Compare the2018 GMC AcadiaVS 2018 Audi Q5

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 Audi Q5 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 Q5 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 Q5 doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

Both the Acadia and the Q5 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, 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’s powertrain warranty covers the Acadia 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Audi covers the Q5. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Q5 ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

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). Audi only pays for the first scheduled maintenance visit on the Q5.

There are almost 6 times as many GMC dealers as there are Audi dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Acadia’s warranty.

To reliably power the ignition and other systems and to recharge the battery, the Acadia has larger alternators than the Q5:

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Acadia has a standard 660-amp battery. The Q5’s 420-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2017 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that GMC vehicles are better in initial quality than Audi vehicles. J.D. Power ranks GMC 16th in initial quality. With 16 more problems per 100 vehicles, Audi is ranked 26th.

The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 58 more horsepower (310 vs. 252) than the Q5’s 2.0 turbo 4 cyl.

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 Q5 doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the GMC Acadia uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Q5 requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost 20 to 55 cents more per gallon.

The Acadia FWD’s standard fuel tank has almost a gallon more fuel capacity than the Q5 (19.4 vs. 18.5 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 3.2 gallons more fuel capacity than the Q5 (21.7 vs. 18.5 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 Q5 doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The Acadia stops much shorter than the Q5:

The GMC Acadia’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Audi Q5 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 Q5 doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Acadia’s wheelbase is 1.5 inches longer than on the Q5 (112.5 inches vs. 111 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Acadia is .9 inches wider in the front and 1.2 inches wider in the rear than on the Q5.

The Acadia Denali AWD handles at .85 G’s, while the Q5 Premium Plus pulls only .81 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

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 Q5 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 Q5 doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Acadia has standard seating for 7 passengers; the Q5 can only carry 5.

The Acadia has 1.7 inches more front shoulder room, .3 inches more rear headroom, 1.9 inches more rear legroom and 2.2 inches more rear shoulder room than the Q5.

The Acadia’s cargo area provides more volume than the Q5.

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 Q5 doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

The Acadia (except SL/SLE)’s optional easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Q5 doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Acadia has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the Q5 only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

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 Q5 doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

The Acadia is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Q5 doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Acadia is less expensive to operate than the Q5 because typical repairs cost much less on the Acadia than the Q5, including $229 less for a water pump, $277 less for a muffler, $344 less for a starter, $155 less for fuel injection, $83 less for a fuel pump and $252 less for front struts.

The GMC Acadia outsold the Audi Q5 by almost two to one during 2017.