2025 GMC Acadia Denali AWD First Test: Dang, It's Big (and Good)

We were pleased when we saw the third-generation GMC Acadia come out with a lovely interior and the kind of leg- and cargo room it needed to be competitive. That was for the 2024 model year. We just got our hands on a 2025 Acadia, a Denali with AWD to be specific, and we used the opportunity to spend some time behind the wheel and head to the proving grounds for some test numbers.

There were no big changes for 2025. Our test vehicle continues to be powered by the new 328-hp, 326 lb-ft, 2.5-liter turbocharged I-4 that’s more powerful than most naturally aspirated V-6s, including the 310-hp, 271-lb-ft 3.6-liter V-6 in the previous-generation Acadia. This generation Acadia is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission that replaces a nine-speed.

The third generation of the three-row, seven-passenger midsize SUV is huge—it’s longer, wider, and taller, with more leg- and cargo room than many of its competitors. It has righted the wrongs it made in 2018 when GM shrunk the wheelbase of the second-generation SUV by 6 inches, which created a cramped third row. The current Acadia has the same wheelbase as the full-size GMC Yukon, and cargo space behind the third row grew a whopping 80 percent, outclassing the Toyota Grand Highlander, Ford Explorer, Honda Pilot.

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Nice Interior to Spend Time In

It also boasts a lovely white interior, clean and fresh, with premium materials, an overall elegance, and a lot of standard equipment on the top Denali trim. It is a seven-passenger layout with captain’s chairs in the second row. You can opt for a bench seat for eight-passenger seating.

The brown leather-wrapped heated steering wheel has the Denali logo in the middle and contrast stitching. Comfortable heated and cooled perforated white leather seats have a diamond quilted pattern with intricate black stitching and piping. The doors are a masterclass in the use of mixed materials with swaths of white quilted and chocolate brown leather, dark open-pore wood, black trim, and chrome. The heated and flat-folding captain’s chairs in the second row slide forward for better access to the third row with power switches on the seats and in the rear cargo area. There’s also plenty of room between the seats to get to the back. A protective pad on the back of the front seat, at the bottom, protects the leather from little kicking feet. There’s also a pouch on the seat back, cupholders on the back of the front console, HVAC controls, and USB outlets.

The third row has a 60/40 split bench seat that also folds flat. It can be powered back to its upright position, but you must return the second-row seats to their upright position manually. They spring back up with little effort. To load the cargo area, an auto-sensing hands-free liftgate detects the key fob when it’s near the rear of the vehicle and will open the hatch.

Easy-to-Use Infotainment

The 15.0-inch portrait-oriented touchscreen for infotainment has crisp, clear graphics. We appreciate the physical volume knob in the center of the screen and the piano key climate controls below the screen. The Acadia has Google Built-in apps but is still compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It has satellite radio, a premium Bose audio system, serves as a Wi-Fi hot spot, and has two USB outlets in the front console, more in the rear seats.

The center console houses a big, wide charging tray. It charged a phone quickly, never losing the charge. The side-by-side cupholders are framed in wood trim and chrome. It can all be hidden with a sliding wood cover. The covered portion of the center console has a deep well for storage.

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Not My Favorite Stalks

I’m not a fan of some of the switchgear, specifically the stalks on the steering wheel. GM favors two-motion gearshifts for safety to prevent accidental gear changes. In the Acadia, it means moving the stalk forward and then up or down to put the vehicle in motion. Finding the right gear, reverse in particular, took more concentration and trial and error than it should have. It becomes easy to learn the more time you spend with the vehicle, and an owner would quickly put the proper motions into muscle memory. Thankfully, park is just the press of a button.

Another learning curve: The left stalk, which controls the turn signals, has the controls for the windshield wipers. The settings are not a flick up or down on the stalk like in many vehicles. Toggles on the front of the stalk set the wiper speed, which is activated by switches on the back. Again, it’s quickly learnable but frustrating initially. The stalks move clumsily, like they could break if manhandled.

Engine Sounds Can Be Deceiving

The engine is more powerful than the V-6 it replaces, offering plenty of oomph for both city and highway driving. I wish the engine sounded as good as it performs. It can be a bit whiny on initial acceleration, for the first couple gear shifts, but then the sound fades into the background, helped by the acoustic dampening materials that keep the cabin insulated from noise. You don’t hear the engine when you get to speed, and the shifts are smooth and quick, no hunting for the right one. Active noise cancellation keeps out unwanted powertrain and road noises, absorbing sound and dampening vibrations. It also measures the road surface variations and uses the audio system to cancel road noise.

This was even more evident in testing. We put the Acadia in Sport mode, with AWD activated and traction control off. The engine, while not loud, sounds like it’s working hard for relatively tepid acceleration. We recognize it takes a lot of grunt to move 4,900 pounds with authority, especially when you also have to overcome the inertia of 22-inch wheels on the Denali. The torque peak at 3,500 rpm is high for a modern turbo engine and makes the initial launch feel lazy, even when you can brake-torque it to 2,200 rpm (which gives you the smallest edge over just slapping the accelerator.)

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Acceleration Comparable to V6 Competitors

The Acadia went from 0 to 60 mph in 7.8 seconds and completed the quarter mile in 15.9 seconds at 90.6 mph. Most of the competition we’ve tested had V-6s under the hood, but not all were faster. The Honda Pilot was, clocking a 0–60 time of 6.9 seconds and quarter mile in 15.3 seconds at 91.6 mph with its 3.5-liter V-6 putting out 285 hp and 262 lb-ft of torque. A 2023 Kia Telluride SX X-Pro with a 3.8-liter V-6 (291 hp, 262 lb-ft) did the scoot in 7.0 seconds and completed the quarter mile in 15.2 seconds at 92.8 mph. The 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Overland needed 7.7 seconds to hit 60 mph with its 293-hp, 260 lb-ft 3.6-liter V-6. It completed the quarter mile in 15.9 seconds at 87.8 mph.

Getting in and sitting in it, the Acadia feels like a tall SUV—more Chevrolet Tahoe than Equinox—but it tackles the figure eight like a smaller, lower crossover. Body roll is well controlled, steering is accurate, and the brakes are easy to modulate. As long as you don't totally overcook the corner entry, the Acadia feels very composed. Stability control can't be defeated, but it never interferes. It does hold back the power with the wheel turned, but it's fairly fast in letting the power flow as you unwind the tiller.

Drive it hard, and a "Performance Algorithm Shifting" message pops up on the instrument cluster along with a green gear icon. Despite the racy-sounding name, it's not quite aggressive enough for the figure eight. We had better results by pushing the L button on the steering wheel and manually shifting with the paddles. You can downshift to second for the turns, but third gear is so close that you upshift into third and almost immediately hit the limiter, so the better play is to only downshift to third (and upshift to fourth on the straights).

The Acadia did the figure eight in 27.5 seconds at an average 0.63 g. It is on par with the Telluride and Grand Cherokee L, a bit faster than the Pilot.

In our braking testing, the Acadia tracks straight with a good stopping distance, but it's a busy, and noisy experience. There’s considerable brake dive, lots of ABS grunching (grind/crunching), and a small shimmy in the steering wheel during the stops. It needed 113 feet to come to a stop from 60 mph. That’s better than the Telluride at 123 feet, the Honda Pilot at 126 feet, and the Grand Cherokee L at a whopping 132 feet.

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Super Cruise a Plus

A true asset: Super Cruise is available on every trim. The hands-free driver assistance system has been well honed and worked flawlessly in the Detroit area. The assisted driving package includes lane keep assist that warns you when you stray, intersection automatic emergency braking, enhanced automatic emergency braking, rear pedestrian alert, side bicycle alert, traffic sign recognition, cameras, trailering package, and more. And while it does have all-wheel drive, it’s absurd that you have to push a button to activate AWD in 2025 when computers can make the call to adjust power where and when needed.

Although I appreciate all the warnings in the name of safety, the vibration settings are not for me. I didn’t need my seat to vibrate when I go into reverse or make a turn. There were times, usually getting out of a parking space, where I couldn’t figure out what danger it was warning me of. The vehicle also does a hard stop if it thinks you’re getting too close to an object.

The 2025 Acadia is a large vehicle that will transport the family in style with performance befitting the GMC badge.

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