If you only read the headlines, you'd think General Motors only built pickup trucks, Camaros and the new Stingray Corvette.
In actual fact, the General is actually in the business of making and selling crossovers in a big way. Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac all have at least one, and in some cases as many as four. Crossovers, crossovers, crossovers.
If you're a gearhead or a rock crawler, it's reasonably hard to get excited about these things, but unlike the curvaceous Stingray, these are the actual cars that rack up the mileage. They're the kid haulers, the trailer towers, the camping vehicles, and the road trippers; they're the workhorses of the modern roadway.
Here's the GMC version, the Acadia. It's not a Corvette. It's not a heavy duty Silverado. It is, however, pretty darn good.
Design
GMC refreshed their Acadia three-row last year, and the exterior changes were particularly successful. It's chunkily aggressive, and actually looks deserving of GMC's "professional grade" tagline.
The new upright threebar grille looks like some kind of electric razor, and the bluff front end echoes that of its pickup truck brethren. A slight flaring to the wheel arches gives an element of muscularity.
Most important of all, and deserving of all the gold stars in the homeroom cupboard, is that GM's designers have resisted the urge to coat this thing in acres of shiny plastic fauxchrome.
It's the sort of thing GM was wont to do in the '90s and noughties, but even this Denali-spec high-trim tester came with a perfectly reasonable amount of bling, like a maturing rapper. Twenty-inch alloys round out the package, but again, the showiness factor here isn't overly high.
Environment
Many improvements have been made to the interior of the Acadia as well, but here a rating of "most improved" doesn't necessarily translate to Best In Class.
If you're used to a Honda or Nissan product, the Acadia's mix of hardedged plastic cut-lines and faux-wood trim will be a bit jarring, as will its green-lit digital display. There's a new soft-touch dash covering, but the stitching lines on my tester were not quite 100 per cent straight.
Then there's the onboard infotainment, which includes a smallish HD screen that's asked to display a heck of a lot of information. It's also mounted a little too low for distraction-free operation, and can be sluggish in handling inputs.
A large panoramic sunroof does brighten up the interior, which apart from the slight niggles mentioned, is overall quite well put together, certainly mid-pack.
And let's talk about the practical stuff. Simply put, the Acadia is huge inside compared to most other three-row crossovers, and has third row seating that's not just a kids-only zone. Seven-seater capacity is standard on mid-level trims and a middle row bench seat is an option.
The front seats are comfortable. The midrow seats adjust for better legroom, but are perhaps a tad low for taller adults. Even with all seats deployed, there's still a completely usable amount of trunk space, or fold everything down for huge tracts of land.
Performance
Only one engine offering is available on the Acadia: a 3.6-litre V-6 making 288 horsepower and 270 footpounds of torque. When pitted against the near-2,200 kilogram curb weight, it's only just enough.
Power is routed through a six-speed automatic transmission that's perfectly competent, but unless you're willing to spend your life with your right foot welded to the firewall, this is no kind of performance machine. It's not really supposed to be.
Cornering behaviour is a tad better, with body roll well controlled, and a planted feel. The thin-rimmed steering wheel doesn't supply a great deal of road feel, but it is more precise than expected. Essentially, the handling's very predictable - just what's needed in this segment. However, the brakes do have a lot of mass to scrub down, and can sometimes feel like they've got their hands full.
Smoothness is excellent, and while the engine needs to be throttled up to cut and thrust with traffic, it's perfectly happy to cruise on the highway. The V-6 and six-speed work very well together, and with windnoise nicely controlled, this would be a great longdistance car.
The Denali is particularly excellent in this regard. It's got extra sound insulation, and all that weight makes it fairly resistant to rippling tarmac and wind from passing semi-trailers. What with the higher seating position of a truck and a sense of substance, it's a secure-feeling machine to drive; this is backed up by the IIHS Top Safety Pick rating.
The more you handle the Acadia in the manner for which it's been built - namely, to haul passengers in comfort and space - the better it does. Don't expect to have huge power in reserves or some hidden backroads prowess, but it gets the job done.
Features
Minor tweaks for 2014 model Acadias include the addition of USB charging plugs for the kids to keep their various mobile devices charged up, and Denalispec trims gained extra safety with lane departure and forward collision warning.
As mentioned, the Denali is available with onboard satellite navigation, paired with rear-seat entertainment in my tester at a cost of $3,350. A 10-speaker Bose audio system is standard, as is hands-free smartphone integration and Sirius XM satellite radio.
A backup camera is standard in all Acadias, with the Denali scoring maximum safety points with the aforementioned driver safety aids. HID headlights are available on mid-line trims and up.
Fuel economy is solid for a V-6 vehicle of this weight class, at 12.7 litres/100 kilometres city and 8.4 l/100 km on the highway. Particularly in Vancouver's heavy traffic, reaching city numbers can be very difficult.
Green light
Refreshed looks; excellent space; smooth, quiet ride; good safety ratings.
Stop sign
Modest power; some interior cheapness still evident; fairly high price tag.
The checkered flag
Built to haul a different kind of cargo than other GMCs, and does so with ease.
Competitor
Nissan Pathfinder ($29,998): It's not quite as big as the Acadia, but Nissan's Pathfinder has a few tricks up its sleeve to be just about as practical. The mid-row sliding seats, for instance, make third row ingress and egress much simpler than the Acadia.
The Nissan's fuel economy is better too, especially in front-wheeldrive versions. However, the Pathfinder's CVT transmission will not be to everyone's taste, and when it comes to all seats deployed capacity, there's no replacement for the Acadia's bigger interior displacement.
