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 QX55 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 Infiniti QX55 has only front height-adjustable 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 QX55 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 QX55 doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
Both the Acadia and the QX55 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, 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 Infiniti QX55:
|
Acadia |
QX55 |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
285 |
384 |
Neck Injury Risk |
21% |
36% |
Neck Stress |
191 lbs. |
439 lbs. |
Neck Compression |
29 lbs. |
95 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
129/383 lbs. |
983/651 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
4 Stars |
4 Stars |
Chest Compression |
.6 inches |
1.2 inches |
Neck Stress |
203 lbs. |
219 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
210/60 lbs. |
452/534 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its top level performance in all IIHS frontal, side, rear impact and roof-crush tests, and its standard front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Acadia the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2017, a rating granted to only 205 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The QX55 has not been tested, yet.