Review: Holden Acadia (2018-20)

Overview

Released in Australia in October 2018, the Holden Acadia was a large, seven-seat SUV. Manufactured at General Motors’ Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee, USA, the front- or all-wheel drive Holden Acadia was powered by a 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine that was mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission. As per the table below, the Holden Acadia range consisted of LT, LTZ and LTZ-V variants.

To reduce fuel consumption, the 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine featured:

• A Stop/Start function that would shut down the engine when the Acadia was stationary in traffic; and,
• Active Fuel Management (AFM) which could shut down two of the engine’s cylinders under low loads or when coasting

For front- and all-wheel drive models, fuel consumption for the Holden Acadia over the combined ADR 81/02 test cycle was 8.9 L/100 km and 9.3 L/100 km, respectively. Furthermore, the Acadia had a maximum braked towing capacity of 2000 kg.

The Acadia was produced by General Motors’ GMC brand, but was badged as a Holden for the Australian market. Although the GMC Acadia went on sale in the USA in 2016, the Australian launch did not occur until 2018 due to the later production of right-hand drive vehicles.

All-wheel drive system

All variants of the Holden Acadia were available with an on-demand all-wheel drive (AWD) system. As such, drive was directed to the front wheels in normal conditions. If, however, there was a loss of traction – or such as loss was anticipated – then a clutch pack could engage to direct up to 50 per cent of the engine’s torque to the rear axle. Furthermore, the all-wheel drive system could decouple the driveshaft from the transaxle when the vehicle was in its front-wheel drive mode and coasting to eliminate the effect of engine braking.

For the all-wheel drive Holden Acadia, the driver could select from the following drive modes:

• 2×4 (front wheel drive only);
• 4×4 (on-demand all-wheel drive);
• Sport (understood to more readily engage all-wheel drive when accelerating);
• Off Road (understood to more readily engage all-wheel drive to improve traction); and,
• Trailer/Tow.

Body and dimensions

Underpinned by General Motors’ C1XX platform, the Holden Acadia was 4979 mm long, 1916 mm wide, 1762 mm tall (including roof rails) and had a 2857 mm long wheelbase. Front-wheel drive Holden Acadias had unladen masses of 1860 to 1897 kg; the all-wheel drive models, however, were 88 kg heavier.

The Holden Acadia had a luggage capacity of 362 litres behind the third row seats and 1181 litres behind the second row seats when the third row seats are folded flat. The second row seats could also fold flat.

Suspension and steering

The Holden Acadia had MacPherson strut front suspension and independent, five-link rear suspension. Unique within the range, the Acadia LTZ-V had electronically-controlled dampers which continually adjust to road conditions and driver behaviour (‘FlexRide Adaptive Suspension’).

The Holden Acadia had rack-and-pinion steering with electric power assistance; its turning circle was 11.8 metres.

Safety equipment

Standard safety equipment for the Holden Acadia included dual front airbags, a driver’s knee airbag, front seat-mounted airbags, full-length curtain airbags (i.e. for all three rows of seats), ABS, electronic brake force distribution, brake assist, electronic stability control, traction control and front seatbelts with pre-tensioners and load limiters.

As standard, the Holden Acadia was also equipped with the following active safety technologies –

• Forward Collision Alert with pedestrian and bicycle detection and head-up warning: operating at speeds above 8 km/h, the driver would be warned by an audible alarm, visual warning in the instrument cluster and projection onto the windscreen if the distance to a vehicle or pedestrian that was in front of the Acadia decreased such that there was a collision risk;
• Low Speed Forward Automatic Braking: operating at speeds between 8 km/h and 60 km/h, Low Speed Forward Automatic Braking would provide autonomous emergency braking (AEB) if the driver did not respond to collision warnings and the collision risk persisted;
• Following Distance Indicator: displayed the following time to the vehicle ahead to help prevent drivers from following too closely;
• Side Blind Zone Alert: would issue alerts if a vehicle was in the driver’s blind spot;
• Lateral Impact Avoidance: monitored the driver’s blind spot for vehicles and, if a vehicle was detected, would provide steering assistance to prevent the driver from changing lanes;
• Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning: would monitor the vehicle’s position within its lane and, if lane markings were crossed, would issue alerts and steer the vehicle back into its lane;
• Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA): when the vehicle was reversing, RCTA would issue alerts if it detected approaching traffic which may cross the vehicle’s intended path;
• Automatic High Beam Assist: would automatically turn the vehicle’s high beam headlamps on and off according to surround traffic;
• Haptic Safety Seat Alert: would vibrate the driver’s seat as part of the alerts described above to warn of potential hazards whilst driving;
• Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) with Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR): would issue an alert if the driver exceeded the speed limit (ISA) and could interpret speed limit signs and display this information in the instrument cluster (TSR).

The Holden Acadia LTZ-V was further equipped with:

• Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with Stop/Go Function: when cruise control was active, ACC enabled the vehicle to automatically brake or accelerate to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle ahead without exceeding the cruising speed. The Stop/Go Function enabled the vehicle to brake until it was stationary and then accelerate once the traffic ahead began to clear; and,
• Forward Automatic Braking: unlike Low Speed Forward Automatic Braking (described above), the Forward Automatic Braking system for the Acadia LTZ-V operated at speeds above 60 km/h.

ANCAP safety testing

In ANCAP safety testing , the Holden Acadia received a five star safety rating which included a 94 per cent adult occupant protection and an 87 per cent child occupant protection rating. In the frontal offset, protection of the front occupants was generally rated as good, though chest and lower left leg protection for the driver was rated as adequate (i.e. a slight risk of serious injury). Maximum points were awarded in the side impact test; in the more severe pole test, however, chest protection was rated as adequate.

Wheels, tyres and brakes

The Holden Acadia LT and LTZ had 18 x 7.5J alloy wheels (in Bright Silver and Midnight Silver, respectively) with 235/65 R18 tyres. The Holden Acadia LTZ-V, however, had 20 x 8.0J alloy wheels with 235/55 R20 tyres

The Holden Acadia had 321 mm by 30 mm ventilated front brake discs and 315 mm by 23 mm solid rear discs.

Features: Holden Acadia LT

The standard infotainment system for the Holden Acadia consisted of a six speaker sound system, a digital radio tuner (DAB+), an eight-inch colour touchscreen with navigation, Bluetooth mobile phone connectivity, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration, and USB ports in all three rows. The Holden Acadia also had Active Noise Cancellation which used microphones to detect ambient noise and would then emit reverse phase audio signals through the sound system to counteract them.

Beyond this, standard features for the Holden Acadia LT included Jet Black cloth trim, a six-way manually adjustable front seats, three-zone climate control air conditioning, cruise control, halogen headlamps with dusk-sensing function, LED daytime running lamps, rear parking sensors (‘Rear Park Assist’), a rear view camera, a 360 degree camera system, a leather wrapped steering wheel and gear knob, 60:40 split folding second row seats, 50:50 split folding third row seats, remote central locking with proximity key (i.e. keyless entry), power adjustable and heated door mirrors, power windows, a height and reach adjustable steering column, rear privacy glass, push-button start, an electric park brake, 12 volt power sockets (front and cargo area), a trip computer with a 4.2-inch colour display, an alarm and immobiliser.

The Holden Acadia also had ‘Hitch Guidance with Hitch View’, which used the rear view camera to help the driver line the vehicle up when connecting to a trailer.

Features: Holden Acadia LTZ

Compared to the Acadia LT, the Acadia LTZ was further equipped with perforated leather-appointed seat trim, a ten-way power adjustable driver’s seat, an eight-way power adjustable front passenger seat, heated front seats, front fog lamps, rain-sensing wipers, front parking sensors, an auto-dimming interior rear view mirror and driver’s side door mirror, wireless charging for compatible devices and a hands-free power tailgate. Visually, the Acadia LTZ could be identified by its silver roof rails since the Acadia LT had black roof rails.

The Holden Acadia LTZ and LTZ-V were also equipped with ‘Advanced Park Assist’ which included –

• Automatic Parking Assist: could steer the vehicle into parallel and perpendicular parking spaces while the driver controlled vehicle speed; and,
• Front and Rear Park Assist: at speeds below 8 km/h, Front and Rear Park Assist could provide distance-to-object alerts to assist the driver when parking.

Features: Holden Acadia LTZ-V

The range-topping Holden Acadia LTZ-V was distinguished by its eight speaker Bose audio system with amplifier and subwoofer, ‘premium’ perforated leather-appointed seat trim, a ten-way power adjustable front passenger seat, ventilated front seats, xenon headlights, dual-panel power sunroof and eight-inch ‘Driver Information Display’. Visual cues for the Holden LTZ-V included bright aluminium roof rails and square exhaust tips.

Brochure

• Brochure: Holden Acadia (October 2018)