Compare the2023 GMC AcadiaVS 2023 Audi Q7

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Transmission
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 Q7 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 Q7 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 Q7 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 Q7 doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

Both the Acadia and the Q7 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 Q7:

	Acadia	Q7
OVERALL STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	21%	25%
Neck Compression	29 lbs.	37 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
Chest Compression	.6 inches	.7 inches
Neck Injury Risk	43%	44%

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

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the GMC Acadia is safer than the Q7:

	Acadia	Q7
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Restraints	GOOD	GOOD
Head Neck Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Head injury index	176	225
Peak Head Forces	0 G’s	0 G’s
Chest Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Max Chest Compression	19 cm	30 cm
Hip & Thigh Evaluation	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Femur Force R/L	.2/.1 kN	5.5/.1 kN
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L	0%/0%	4%/0%
Lower Leg Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD

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 Q7:

	Acadia	Q7
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	125	187
Hip Force	243 lbs.	350 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	276	337
Spine Acceleration	51 G’s	62 G’s
Hip Force	799 lbs.	888 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	36 G’s	40 G’s

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 Q7. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Q7 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

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Acadia third among upper midsize suvs in their 2022 Initial Quality Study. The Q7 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.

Engine

The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 49 more horsepower (310 vs. 261) than the Q7 45 TFSI’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Acadia gets better mileage than the Q7:

			MPG
Acadia
	FWD	3.6 DOHC V6	19 city/27 hwy
		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
Q7
	AWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	19 city/25 hwy
		3.0 turbo V6 Hybrid	18 city/22 hwy

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Acadia’s fuel efficiency. The Q7 doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the GMC Acadia uses regular unleaded gasoline (premium recommended with the 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder engine for maximum performance). The Q7 requires premium, which can cost 20 to 55 cents more per gallon.

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 Q7 doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

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 Q7.

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 Q7 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 Q7 doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Acadia has a standard space-saver spare tire so you can replace a flat tire and drive to have the flat repaired or replaced. A spare tire isn’t available on the Q7; it requires you to depend on its run-flat tires, which limits mileage and speed before they are repaired. If a run-flat is damaged beyond repair by a road hazard your vehicle will have to be towed. Some tire options on the Q7 don’t have a run-flat feature, either.

Suspension and Handling

For better maneuverability, the Acadia’s turning circle is 2.3 feet tighter than the Q7’s (38.7 feet vs. 41 feet).

Chassis

The GMC Acadia may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 550 to 650 pounds less than the Audi Q7.

The Acadia is 5.9 inches shorter than the Q7, making the Acadia easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

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 Q7 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 Q7 doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Passenger Space

The Acadia has .1 inches more front headroom, .8 inches more rear headroom, .9 inches more rear legroom, .2 inches more rear shoulder room, 1.3 inches more third row headroom, .5 inches more third row legroom and 4.9 inches more third row shoulder room than the Q7.

Cargo Capacity

The Acadia’s cargo area provides more volume than the Q7.

	Acadia	Q7
Third Seat Folded	41.7 cubic feet	37.5 cubic feet
Second Seat Folded	79 cubic feet	69.6 cubic feet

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 Q7 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 Q7 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 Q7 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 Q7 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 $2635 to $5385 less than the Q7 over a five-year period.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Acadia is less expensive to operate than the Q7 because typical repairs cost much less on the Acadia than the Q7, including $389 less for a muffler, $671 less for a starter, $472 less for fuel injection, $554 less for front struts and $267 less for a timing belt/chain.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the GMC Acadia will be $24643 to $27406 less than for the Audi Q7.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the GMC Acadia and the Audi Q7, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The GMC Acadia outsold the Audi Q7/SQ7 by over two to one during the 2021 model year.