One issue though: My “truck,” with barely 12,000 km on the clock, had an oddly loose driver's perch seatback. It moved a notch to-and-fro which proved to be very annoying in city driving. A minor defect that can surely be fixed with little or no effort.
As far as the dashboard and its layout are concerned, I found everything to be in the right place save for the rear wiper control which is located at the very bottom of the centre console and requires a glance; highly distracting, especially when considering that this accessory will only be used when road conditions are at their worse. Fit and finish are good, however, some of the plastics are hard and of poor quality.
Shifting forward, every and all members of GM's trio of crossovers carry the oft-used 3.6L V6. It develops 288hp and 270 lb-ft of torque. All of these beasts also sport a 6-speed automatic transmission. Front-wheel-drive is standard and AWD is optional on all, but part of the Denali's basic kit.
The most immediate impression the driver gets when engaging drive in this vehicle is a feeling of massive girth. The truck seems to struggle off the line, labouring with all its might to get the 4,925 lb (2,234 kg) vehicle up to some measure of speed. In reality, the Acadia is brisk, covering the 100 km/h mark in a few ticks over 8 seconds, tying it in third place amongst the competitors in the comparo.
Thankfully, as quick as the GMC may be, its brakes do a fine job of scrubbing off excess speed. We managed to completely stop from 100 km/h in a reasonable 46 metres, far better than the new Ford Explorer's 59 metres. The repeated tests never affected the left pedal's firm and pleasant feel.
More likely than not, you'll be cruising along at 100 km/h where you will happily discover that the 'box holds engine revs at a low 1,600 rpm. This translates into a serene onboard environment and what we would have expected to be good fuel numbers. Unfortunately, this was not the case. On comparo day, the Acadia guzzled over 15L per 100km. My week-long test returned an average of 14L. This number is far greater than what GM advertises.
As far as the dashboard and its layout are concerned, I found everything to be in the right place save for the rear wiper control which is located at the very bottom of the centre console and requires a glance; highly distracting, especially when considering that this accessory will only be used when road conditions are at their worse. Fit and finish are good, however, some of the plastics are hard and of poor quality.
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| Every and all members of GM's trio of crossovers carry the oft-used 3.6L V6 and it develops 288hp and 270 lb-ft of torque. (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour/Auto123.com) |
Shifting forward, every and all members of GM's trio of crossovers carry the oft-used 3.6L V6. It develops 288hp and 270 lb-ft of torque. All of these beasts also sport a 6-speed automatic transmission. Front-wheel-drive is standard and AWD is optional on all, but part of the Denali's basic kit.
The most immediate impression the driver gets when engaging drive in this vehicle is a feeling of massive girth. The truck seems to struggle off the line, labouring with all its might to get the 4,925 lb (2,234 kg) vehicle up to some measure of speed. In reality, the Acadia is brisk, covering the 100 km/h mark in a few ticks over 8 seconds, tying it in third place amongst the competitors in the comparo.
Thankfully, as quick as the GMC may be, its brakes do a fine job of scrubbing off excess speed. We managed to completely stop from 100 km/h in a reasonable 46 metres, far better than the new Ford Explorer's 59 metres. The repeated tests never affected the left pedal's firm and pleasant feel.
More likely than not, you'll be cruising along at 100 km/h where you will happily discover that the 'box holds engine revs at a low 1,600 rpm. This translates into a serene onboard environment and what we would have expected to be good fuel numbers. Unfortunately, this was not the case. On comparo day, the Acadia guzzled over 15L per 100km. My week-long test returned an average of 14L. This number is far greater than what GM advertises.
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| On comparo day, the Acadia guzzled over 15L per 100km. (Photo: Sébastien D'Amour/Auto123.com) |