it, and I hate that, nevertheless it’s only one gripe in an in any other case good system. Google Maps is used for navigation and the system provides you the remainder of Google’s in-car suite. It’s a equally constructive story within the gauge cluster, which can also be very customizable. You may put no matter you need in there, from a full-screen map to a tachometer, your present media, nav instructions and a visit odometer. All of it works quite intuitively.
As regards to tech, I ought to deliver up certainly one of the Acadia’s finest options: Tremendous Cruise (an possibility that prices between $2,950 and $3,490, relying on trim stage). Lastly, GM’s glorious Stage 2 hands-free driving system is making its strategy to extra merchandise. Like in different GM autos, Tremendous Cruise works splendidly within the Acadia. When you get on a superb little bit of mapped highway, you’ll be able to go a very very long time with out touching the wheel. It’ll even provoke passes for you, which is a bit unnerving at first, however you get used to it.
One thing else the Acadia will get you is a shit-ton of area. Now that it’s lots longer, each seat has plenty of room. I’m not going to say the third row is tremendous spacious, nevertheless it’s ok for 6-foot-1-inch me at on a shorter journey. GMC emphasised that the rear cargo space is lots greater than the previous automobile with the third row up. The automaker says the brand new Acadia has 23 cubic ft of room behind the third row, up large from the 12.8 cubic ft of the previous automobile. Within the second row, relying on trim stage, you’ll be able to both have a three-seat bench or two captain chairs. I didn’t get an opportunity to take a look at the bench, however the two captain’s chairs had been ultra-comfy, and I’m positive your children received’t thoughts sitting in them for an extended journey, unable to the touch the opposite one.
Supplies and execution are, in typical GM trend, a bit of little bit of a blended bag, however they’re higher than I used to be first anticipating. There isn’t an excessive amount of cheap-feeling plastic, however there may very well be extra padding the place you relaxation your elbow on the door, and the steering wheel buttons and equipment selector and switch sign column stalks really feel a bit low-cost. I additionally encountered a wierd factor with the gauge cluster the place it appeared both pixelated or out of focus. It might have simply been my eyes, I suppose. Regardless, it’s nonetheless a really good place to be in each the top-of-the-line Denali and off-roady AT4.
For higher or worse, GMC has discovered its company entrance facia, and due to that the brand new Acadia seems an terrible lot like its greater brother, the Yukon. The entire thing has a a lot beefier, truckish look with a giant chrome grille that dominates the entrance finish — on the Denali anyway; the AT4 will get a blacked-out grille. It has slender headlights flanked with pretty giant daytime working lights that double as flip alerts, additionally similar to the Yukon and Sierra.
These brawny seems proceed on the aspect of the automobile with a clear and muscular design, a excessive beltline and 18- to 22-inch wheels relying on the mannequin. Out again, the brand new Acadia comes — once more — with a excessive beltline, C-shaped taillights and quad exhaust ideas. (One per cylinder!) General, it has a way more upright look than its predecessor, and the brand new Acadia is a reasonably good piece of design that may be very clearly following the developments that dominate the crossover area right now. Every part’s gotta be greater, more durable, manlier. Collectively, these minivan replacements can defeat WOKE.
No matter the way you suppose it seems, there’s simply much more to take a look at — this factor is greater in each dimension. The third-generation Acadia is now 10.6 inches longer than its predecessor. That could be a large bounce in measurement and a large reversal in course from the place the Acadia was heading. The primary-gen automobile was 200.7 inches lengthy. Then, for gen two, it shrunk to 193.4 inches in measurement. GMC tells me individuals complained about this alteration, so for 2024 the Acadia is 204 inches lengthy, seven inches longer than the class-champion Kia Telluride. To place that in perspective, the Yukon is now solely six inches longer than the Acadia, and the 2 three-row SUVs have equivalent wheelbases. On prime of the general size, it’s additionally 4.2 inches wider and three.2 inches taller than the previous automobile.
GMC didn’t present window stickers for the automobiles I drove, however I spec’d them up fairly equally on-line. The AT4 I drove would in all probability price about $56,530, and the loaded-up Denali would are available in at $65,810. That’s some huge cash, and it represents a fairly sizable bounce in pricing over the previous automobile. A base 2023 Acadia, whereas not practically as good a automobile, began at $38,195, which implies the brand new technology is almost $6,500 costlier. The AT4 begins at $6,600 greater than the outgoing mannequin, and the Denali is about $6,200 pricier. I suppose you might be getting much more, although.
The 2024 GMC Acadia is total an excellent automobile, and it’s definitely probably the most American-feeling mid-size SUV you should purchase between its immense measurement, daring fashion and excessive value. If that’s what you’re into, then extra energy to you. In Denali type it’s definitely probably the most luxurious of the mid-size crossover choices.
I just like the 2024 Acadia. You simply have to resolve if the crossover that took a bit of bit an excessive amount of Viagra is best for you. When you’ve acquired the area and the money, it in all probability is.
