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Video: Up Close With the Redesigned 2024 GMC Acadia
By Cars.com Editors
September 13, 2023About the video
The latest GM SUV to undergo a redesign is the 2024 GMC Acadia, which gets significantly bigger and more stylish. Road Test Editor Brian Normile experienced the new Acadia ahead of the 2023 North American International Auto Show.
Transcript
I'm here with the 2024 GMC Acadia in both Denali and AT4 trims. It's making its debut at the Detroit Auto Show. Let's check 'em out.
We'll start outside with the AT4, which gets more aggressive front styling with some darker styling elements, functional tow hooks, a functional front skid plate, chunky all-terrain tires wrapped around 18-inch wheels. You get these side marker lights that are borrowed more from a heavy duty truck design language. And overall the look is a lot more aggressive and a lot more truck-like. In the same way that the Traverse was sort of a baby Tahoe, this is very much a baby Yukon. You get blacked out trim along the sides, black roof rails. All the lighting elements on the Acadia are LED, including these C-shaped taillights, which is sort of GMC's signature. All Acadias also get quad exhaust tips, which GMC told us we're indeed inspired by the C8 Chevrolet Corvette, so a little bit of sportiness here, and we'll talk about why there's a little bit of sportiness in just a second. But overall, the look is very capable, and I'm looking forward to actually taking this off road. Up front, the Acadia Denali is a much more premium look. It's probably more premium than the previous generation as well. You get a brighter look to it than the AT4, but less bright than the previous generation. Again, C-shaped LED headlights. These will be animated on production versions with a sort of approach and departure animation to them. Along the sides you get gloss black trim along the lower portion of the vehicle. You get painted molding here instead of the plastic cladding on the AT4. And these are 22-inch wheels, optional. 20 inches are standard, but it's a nice look to it. It really does look a lot nicer than the previous Acadia. Power for the 2024 Acadia comes from a new 2.5 liter turbocharged four cylinder paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is available on all trims, and the AT4 gets a unique off-road specific torque vectoring all-wheel drive system with a twin clutch differential, similar to what we saw in the Traverse Z71. The new engine makes 328 horsepower and 326 pounds feet of torque, which is up significantly from the old Acadia V6's 310 horsepower and 271 pounds feet, and also slightly more than what we're seeing in the Traverse, where it delivers 315 horsepower and 317 pounds feet of torque. When properly equipped, the new Acadia can also tow up to 5,000 pounds, which is slightly more than its predecessor's 4,000 pound max towing capacity. I'm inside the Acadia Denali now, and like the exterior, a very premium experience. Again, this is a pre-production model, so materials will differ somewhat with the production version. But the big news here is this is the first application of GMC's new interior design language, which incorporates a lot of horizontal elements and this sort of architectural element up top on the dash. A big 15-inch portrait display here. It will have wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. These controls along the bottom here will remain fixed, as well as some of these top controls, but it will take up a good portion of the screen. You do have physical controls below that for the climate, and you do have this volume knob as well. Another big change is the move to a column-mounted gear selector, which allows for a lot more of a utilitarian center console. We saw this in the Traverse already, but you get wireless device charging, USB ports, cup holders, a very, very large storage bin, and then to top it all off, you end up with this pass-through here for extra storage. The last big piece of news inside the Acadia is the availability of GM's Super Cruise hands-free driving system on not just the Denali trim, but also available on the Elevation and AT4 as well, which is the first time GMC has done that with its lineup. Previously it was a Denali-only exclusive. Other interior news, the base Elevation comes standard with a second row bench seat. Captain's chairs are available. AT4 and Denali comes standard with second row captain's chairs. The increase in wheel base of more than eight inches should allow for a lot more leg room. GMC says this has class leading front leg room. I've sat in the second row already. It's quite comfortable. Let's get in there. So here we are in the second row of the Acadia Denali. Not a whole lot of innovation going on, but it is nice and open. I have a lot of leg room, head room, shoulder room. It feels nice and airy with this large panoramic sunroof. Overall, again, very comfortable. It feels a little bit more premium than the Traverse, but fairly similar in terms of layout and space. The third row, like the third row of the Traverse, is not really built for someone of my size, but it's fairly nice for a third row in this class. You get some decent cup holders on the sides, USB charging, and the move to a sort of pushed back, deep pillar gives you a nice window here, which I appreciate as someone who suffers a lot of motion sickness. So that's what we know about the 2024 GMC Acadia for now. Stay tuned for more closer to its on-sale date early next year. For more, you can find everything on cars.com.
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