Compare the2018 GMC AcadiaVS 2017 Toyota Sienna

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 Sienna 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 Sienna 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 Sienna scores only 3 points and is rated only “Advanced.”

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 Sienna doesn’t offer a lane departure warning system.

The Acadia Denali offers an optional Surround Vision System to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Sienna 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.

Both the Acadia and the Sienna 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, blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the GMC Acadia is safer than the Sienna:

For its top level performance in all IIHS frontal, side, rear impact and roof-crush tests, and with its optional front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Acadia the rating of “Top Pick” for 2017, a rating granted to only 110 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Sienna was not even a “Top Pick” for 2016.

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

There are over 39 percent more GMC dealers than there are Toyota dealers, which makes it 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 Sienna’s 582-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 14 more horsepower (310 vs. 296) and 8 lbs.-ft. more torque (271 vs. 263) than the Sienna’s 3.5 DOHC V6.

As tested in Car and Driver the GMC Acadia V6 is faster than the Toyota Sienna:

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 Sienna doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

The Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 1.7 gallons more fuel capacity than the Sienna (21.7 vs. 20 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 Sienna 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 Sienna are solid, not vented.

The Acadia stops shorter than the Sienna:

For better traction, the Acadia’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Sienna (245/65R17 vs. 235/60R17).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Acadia offers optional 20-inch wheels. The Sienna’s largest wheels are only 19-inches.

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

For superior ride and handling, the GMC Acadia has fully independent front and rear suspensions. An independent suspension allows the wheels to follow the road at the best angle for gripping the pavement, without compromising ride comfort. The Toyota Sienna has a rear torsion beam axle, with a semi-independent rear suspension.

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

The Acadia has variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Sienna doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For greater off-road capability the Acadia has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Sienna (7.2 vs. 6.6 inches), allowing the Acadia to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged. The Acadia All Terrain’s minimum ground clearance is 1.2 inches higher than on the Sienna (7.8 vs. 6.6 inches).

The GMC Acadia may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 350 pounds less than the Toyota Sienna.

The Acadia is 6.6 inches shorter than the Sienna, making the Acadia easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

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 Sienna 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 Sienna doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Acadia has .5 inches more front legroom and 2.1 inches more rear legroom than the Sienna.

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 Sienna 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 Toyota Sienna is limited to 3500 pounds. The Acadia offers up to a 4000 lbs. towing capacity.

The Acadia uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Sienna uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

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 Sienna’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

The Acadia’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. The Sienna L doesn’t offer heated side mirrors.

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

Standard air-conditioned seats in the Acadia Denali keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Sienna doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Acadia is less expensive to operate than the Sienna because typical repairs cost much less on the Acadia than the Sienna, including $125 less for a starter, $81 less for fuel injection, $492 less for a fuel pump, $120 less for front struts and $176 less for a timing belt/chain.