Friday 19 October 2018

2019 Holden Acadia pricing and specs

Kez Casey

Road Tester

Holden's seven-seat rival to the Toyota Kluger has finally been priced. Drive-away deals will be offered from launch.

Holden has finally lifted the lid on pricing for the 2019 Acadia, positioned as a rival to petrol-powered family haulers like the Mazda CX-9 and Toyota Kluger.

The new, American-sourced Acadia will arrive with a 3.6-litre V6 engine producing 231kW and 367Nm, connected to a nine-speed automatic, with a choice of front- or all-wheel drive available across the range. There are no plans to add a diesel variant.

From launch, drive-away pricing will see the entry-level Acadia LT 2WD start from $42,990 (list-price is $43,490 plus on-road costs), the mid-grade LTZ 2WD from $53,990 drive-away ($53,490 MRLP), and the flagship LTZ-V from $63,990 drive-away ($63,490 MRLP). Stepping up to all-wheel drive in each trim level adds a further $4000.

Every effort has been made to position the new model as far as possible from the cut-price Captiva which is still running out in Holden dealerships.

To that end, the Acadia has grown meaningfully compared to the unloved, outgoing seven-seater.

It measures a substantial 4979mm from nose to tail, 306mm more than Captiva, while the wheelbase has grown by 306mm to 2857mm. More importantly, the Acadia is 89mm longer than a Toyota Kluger, with a 67mm greater wheelbase.

The petrol V6 engine and nine-speed auto are closely related to the those featured in variants of the ZB Commodore, but minor differences in peak outputs have resulted from changes to intake and exhaust.

Fuel consumption is rated at 8.9L/100km in two-wheel drive versions and 9.3L/100km on all-wheel drive cars. All models feature stop/start and active fuel management – a cylinder deactivation system allowing the engine to run on four cylinders under light loads.

Despite starting life as a model from GMC, the American-designed and built Acadia (sourced from Spring Hill, Tennessee) has undergone a thorough local tuning program at the hands of Holden engineers, who developed bespoke settings for the electric power steering, passive dampers of the LT and LTZ, and adaptive ‘FlexRide’ dampers of the LTZ-V.

Styling differences have been kept to a minimum, with a new Holden grille and tailgate garnish. Inside and out, GMC logos have been replaced with the Holden lion.

The right-hand drive Acadia is a completely factory-built vehicle, with no post-production conversion work carried out. Part of making the car Aussie-ready also involved GM engineering indicators on the right and wipers on the left of the steering column.

The Holden Acadia becomes the first GM vehicle outside of Europe to get a traffic sign recognition system, beating the GMC's own range to the technology. Again, local tuning saw the system calibrated to meet the demands of Australian conditions, including the different school-zone signage used in each state and territory.

Standard features of the entry-level Acadia LT include cloth seat trim, manually-adjusted front seats, 18-inch alloy wheels, remote engine start, tri-zone climate control, passive entry and push-button start, sliding second-row seats, a leather steering wheel and gear knob, auto headlights, express-down power windows on all doors with driver’s express-up, privacy tint, heated exterior mirrors, halogen headlights and LED taillights.

The mid-grade LTZ adds leather seat trim with power-adjustable front seats (10-way driver, eight-way passenger), front seat heating, rain-sensing wipers, auto-dimming mirrors, front fog lamps, wireless phone charging, a hands-free powered tailgate, and 18-inch alloy wheels finished in Midnight Silver.

The flagship LTZ-V comes fully-loaded with adaptive suspension, ‘premium’ soft-grain leather trim, heated and cooled front seats (both 10-way electrically-adjustable), driver's seat and mirror memory, adaptive cruise control with full stop/go functionality and auto speed limiter function, and a dual-panel sunroof.

From the outside the LTZ-V also sets itself apart with 20-inch alloy wheels, body-coloured lower body cladding and wheel arch mouldings, HID headlights, rectangular exhaust tips, and additional brightwork on the rear bumper and roof rails.

No matter the model a 2000kg rated tow bar comes pre-installed, with tow ball load rated at 200kg with the factory towing kit.

All variants also come standard with a new 8.0-inch infotainment system with satellite navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, DAB+, Bluetooth, active noise cancellation, and a revised user interface that promises to be easier to use, including voice inputs designed to better work with run-on Aussie accents.

LT and LTZ feature a six-speaker audio system, while LTZ-V upgrades to eight Bose speakers. The cabin features five 2.1-amp USB ports

On the safety front, all models come with autonomous emergency braking including pedestrian and cyclist detection (low-speed on LT and LTZ and all-speed on LTZ-V), blind-spot alert with lateral impact avoidance, lane-keep assist with lane departure warning, rear cross-traffic alert, electronic stability control and traffic sign recognition.

Dual front, side, and full length curtain airbags, plus a diver knee airbag, 2x ISOFIX and 5x top-tether child seat mounts, trailer sway control, reverse camera, rear park sensors and Holden’s haptic alert seat that vibrates beneath the driver rather than via a warning chime is also present on all grades.

The Acadia LTZ adds front park sensors and Advanced Park Assist semi-autonomous self parking, while the LTZ-V also adds a high-definition 360-degree camera system.

Pilot-build cars are available at Holden dealers nationally as the brand rolls out a test-drive program ahead of full-scale stock arriving mid-November. In addition to introductory drive away pricing, orders placed before November 11 will also receive a $1000 gift card.