Compare the2023 GMC AcadiaVS 2024 Honda Pilot

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 Pilot 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 Honda Pilot 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 Pilot doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

The Acadia has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. Only the Pilot Sport/EX-L/TrailSport/Touring/Elite/Black Edition offers a blind spot warning system.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Acadia has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert, helping the driver avoid collisions. Only the Pilot Sport/EX-L/TrailSport/Touring/Elite/Black Edition offers Cross Traffic Monitor.

Both the Acadia and the Pilot 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, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The Acadia’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the Pilot’s (6 vs. 5 years).

There are over 56 percent more GMC dealers than there are Honda dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Acadia’s warranty.

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the Acadia’s engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the Pilot’s camshafts. If the Pilot’s belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Acadia has a standard 660-amp battery. The Pilot’s 650-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Acadia third among upper midsize suvs in their 2023 Initial Quality Study. The Pilot isn’t in the top three.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that GMC vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks GMC above average in initial quality. With 23 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is rated lower.

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 Honda With 38 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks GMC higher than Honda.

The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 25 more horsepower (310 vs. 285) and 9 lbs.-ft. more torque (271 vs. 262) than the Pilot’s 3.5 DOHC V6.

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

Regenerative brakes improve the Acadia 2.0 Turbo’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Pilot doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The Acadia FWD’s standard fuel tank has almost a gallon more fuel capacity than the Pilot (19.4 vs. 18.5 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 3.2 gallons more fuel capacity than the Pilot (21.7 vs. 18.5 gallons).

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 Pilot are solid, not vented.

The Acadia stops much shorter than the Pilot:

The GMC Acadia’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Honda Pilot only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

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

The Acadia has variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Pilot doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

The Acadia Denali AWD handles at .85 G’s, while the Pilot Elite pulls only .84 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Acadia SLT AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1 seconds quicker than the Pilot TrailSport (26.9 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 27.9 seconds @ .66 average G’s).

The Acadia is 6.5 inches shorter than the Pilot, making the Acadia easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Acadia easier. The Acadia’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 32 inches, while the Pilot’s liftover is 33.2 inches.

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

The Acadia uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Pilot 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.

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 Pilot doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system.

The Acadia’s standard Keyless Open and Start allow you to unlock the doors from any outside door handle, unlock the cargo door, and start the engine, all without removing the key from the pocket or purse. Push Button Start and Smart Entry standard on the Pilot doesn’t offer a sensor on the rear doors, so you’ll have to reach a front handle to unlock the rear door. Push Button Start and Smart Entry is not available on the Pilot Touring/Elite/Black Edition.

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

The Acadia’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Honda only offers heated mirrors on the Pilot EX-L/TrailSport/Touring/Elite/Black Edition.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the GMC Acadia will be $164 to $2449 less than for the Honda Pilot.

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