Compare the2018 GMC AcadiaVS 2017 Nissan Murano

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 Murano 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 Nissan Murano 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 Murano 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 Murano doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Acadia SLE/SLT’s optional Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Murano doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

The Acadia (except SL/SLE)’s optional lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane. The Murano doesn’t offer a lane departure warning system.

The Acadia has standard OnStar®, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to get turn-by-turn driving directions, remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Murano doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.

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

The Acadia’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the Murano’s (6 vs. 5 years).

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). Nissan doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Murano.

There are over 59 percent more GMC dealers than there are Nissan 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 Murano’s 550-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2016 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that GMC vehicles are more reliable than Nissan vehicles. J.D. Power ranks GMC fifth in reliability, above the industry average. With 53 more problems per 100 vehicles, Nissan is ranked 27th.

The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 50 more horsepower (310 vs. 260) and 31 lbs.-ft. more torque (271 vs. 240) than the Murano’s 3.5 DOHC V6.

As tested in Motor Trend the GMC Acadia V6 is faster than the Nissan Murano:

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Acadia 4 cyl.’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. (Start/Stop isn’t accounted in present EPA fuel mileage tests.) The Murano doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

The Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 2.7 gallons more fuel capacity than the Murano (21.7 vs. 19 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 Murano doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

For better traction, the Acadia’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Murano (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 Nissan Murano only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

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 Murano’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Acadia’s wheelbase is 1.3 inches longer than on the Murano (112.5 inches vs. 111.2 inches).

The Acadia’s front to rear weight distribution is more even (56.5% to 43.5%) than the Murano’s (58.8% to 41.2%). This gives the Acadia more stable handling and braking.

The Acadia SLT AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Murano Platinum AWD (26.9 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 27.8 seconds @ .64 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the Acadia has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Murano (7.2 vs. 6.9 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 Murano (7.8 vs. 6.9 inches).

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

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

The Acadia has 35.7 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Murano (143.8 vs. 108.1).

The Acadia has .4 inches more front headroom, .5 inches more front legroom, .3 inches more front hip room and 1 inch more rear legroom than the Murano.

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

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 Murano doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its cargo door, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

Maximum trailer towing in the Nissan Murano is limited to 1500 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 Murano doesn’t have a maintenance free battery, so the water level in the battery’s cells must be checked often to prevent damage.

The power windows standard on both the Acadia and the Murano have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Acadia is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Murano prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Acadia’s optional front and rear power windows all lower with one touch of the switches. The Murano’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to lower them fully.

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 Murano S’ 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 Murano doesn’t offer automatic dimming high beams.

The Acadia’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Nissan only offers heated mirrors on the Murano SL/Platinum.

The Acadia SLT/Denali has standard automatic dimming rear and side view mirrors which automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Murano offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

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 Murano 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 Murano because typical repairs cost less on the Acadia than the Murano, including $76 less for a starter, $64 less for fuel injection and $88 less for front struts.

The GMC Acadia outsold the Nissan Murano by 721 units during the 2016 model year.