Compare the2023 GMC AcadiaVS 2023 Kia Carnival

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 Carnival 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 Kia Carnival 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 Carnival doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

The Acadia offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Carnival doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Acadia AT4’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Carnival doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

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 Carnival 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 Carnival 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, 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 and available around view monitors.

The Acadia’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the Carnival’s (6/100,000 vs. 5/100,000).

There are over 2 times as many GMC dealers as there are Kia 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 a standard 220-amp alternator. The Carnival’s 180-amp alternator isn’t as powerful.

The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 20 more horsepower (310 vs. 290) and 9 lbs.-ft. more torque (271 vs. 262) than the Carnival’s 3.5 DOHC V6.

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

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

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Acadia’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. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The Carnival 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 Carnival (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 Carnival doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

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 Kia Carnival (5). This means the Acadia produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Carnival every 15,000 miles.

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 Carnival.

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 Carnival are solid, not vented.

For better traction, the Acadia AT4’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Carnival (255/65R17 vs. 235/65R17).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Acadia offers optional 20-inch wheels. The Carnival’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 Kia Carnival 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 Carnival doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

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

The GMC Acadia may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 200 pounds less than the Kia Carnival.

The Acadia is 9.6 inches shorter than the Carnival, making the Acadia easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

For excellent aerodynamics, the Acadia has standard flush composite headlights. The Carnival has recessed headlights that spoil its aerodynamic shape and create extra drag.

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 Carnival 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 Carnival doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Pulling a handle automatically lowers the Acadia’s second row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Carnival doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

Maximum trailer towing in the Kia Carnival 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 Carnival 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 (except SLE) offers an available heads-up display that projects speed in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Carnival doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Acadia’s front power windows lower with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside of the car. The Carnival’s standard power windows’ passenger windows don’t open automatically.

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 Carnival doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system.

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

The Acadia SLT/AT4/Denali’s standard rear view mirror and optional side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Carnival offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

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 Carnival EX/SX/Prestige.

The GMC Acadia outsold the Kia Carnival/Sedona by over three to one during the 2021 model year.