Compare the2023 GMC AcadiaVS 2023 Audi Q5

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Model Availability
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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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 Audi Q5 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 Q5 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The GMC Acadia has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Q5 doesn’t offer knee airbags.

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, front seatbelt pretensioners, 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, 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 Audi Q5:

	Acadia	Q5
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	21%	22%
Neck Stress	191 lbs.	215 lbs.
Neck Compression	29 lbs.	44 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 Audi Q5:

	Acadia	Q5
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Hip Force	243 lbs.	279 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	51 G’s	53 G’s
Hip Force	799 lbs.	817 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	14 inches	15 inches

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

Warranty

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.

There are over 5 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.

Reliability

To reliably power the ignition and other systems and to recharge the battery, the Acadia has a standard 220-amp alternator (155-amp - Acadia V6 and 170 V6). The Q5’s standard 110-amp alternator and largest (optional) 150-amp alternator aren’t as powerful.

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 rated the Acadia third among upper midsize suvs in their 2022 Initial Quality Study. The Q5 isn’t in the top three in its category.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 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 above average in initial quality. With 77 more problems per 100 vehicles, Audi is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that GMC vehicles are more reliable than Audi With 40 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks GMC higher than Audi.

Fuel Economy and Range

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Acadia’s fuel efficiency. The Q5 doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

The Acadia FWD’s standard fuel tank has 5.1 gallons more fuel capacity than the Q5 Hybrid’s standard fuel tank (19.4 vs. 14.3 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 3.2 gallons more fuel capacity than the Q5’s standard fuel tank (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.

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 Audi Q5 (5 to 7). This means the Acadia produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Q5 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 a seven-speed automatic is available for the Q5.

Brakes and Stopping

The Acadia stops much shorter than the Q5:

	Acadia	Q5
70 to 0 MPH	173 feet	176 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	126 feet	136 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

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.

Suspension and Handling

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 45 TFSI Premium Plus pulls only .81 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

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 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.

Passenger Space

The Acadia offers optional seating for 7 passengers; the Q5 can only carry 5.

The Acadia has .4 inches more front headroom, .1 inches more front legroom, 1.7 inches more front shoulder room, .3 inches more rear headroom, 1.7 inches more rear legroom and 2.2 inches more rear shoulder room than the Q5.

Cargo Capacity

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

	Acadia	Q5
Third Seat Folded	41.7 cubic feet	n/a
Third Seat Removed	n/a	25.8 cubic feet
Second Seat Folded	79 cubic feet	54 cubic feet

The Acadia’s cargo area is larger than the Q5’s in every dimension:

	Acadia	Q5
Length to seat (3rd/2nd/1st)	18.5”/48”/83”	n.a./36”/69”
Max Width	50”	48.5”
Min Width	42.5”	41”
Height	33”	29.7”

Ergonomics

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.

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 Q5 doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its Audi Connect CARE can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

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 offers an optional 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.

Model Availability

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

Economic Advantages

Insurance will cost less for the Acadia owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Acadia will cost $340 to $3690 less than the Q5 over a five-year period.

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 $240 less for a water pump, $293 less for a muffler, $370 less for a starter, $163 less for fuel injection, $89 less for a fuel pump and $254 less for front struts.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the GMC Acadia will be $11559 to $12456 less than for the Audi Q5.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the GMC Acadia and the Audi Q5, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The GMC Acadia outsold the Audi Q5/SQ5 by 9% during the 2021 model year.