Compare the2023 GMC AcadiaVS 2023 Hyundai Palisade

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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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 Palisade doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

For enhanced safety, the front shoulder belts of the GMC Acadia are height-adjustable, and the 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 Hyundai Palisade doesn’t offer comfort guides on its middle seat belts.

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 Palisade doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

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

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the GMC Acadia is safer than the Hyundai Palisade:

	Acadia	Palisade
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Neck Compression	29 lbs.	42 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the GMC Acadia is safer than the Hyundai Palisade:

	Acadia	Palisade
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Hip Force	243 lbs.	303 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	36 G’s	45 G’s

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Warranty

There are over 2 times as many GMC dealers as there are Hyundai dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Acadia’s warranty.

Reliability

To reliably power the ignition and other systems and to recharge the battery, the Acadia has a standard 220-amp alternator. The Palisade’s 180-amp alternator isn’t as powerful.

Engine

The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 19 more horsepower (310 vs. 291) and 9 lbs.-ft. more torque (271 vs. 262) than the Palisade’s 3.8 DOHC V6.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Acadia gets better mileage than the Palisade:

			MPG
Acadia
	FWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	22 city/29 hwy
	AWD	3.6 DOHC V6	19 city/26 hwy
		2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	22 city/27 hwy
Palisade
	FWD	3.8 DOHC V6	19 city/27 hwy
	AWD	3.8 DOHC V6	19 city/25 hwy

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Acadia’s fuel efficiency. The Palisade doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

Regenerative brakes improve the Acadia 2.0 Turbo’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Palisade doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

Both the Acadia and the Palisade have a standard automatic start/stop engine feature to stop unnecessary fuel waste and pollution at stoplights and heavy traffic. All Acadia’s have a standard disable switch for the system, so a driver can keep the engine from shutting off when the vehicle stops temporarily. A disable switch costs extra on the Palisade.

The Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 2.9 gallons more fuel capacity than the Palisade (21.7 vs. 18.8 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 Palisade doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the GMC Acadia higher (6 to 7 out of 10) than the Hyundai Palisade (5). This means the Acadia produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Palisade every 15,000 miles.

Transmission

A nine-speed automatic is standard on the GMC Acadia, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only an eight-speed automatic is available for the Palisade.

Brakes and Stopping

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 Palisade are solid, not vented.

The Acadia stops shorter than the Palisade:

	Acadia	Palisade
70 to 0 MPH	173 feet	182 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	126 feet	129 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Acadia AT4’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Palisade (255/65R17 vs. 245/60R18).

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

Suspension and Handling

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 Palisade’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 Palisade doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

The Acadia Denali AWD handles at .85 G’s, while the Palisade SEL AWD pulls only .80 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Acadia SLT AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.4 seconds quicker than the Palisade Limited AWD (26.9 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 28.3 seconds @ .63 average G’s).

Chassis

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 Palisade 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 Palisade doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Ergonomics

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Acadia’s available exterior PIN entry system. The Palisade doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its Blue Link can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

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 Palisade SE/SEL/XRT’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

The Acadia has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Palisade SEL/Limited/Calligraphy.

Economic Advantages

Insurance will cost less for the Acadia owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Acadia will cost $740 less than the Palisade over a five-year period.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Acadia is less expensive to operate than the Palisade because it costs $36 less to do the manufacturer’s suggested maintenance for 50,000 miles. Typical repairs cost less on the Acadia than the Palisade, including $39 less for a water pump, $95 less for a muffler, $33 less for a starter, $85 less for fuel injection, $73 less for a fuel pump, $101 less for front struts and $75 less for a power steering pump.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the GMC Acadia will be $199 to $737 less than for the Hyundai Palisade.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the GMC Acadia and the Hyundai Palisade, based on reliability, safety and performance.