Compare the2023 GMC AcadiaVS 2023 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Transmission
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
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 Atlas Cross Sport 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 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport 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 Atlas Cross Sport 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 Atlas Cross Sport 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 Atlas Cross Sport doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

Both the Acadia and the Atlas Cross Sport have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact 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, 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 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport:

	Acadia	Atlas Cross Sport
OVERALL STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	285	307
Neck Injury Risk	21%	30%
Neck Stress	191 lbs.	412 lbs.
Neck Compression	29 lbs.	59 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
Chest Compression	.6 inches	.7 inches
Neck Compression	99 lbs.	117 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	210/60 lbs.	297/97 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 post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the GMC Acadia is safer than the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport:

	Acadia	Atlas Cross Sport
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	36 G’s	41 G’s

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 221 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Atlas Cross Sport has not been fully tested, yet.

Warranty

GMC’s powertrain warranty covers the Acadia 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Volkswagen covers the Atlas Cross Sport. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Atlas Cross Sport ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are almost 3 times as many GMC dealers as there are Volkswagen 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 Atlas Cross Sport 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 Volkswagen vehicles. J.D. Power ranks GMC above average in initial quality. With 68 more problems per 100 vehicles, Volkswagen 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 Volkswagen With 25 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks GMC higher than Volkswagen.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that GMC vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks GMC 8 places higher in reliability than Volkswagen.

Engine

The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 34 more horsepower (310 vs. 276) and 5 lbs.-ft. more torque (271 vs. 266) than the Atlas Cross Sport’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Acadia gets better mileage than the Atlas Cross Sport:

			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
Atlas Cross Sport
	FWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	21 city/25 hwy
		3.6 DOHC V6	18 city/24 hwy
	AWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	20 city/24 hwy
		3.6 DOHC V6	18 city/24 hwy

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

The Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 3.1 gallons more fuel capacity than the Atlas Cross Sport (21.7 vs. 18.6 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 Atlas Cross Sport 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 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport (3 to 5). This means the Acadia produces up to 24.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Atlas Cross Sport 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 Atlas Cross Sport.

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 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport 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 Atlas Cross Sport 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 Atlas Cross Sport’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

The Acadia SLT AWD handles at .82 G’s, while the Atlas Cross Sport 4Motion pulls only .78 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Acadia SLT AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Atlas Cross Sport 4Motion (26.9 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 27.8 seconds @ .61 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Acadia’s turning circle is 1.8 feet tighter than the Atlas Cross Sport’s (38.7 feet vs. 40.5 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Acadia has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Atlas Cross Sport 2.0T (7.2 vs. 7.1 inches), allowing the Acadia to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

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 Atlas Cross Sport 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 Atlas Cross Sport doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Passenger Space

The Acadia offers optional seating for 7 passengers; the Atlas Cross Sport can only carry 5.

The Acadia has 31.7 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Atlas Cross Sport (143.8 vs. 112.1).

The Acadia has .6 inches more front headroom and 1.8 inches more rear headroom than the Atlas Cross Sport.

Cargo Capacity

The Acadia’s cargo area provides more volume than the Atlas Cross Sport.

	Acadia	Atlas Cross Sport
Third Seat Folded	41.7 cubic feet	n/a
Third Seat Removed	n/a	40.3 cubic feet
Second Seat Folded	79 cubic feet	77.8 cubic feet

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

Ergonomics

The Acadia (except SLE)’s optional easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Atlas Cross Sport doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

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 Atlas Cross Sport doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

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 Atlas Cross Sport doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its Car-Net 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 Atlas Cross Sport only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

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 Atlas Cross Sport has 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 costs extra on the Atlas Cross Sport.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the GMC Acadia and the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport, based on reliability, safety and performance.

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