Compare the2018 GMC AcadiaVS 2017 Lexus RX Series

The Acadia Denali’s optional pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The RX Series doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

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 RX 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 RX 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 RX Series doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

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

The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 2 more horsepower (310 vs. 308) than the RX 450h’s standard 3.5 DOHC V6 hybrid.

As tested in Motor Trend the GMC Acadia V6 is faster than the RX 450h:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the GMC Acadia uses regular unleaded gasoline. The RX 450h requires premium, which can cost 20 to 55 cents more per gallon.

The Acadia FWD’s standard fuel tank has 2.2 gallons more fuel capacity than the RX Series Hybrid’s standard fuel tank (19.4 vs. 17.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 2.5 gallons more fuel capacity than the RX Series’ standard fuel tank (21.7 vs. 19.2 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 RX Series doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

For better traction, the Acadia’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the RX Series (245/65R17 vs. 235/65R18).

The GMC Acadia’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Lexus RX 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 RX Series doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Acadia’s wheelbase is 2.7 inches longer than on the RX Series (112.5 inches vs. 109.8 inches).

The Acadia SLT AWD handles at .82 G’s, while the RX 450h AWD pulls only .78 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Acadia SLT AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the RX 450h AWD (26.9 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 27.5 seconds @ .65 average G’s).

The GMC Acadia may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 250 to 350 pounds less than the Lexus RX Series.

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 RX 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 RX Series doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

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

The Acadia has .9 inches more front headroom, 1.6 inches more front shoulder room, .5 inches more rear headroom, 1.7 inches more rear legroom and 1.1 inches more rear shoulder room than the RX Series.

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

The Acadia’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the RX Series’ (1000 vs. 0 pounds). Maximum trailer towing in the Lexus RX Series is only 3500 pounds. The Acadia offers up to a 4000 lbs. towing capacity.

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 RX Series’ standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Insurance will cost less for the Acadia owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Acadia will cost $570 less than the RX Series over a five-year period.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Acadia is less expensive to operate than the RX Series because typical repairs cost much less on the Acadia than the RX Series, including $729 less for a water pump, $584 less for an alternator, $376 less for a starter, $57 less for fuel injection, $14 less for front struts and $555 less for a timing belt/chain.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the GMC Acadia will be $7915 to $8807 less than for the Lexus RX Series.