Compare the2018 GMC AcadiaVS 2017 Lexus NX Series

For enhanced safety, the GMC Acadia’s middle seat shoulder belts have child comfort guides to move the belt to properly fit children. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages children to buckle up. The Lexus NX Series doesn’t offer comfort guides on its middle seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Acadia are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The NX Series doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Acadia has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The NX Series doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests front crash prevention systems. With a score of 6 points, IIHS rates the Forward Automatic Braking optional in the Acadia as “Superior.” The NX Series scores only 4 points and is rated only “Advanced.”

The Acadia Denali offers an optional Surround Vision System to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The NX Series only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

Compared to metal, the Acadia’s plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Lexus NX Series has a metal gas tank.

Both the Acadia and the NX Series have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

GMC pays for scheduled maintenance on the Acadia for 2 years and 24,000 miles. GMC will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance (up to 2 oil changes). Lexus only pays for the first scheduled maintenance visit on the NX Series.

There are over 7 times as many GMC dealers as there are Lexus dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Acadia’s warranty.

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Acadia has a standard 660-amp battery. The NX Series’ 580-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 75 more horsepower (310 vs. 235) and 13 lbs.-ft. more torque (271 vs. 258) than the NX 200t’s standard 2.0 turbo 4 cyl.

As tested in Car and Driver the GMC Acadia V6 is faster than the NX 200t:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the GMC Acadia uses regular unleaded gasoline. The NX 200t requires premium, which can cost 20 to 55 cents more per gallon.

The Acadia FWD’s standard fuel tank has 4.6 gallons more fuel capacity than the NX Series Hybrid’s standard fuel tank (19.4 vs. 14.8 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 5.8 gallons more fuel capacity than the NX Series’ standard fuel tank (21.7 vs. 15.9 gallons).

The Acadia has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The NX Series doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The Acadia’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the NX Series are solid, not vented.

The Acadia stops much shorter than the NX Series:

For better traction, the Acadia has larger standard tires than the NX Series (235/65R18 vs. 225/65R17). The Acadia’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the NX Series (245/65R17 vs. 235/55R18).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Acadia offers optional 20-inch wheels. The NX Series’ largest wheels are only 18-inches.

The GMC Acadia’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Lexus NX Series only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

The Acadia has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The NX Series doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Acadia offers an available driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads or off-road. The NX Series’ suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Acadia’s wheelbase is 7.8 inches longer than on the NX Series (112.5 inches vs. 104.7 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Acadia is 2.5 inches wider in the front and 2.5 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the NX Series.

The Acadia Denali AWD handles at .85 G’s, while the NX 200t F Sport AWD pulls only .76 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Acadia SLT AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the NX 300h AWD (26.9 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 27.8 seconds @ .63 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Acadia’s turning circle is 1.1 feet tighter than the NX Series’ (38.7 feet vs. 39.8 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Acadia has a greater minimum ground clearance than the NX 300h (7.2 vs. 6.7 inches), allowing the Acadia to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged. The Acadia All Terrain’s minimum ground clearance is .9 inch higher than on the NX 200t (7.8 vs. 6.9 inches).

The front grille of the Acadia FWD 4 cyl. uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The NX Series doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Acadia uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The NX Series doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

As tested by Car and Driver while cruising at 70 MPH, the interior of the Acadia Denali AWD is quieter than the NX 200t F Sport AWD (68 vs. 69 dB).

The Acadia has standard seating for 7 passengers; the NX Series can only carry 5.

The Acadia has 72.2 cubic feet more passenger volume than the NX Series (143.8 vs. 71.6).

The Acadia has 2.9 inches more front headroom, .6 inches more front hip room, 2.1 inches more front shoulder room, 1.6 inches more rear headroom, 3.6 inches more rear legroom and 3.4 inches more rear shoulder room than the NX Series.

The Acadia’s cargo area provides more volume than the NX Series.

The Acadia’s cargo area is larger than the NX Series’ in almost every dimension:

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Acadia Denali’s cargo door can be opened and closed just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The NX Series doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its cargo door, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

The Acadia’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the NX Series’ (1000 vs. 0 pounds). Maximum trailer towing in the Lexus NX 200t is only 2000 pounds. The Acadia offers up to a 4000 lbs. towing capacity.

The Acadia has a maintenance free battery for long life without checking the battery’s water level. The NX Series doesn’t have a maintenance free battery, so the water level in the battery’s cells must be checked often to prevent damage.

The Acadia offers a remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The NX Series doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

The Acadia’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The NX Series’ standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

While driving with high beams on, sensitive light sensors available for the Acadia (except SL/SLE) detect other vehicles which could be blinded and automatically switch to low beams. The NX Series doesn’t offer automatic dimming high beams.

Both the Acadia and the NX Series offer available heated front seats. The Acadia also offers optional heated second row seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the NX Series.

The Acadia SLT/Denali has a 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The NX Series doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Acadia is less expensive to operate than the NX Series because typical repairs cost much less on the Acadia than the NX Series, including $428 less for a water pump, $44 less for an alternator, $368 less for a starter, $62 less for fuel injection, $67 less for front struts and $155 less for a timing belt/chain.

The GMC Acadia outsold the Lexus NX Series by 59% during the 2016 model year.