The Acadia, won't it compete with the Yukon? I've never seen a car company make models to compete with itself.
It looks like GM learned their lesson on that one. GM turned down the new idea to build a minivan because they figured it would hurt their profitable station wagon sales. Chrysler brought one out and Wagon sales dumped.
Yukon sales will go down but GM sees that the future of the Yukon is numbered at the volumes it was getting. Better to have the Yukoner's buying Acadias than some other companies. They have killed the Trailblazer XL's and right now there is no future for the regular Trailblazer.
ohh I get ya..I figured their only reason would be to have a crossover-type and a truck driving..some people may opt for a truck feel, I guess. Sucks that I need an SUV so soon, 08 seems like an amazing year.
Got my GMC magazine today. It says Acadia's available to drive at dealers January 2007. I wonder if they will be called 2008 models as the Enclave is going to be?
i just want to say that 80% of anyone wanting Outcadia is willing to wait. People saying if it doesn't come in 3 weeks I'm getting Pilot (seriously, no offense) isn't really that interested. i won't hide the fact that I almost can't wait to see them on the lot, but i wouldn't want GM to messsomething up rushing (like I read in the paper hapened with the PS3) so guys let em do what they gotta do.if you really can't wait, then go get your MDXC90slade.
Considering that was towards me, i'll just answer. It has nothing to do with being interested, it has to do with NEEDING a vehicle in a certain time frame..
A lot of Yukon/XL buyers won't be happy with 4500lbs towing capacity to move their boats, horse trailers, etc. As another poster stated, the Lambdas will affect owners of Trailblazer EXTs like myself that have to have the third row for the kiddies but want better gas mileage or smaller form factor than Tahoe/Yukon.
You gatta do what you gotta do. However, I think the Lambdas are worthy and warrant a test drive before you buy that Pilot. So, If push comes to shove, I'd beg, barrow or steal a vehilce, or get an extension on that lease(what ever it takes) for a few weeks or a month... to test drive that Acadia/Outlook first. If My 'Ugly' breaks in half, then that is what I would do. Good luck and hang in there, as you will most probably find this a good choice from all indications. I'll be test driving too.
It says Acadia's available to drive at dealers January 2007. I wonder if they will be called 2008 models as the Enclave is going to be?
Good point. If you go to their site though they have it as 2007. I would have thunk that they could have delayed shipping 4 weeks so they could have called it a 2008. Maybe they need the sales and profits ASAP!!!
So I gues my post 711 may end being more accurate the what the GM "insiders" here were saying. Of course if there is one Acadia at one dealer in the US, then I guess they'd be right
I'm not sure how the Outlook/Acadia will be at the dealers by Dec, when according to this article, production starts in Dec, advertising begins in Jan, so I'd assume that they'd hit the dealers in Feb. What article were you quoting?
"GM plans to launch the advertising for the Outlook and the Acadia in late January, Jackson said. Production starts in early December. Enclave production starts in March or April"
I'm not sure how the Outlook/Acadia will be at the dealers by Dec, when according to this article, production starts in Dec, advertising begins in Jan, so I'd assume that they'd hit the dealers in Feb.
I wouldn't necesarily assume that advertising begins before vehicles are on the dealers lot, which it seems you are doing. I would think that GM would want cars on dealer lots before they start advertising them heavily. Who wants to see an ad and then not see the vehicle?
I was assuming that production (starting in Dec according to the article) would occur before seeing the cars on a dealer's lot. I've seen previous posts indicating that the Acadia would be on the dealer's lots by early December. I'm not sure how long it takes to build and deliver an Acadia, but I'd think if production started sometime in December, it would be at least a month after that to actually start seeing the Acadia's showing up on dealer's lots, which would be mid-January at the earliest, or sometime in Feb being conservative.
Production already started on Acadia/Outlook this week. I am not quoting articles. It will take a few weeks to assure quality and ship to dealerships.
Advertising is starting in january when there will be sufficient stock. Lately GM has been thumped because they started advertising before product was at dealerships (i.e. Solstice/G6)
Since you obviously work in the factory making the Acadias, you're saying that production started this week and they'll be at the dealers in a few weeks. So from the time production begins to actual dealer delivery is three weeks, if you figure a week for delivery that means they're building an Acadia in two weeks...seems pretty quick but what do I know.
I do not work in the factory. I have worked in numerous factories and elsewhere though (retired). Production started on approximately Nov 12 and was shown on TV. I believe that they will have units at dealers mid December. That is about 5 weeks. Plenty of time if there are no major startup issues.
MILFORD PROVING GROUNDS - To judge the Buick-ness of the upcoming Enclave crossover vehicle, General Motors turned to a jury.
Not just a jury of the Enclave's competitive peers.
A jury of ears.
"Enclave is one of the quietest crossovers on the road," said Anna Kretz, vehicle line executive for GM's front-wheel-drive trucks.
"The result of (our) rigorous engineering approach is a whisper-quiet cabin that will allow first-row passengers to actually converse with third-row occupants as well as reduce the overall feeling of fatigue when traveling on long trips."
Buick officials showed off some of the sound technology and engineering Thursday behind the Enclave's library-like interior at testing facilitieshere. That included a specially-built "jury room" at GM's Milford Proving Grounds.
The jury room looks much like you would expect: Wood paneling. Sound-deadening fabric flat panels. A wrap-around conference table. Seats for a dozen or more people.
But instead of a jury foreman at the head of the U-shaped table, there was a human-shaped head-and-shoulders device known as an Aachen HEAD, with microphones instead of ears. Using that device, nicknamed Snow White, Buick engineers went out and digitally recorded cabin noise over various roads and at various speeds, to compare Enclave against other upscale competition.
Back in the jury room, engineers - and journalists - donned high-end headphones to compare short bursts of sound from the Enclave and its competition, back-to-back.
In each case, the vote was always, or nearly, unanimous: The interior sound quality and levels in the Enclave beat the competition, earmuffs down.
Unveiled as a concept at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Enclave has many local links.
Its 3.6-liter high-feature, 275-horsepower V-6 engine will be built on a new production line at GM's Flint Engine South, and the vehicle will be assembled at the new Lansing/Delta Township plant where many Genesee County residents work. It's scheduled to go on sale next summer.
Other vehicles slated for production at Lansing/Delta include the GMC Acadia and the Saturn Outlook crossover vehicles. Pricing for the Enclave has not been announced.
I have not owned a GM car or truck since the early 90's. My fear with this quiet interior is that it will only accentuate whatever intermittent rattles and squeaks that are present. I was never impressed with the inerior quality of GM vehicles, so they have to overcome my bias in that area since rattles and squeaks drive me crazy.
The Enclave Concept had a great interior and the production model is said to be close since they are going for the more upscale crossovers like the MDX, R-Class, Q7, etc.
Fear and Bias is a heard thing to overcome. But I can say that my Ugly, a 1997 base 4cyl Caravan with roll up windows (all I could afford at the time), has been in my posession for 121 months now. It also has 119,000 miles...no rattles and no squeaks...promise! Point is, I positively believe that the Lambdas which will drive much much closer to a sedan/van than a truck, should relieve those insecurities for you. Remember, my vehilce is a base unit(one of those "2 at this price" dudes)with little attributes(ie. sound sensitive engineering)and believe any of these Lambdas should not be a noisy concern. Since I tend to keep vehicles for 10 years, noise is my least concern in my next purchase...which I do intend to keep for another 10 years.
I guess I'll stop stating facts and making objective comments and comparisons to other vehicles
You are so overprotective of the Freestyle! You act like we're saying it'a piece of crap and you should get an "almighty Lambda." I stated some correct information, and you had a total attitude, like you knew it all even though I was correct. And yes it is negative the way you talk about that guy! If he says that he sat in 3rd row of acadia,with seat all the way back and it was more comftorable than in Freestyle, than he's right in is oppinion, and you shouldn't analize. He's wasn't bashing ford. He was just helping us out with a his totally legal(probably true) oppinion. Though some don't, You like your Freestyle. But don't take it out on us! This is how you get negative response. on a second ground, PIG, you shouldn't just go for lambdas. You should be expecting quality. (though i don't remember if this was you) If your doing this just to support GM, then don't. GM doesn't want charity. THey want to sell cars because they are good. You should expect qualities like sound proofing. You've been stuck with "ugly" for years (me too) and you shoud not waste your downpayment on crap!
BTW, if you think any car companies want to sell cars because they're good, then that's pretty naive. They're a business and they want to sell cars for profit. And if you don't like someone analyzing another person's post...well that's part of what these forums are for. People make comments or state opinions, and other counter. All cars have good and bad points, so try not to get so defensive when you hear counter arguments. If you notice, the only time I make counter points is when something inaccurate is stated. Someone subjective opinions are just that...their subjective opinions. Nothing wrong with that.
Exterior: VolvoXC90---Freestyle---Acadia Length 189.3 in. 199.8 in. 200.7 in. Width 74.7 in. 74.4 in. 78.2 in. Height 70.2 in. 65.9 in. 72.8 in. Weight 4400 lbs. 4100 lbs. 4722 lbs. (AWD versions all) Wheel Base 112.6 in. 112.9 in. 118.9 in. Ground Clearance 8.9 in. 8 in. 7.4 in.
The Acadia is much wider. The length of the Freesytle vs. Acadia is within 1 inch of each other. However, why is the Acadia gound clearance so low? Also, the Acadia is heavier by about 100 lbs than my F-150 pickup. Is the Acadia made of lead? I guess the taller roof and wider body is the extra weight. On the Acadia's side, the fact that you can get 26 MPG (EPA highway) in an Acadia is amazing; the engine is incredible, although the power is sapped trying to pull that much weight.
why is the Acadia gound clearance so low? Also, the Acadia is heavier by about 100 lbs than my F-150 pickup
Why is the ground clearance so low? Because the interior height is a function of height - ground clearance - structure.
Since I do not know the structure I can only use the first factors and get relative numbers.
XC90.......61.3 Freestyle..57.9 Acadia.....65.4
Acadia will have about 4" more of interior height than the XC 90 and a huge 5.5" more than the Freestyle.
The Acadia is a people/stuff hauler and is BIG. Wider/longer/taller. It is not made for off roading so ground clearance can be lower than SUV's AND lowe ground height should make excellent ingress/egress.
How is interior height defined? In the Freestyle, the floor of the 3rd row is higher then the 2nd, which is a little higher than the 1st, plus the ceiling height varies. It's true that the Acadia will hold a lot more cargo when you start folding the seats than a Freestyle due to the added width and height. Plus the Acadia is designed for heavier towing then the Freestyle, so it needs the bigger engine. The two can be compared, but the Acadia is definitely the big brother of the two!
How is interior height defined? In the Freestyle, the floor of the 3rd row is higher then the 2nd, which is a little higher than the 1st, plus the ceiling height varies.
I have not found a site that gives height from inside floor to inside ceiling. Either it is headroom, which is primarily a factor of seat height, or interior cubic inches. IF the floor pan of the acadia is like a normal minivan ( which I think it is) it will have a flat floor from front to rear. Ceiling height will be relatively flat except for bumps to surround air ducts and such.
It could be. The dimensions can be confusing. For example with max headroom, I'd assume that the seat is in it's lowest position for height adjustable seats. But then you probably get the max legroom if the seat is in the highest position! But I guess some estimate is better then none as long as they measure consistently. It seems like most CUVs/SUVs have pretty much the same front row interior dimensions. It's really the 2nd row and especially 3rd row where you see the differences. And generally there aren't any height adjustments for those rows, so you can more accurately compare (as long as the 1st and 2nd rows are in their most rearward positions.
Like I said I do not have the structure dimensions but made an assumption that they would be similar. Most likely the latest design will have the least amount of structure thickness but, like I said, it was a guess.
Now with your supplied head room numbers I can guess at seat height.
Per the above I can surmise that the rear seat in a Freestyle is pretty uncomfortable or that they have less "structure" than the other two. Actually I think these guess's have gone too far!! We will have to just wait and see. I just think that the Acadia will have the most interior height than any SUV/CUV and approaching minivan dimensions.
Exterior: VolvoXC90---Freestyle---Acadia Length 189.3 in. 199.8 in. 200.7 in. Width 74.7 in. 74.4 in. 78.2 in. Height 70.2 in. 65.9 in. 72.8 in. Weight 4400 lbs. 4100 lbs. 4722 lbs. (AWD versions all) Wheel Base 112.6 in. 112.9 in. 118.9 in. Ground Clearance 8.9 in. 8 in. 7.4 in.
Sat in an Acadia at the Charlotte Auto show today. Some observations:
1. 3rd row is easily accessed by pulling up a lever on the second row seats; the seats move forward and fold up automatically for easy access. 2. Decent legroom in the 3rd row even with the second row seat all the way back (well, I think it was all the way back). My knees were touching the seat just a bit, which could get annoying on a long trip, and since the seat is close to the ground my legs were raised a bit. But overall I was pleased by the amount of room (I'm 5'11") 3. With third row up, again I was pleased at the amount of room behind the third row. Enough for groceries, small suitcases, etc. 4. Quite a bit of hard plastics in the cabin (i.e. the dash, etc.). I would have thought the Acadia would have had more soft plastics, but maybe they are leaving that to the Enclave. 5. Make no mistake, this is a large SUV. There was a Yukon nearby, and this is nearly the same size, although much less boxy. Looks bigger than the new MDX that was also nearby.
Overall not a bad package at all. A little more chunky up close than I expected, will wait for the Enclave/Mazda CX-9 to compare.
"Brother"? Would think the Outlook and the Enclave would take offense of that inference/analogy/comparison, not to mention GM. These vehicles are real handsome and appears a lot more thought went into these than Ford did.
I really doubt there was that much more engineering. Ford and GM both just went searching through the corporate parts bin, but GM learned from Chrysler and Ford's mistakes (not to mention the parts bin was a bit better at the time for GM). The Freestyle isn't ugly. It just lacks style. It's very plain. It's a good vehicle, and it does what it does very well. It just isn't going to turn any heads. They're all tall wagons anyway because they're not good for anything but hauling people and cargo. They can't take you too far off the beaten path.
I'm sure this is a good 'car', but it is a Ford 500- except the wagon version of the 500 sedan. Ford did raise the back half of the 500 wagon roof, so that the 3rd row would allow passengers larger than preteens to fit. Hmmmmm, so if you take an Impala sedan and make a wagon out of it; is it a crossover now. Hmmmmm, maybe Ford should have taken the Crown Victoria and made a wagon out of it and then they would have had a roomier Wagon/oops-crossover. I still think GM put a lot more thought in their designed CUV than Ford did on their wagon(CUV?).
I really doubt there was that much more engineering. Ford and GM both just went searching through the corporate parts bin
Wow, you know a lot more than us!! Which parts on the Acadia are from the parts bin? I guess we could say the powertrain but that sure is normal and everyone does that.
The Freestyle does sacrifice some acceleration (not much, see below) for better fuel economy. The Freestyle 2WD model does 0-60 in 8.2 seconds (Car&Driver mag). The Acadia 2WD model will probably do 0-60 in 7.3 seconds, given its 17.2 lbs/hp vs. the Freestyle's 19.7 lbs/hp. Frankly, I think its wise to give up 1 second 0-60 to get 27 MPG on the highway (Freestyle gets 20/27 city/hiway EPA MPG). My Freestyle gets 27 MPG regularly in high-speed driving.
Replying to #799: I don't see any parts in common with other GM vehicles. Maybe a little from the Buick Rendezvous, however, not sure. The Outlook/Acadia/Enclave are pretty new all around.
My Fault. Had some bad wording there. All automakers want to make a decent name for themselves. Suzuki isn't going to gain alot of sales if someone buys a forenza saying "they deserve a sale" and then complaining down the road to consumer reports that the car sucks (totally random example). Sorry I went a little overboard on that analyzing statement. It's just that the way you said respnded it was like you thought he was bashing the Freestyle. Up til then, you had some good points. but you did make a counter point when I said something correct. Anyway, the acadia's ground clearance is only 7.5 inches? i guess that's not terrible. And it should cut down on gas mileage. 4700 lbs is a bit heavy, but Honda Pilot weighs over 4500(ft shorter). ANd good weight to power ratio (17.1 to hp)in next month's automobile I saw picture of new Volkswagen crossover. Looks good. Lamdas may have some same market competition soon.
replying to #798: The Freestyle is actually based on the Volvo S80/XC-90 platform, re-worked some but retaining the high crashworthiness and structural optimization of the Volvos. Also, here is a little-known fact about the current Freestyle engine: It was originally designed by Porsche, a 24-valve, aluminum, 60 degree V6.
What V Dub crossover is coming out with three rows of seats and as much room and cargo capacity as the Lambdas? I'd guess you're not talking about the Touareg, because although that is a beautiful SUV(the soon to be released one with new chrome grille, Phaeton luxury seats, and 350hp engine looks GREAT), it doesn't really compete in the same class as these vehicles.
I have my doubts that the Acadia hit the low 7 second range. I think it will be more in the high 7's. I know there really isn't a direct comparison, but the new Pacifica gets to 60 in 7.4 seconds with a similar power to weight ratio. It has a flatter torque curve and very agressive 1st and 2nd gears (thus the low city mpg figures).
The Auto Consumer Guide Magazine(Which has no Avertisement) tested the Freestyle 0-60 at 8.7 seconds("felt sluggish on takeoff") and they would be so much less influenced by any manufacturer, than any other auto publisher. That's where I intend to make a large portion of my evaluation from.
ACG also states, "this car-type SUV is a cousin of the Ford 500/Mercury Montego sedans, sharing underskin design originated by Ford-owned Volvo".
All the US Auto Makers are sharing their European mergers' saftey and performance designs. Also I certanly hope we don't go into a diahrea on the keyboards of Porches/MBs/ Volvos/Jaguars/Mitsubishi/Saab/this/that/or/and the other for the next several pages/days. But I feel this coming with some of the Freestyle wagon zealots. I'm convienced this is going to be a GM forum taken over by 'Fordots'.
My son works at the parts feeder plant for the new GM ultra modern assembly plant in Lansing, MI (Delta Township actually), on the West side of Lansing. The parts feeder warehouse is run by Ryder Logistics in Lansing, MI who has the contract. Main warehouse is 1.5M sq ft, addition is 750K sq ft. and is their largest automated warehouse.
GM just produced the first Acadia off the assembly line in Lansing, yesterday I think, Nov 13 or 14, 2006. When I dropped my son off yesterday after lunch, there by the front door in the Parking Lot was a new Acadia, so it could not have been over 1 or 2 days old.
These new SUV's (CUV?) look very nice, esp. compared to the Envoy/Trailblazer, which I thought was ungainly and not well proportioned. I will be very interested in the Buick Enclave, as I have turned into a major Buick fan, now having owned 6 Buicks and before that 4 Mercedes. The Benz's, seemed to break and are now very expensive to fix, compared to the old days. The Buicks seem bullet proof, at least the 5.7L and 3.8L engines. They hit 200K miles without much of a sweat...an alternator around 150K, plus a water pump and you're good to go.
So I hope the Enclave is as nice as it looks on its website.
The is a picture (Mag's guess I would bet) of a new VW crossover in Automobile this month, that is supposedly R-Class size.
I have to say that if the car is anything like the rendering it is going to be awfully beautiful. Now if they put a decent engine and a 6-speed Direct-Shift-Gearbox it would give the Enclave a huge run for its money. We're talking MDX competition here. I think this thing will be above the Acadia and Outlook in price by a significant margin.
Please be careful what you say with this group...your throwing fuel on a fire that your not aware of. I know your relatively new...it'll just get worse if you make some of those kinds of statements. And we want to keep this forum to the primary forum topic/focus as much as possible, as it gets challenging at times. I had to learn the hard way...please trust me; I'm not trying to be a 'know it all".
And we want to keep this forum to the primary forum topic/focus as much as possible ...
Agree! If there's a need to include additional makes/models to the discussion we can do that or set up more specific comparison topics. For now, let's focus on the Acadia, Outlook and Enclave.
What ever. A couple of these guys are so persistant that I wonder what there agenda really is? It certainly does not appear to be just information gathering. I test drove one of those ford wagons and it was sluggish, just like consumer report said. It's a nice looking station wagon/Ford 500 wagon. I remember when I started observing this forum and some woman got bullied off and all she was wanting was a little info without the gross amount of unnecessary garbage. So I'm a little bit aware of them. So I'll back off and pray they get tired of talking about their Ford 500 wagons.
Comments
It looks like GM learned their lesson on that one. GM turned down the new idea to build a minivan because they figured it would hurt their profitable station wagon sales. Chrysler brought one out and Wagon sales dumped.
Yukon sales will go down but GM sees that the future of the Yukon is numbered at the volumes it was getting. Better to have the Yukoner's buying Acadias than some other companies. They have killed the Trailblazer XL's and right now there is no future for the regular Trailblazer.
Sucks that I need an SUV so soon, 08 seems like an amazing year.
If anyone knows or finds any info prior to launch please post it.
that Pilot. So, If push comes to shove, I'd beg, barrow
or steal a vehilce, or get an extension on that lease(what ever it takes) for a few weeks or a month... to test drive that Acadia/Outlook first. If My 'Ugly' breaks in half, then that is what I would do. Good luck and hang in there,
as you will most probably find this a good choice from all indications. I'll be test driving too.
Good point. If you go to their site though they have it as 2007. I would have thunk that they could have delayed shipping 4 weeks so they could have called it a 2008. Maybe they need the sales and profits ASAP!!!
http://eogld.ecomm.gm.com/NASApp/domestic/brandsel.jsp?regionID=1&year=2007
I'm not sure how the Outlook/Acadia will be at the dealers by Dec, when according to this article, production starts in Dec, advertising begins in Jan, so I'd assume that they'd hit the dealers in Feb. What article were you quoting?
10/11/06 article:
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061012/FREE/61011004&Search- - - ID=73262427534067
"GM plans to launch the advertising for the Outlook and the Acadia in late January, Jackson said. Production starts in early December. Enclave production starts in March or April"
I wouldn't necesarily assume that advertising begins before vehicles are on the dealers lot, which it seems you are doing. I would think that GM would want cars on dealer lots before they start advertising them heavily. Who wants to see an ad and then not see the vehicle?
Karl
Advertising is starting in january when there will be sufficient stock. Lately GM has been thumped because they started advertising before product was at dealerships (i.e. Solstice/G6)
crossover vehicle, General Motors turned to a jury.
Not just a jury of the Enclave's competitive peers.
A jury of ears.
"Enclave is one of the quietest crossovers on the road," said Anna Kretz,
vehicle line executive for GM's front-wheel-drive trucks.
"The result of (our) rigorous engineering approach is a whisper-quiet cabin
that will allow first-row passengers to actually converse with third-row
occupants as well as reduce the overall feeling of fatigue when traveling
on long trips."
Buick officials showed off some of the sound technology and engineering
Thursday behind the Enclave's library-like interior at testing facilitieshere. That included a specially-built "jury room" at GM's Milford Proving
Grounds.
The jury room looks much like you would expect: Wood paneling.
Sound-deadening fabric flat panels. A wrap-around conference table. Seats
for a dozen or more people.
But instead of a jury foreman at the head of the U-shaped table, there was
a human-shaped head-and-shoulders device known as an Aachen HEAD, with
microphones instead of ears. Using that device, nicknamed Snow White, Buick
engineers went out and digitally recorded cabin noise over various roads
and at various speeds, to compare Enclave against other upscale
competition.
Back in the jury room, engineers - and journalists - donned high-end
headphones to compare short bursts of sound from the Enclave and its
competition, back-to-back.
In each case, the vote was always, or nearly, unanimous: The interior sound
quality and levels in the Enclave beat the competition, earmuffs down.
Unveiled as a concept at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in
Detroit, the Enclave has many local links.
Its 3.6-liter high-feature, 275-horsepower V-6 engine will be built on a
new production line at GM's Flint Engine South, and the vehicle will be
assembled at the new Lansing/Delta Township plant where many Genesee County
residents work. It's scheduled to go on sale next summer.
Other vehicles slated for production at Lansing/Delta include the GMC
Acadia and the Saturn Outlook crossover vehicles. Pricing for the Enclave
has not been announced.
that my Ugly, a 1997 base 4cyl Caravan with roll up windows (all I could afford at the time), has been in my posession for 121 months now. It also has 119,000 miles...no rattles and no squeaks...promise! Point is, I positively believe that the Lambdas which will drive much much closer to a sedan/van than a truck, should relieve those insecurities for you. Remember, my vehilce is a base unit(one of those
"2 at this price" dudes)with little attributes(ie. sound sensitive engineering)and believe any of these Lambdas should not be a noisy concern. Since I tend to keep vehicles for 10 years, noise is my least concern in my next purchase...which I do intend to keep for another 10 years.
You are so overprotective of the Freestyle! You act like we're saying it'a piece of crap and you should get an "almighty Lambda." I stated some correct information, and you had a total attitude, like you knew it all even though I was correct.
And yes it is negative the way you talk about that guy! If he says that he sat in 3rd row of acadia,with seat all the way back and it was more comftorable than in Freestyle, than he's right in is oppinion, and you shouldn't analize. He's wasn't bashing ford. He was just helping us out with a his totally legal(probably true) oppinion. Though some don't, You like your Freestyle. But don't take it out on us! This is how you get negative response.
on a second ground, PIG, you shouldn't just go for lambdas. You should be expecting quality. (though i don't remember if this was you) If your doing this just to support GM, then don't. GM doesn't want charity. THey want to sell cars because they are good. You should expect qualities like sound proofing. You've been stuck with "ugly" for years (me too) and you shoud not waste your downpayment on crap!
BTW, if you think any car companies want to sell cars because they're good, then that's pretty naive. They're a business and they want to sell cars for profit. And if you don't like someone analyzing another person's post...well that's part of what these forums are for. People make comments or state opinions, and other counter. All cars have good and bad points, so try not to get so defensive when you hear counter arguments. If you notice, the only time I make counter points is when something inaccurate is stated. Someone subjective opinions are just that...their subjective opinions. Nothing wrong with that.
Length 189.3 in. 199.8 in. 200.7 in.
Width 74.7 in. 74.4 in. 78.2 in.
Height 70.2 in. 65.9 in. 72.8 in.
Weight 4400 lbs. 4100 lbs. 4722 lbs. (AWD versions all)
Wheel Base 112.6 in. 112.9 in. 118.9 in.
Ground Clearance 8.9 in. 8 in. 7.4 in.
The Acadia is much wider. The length of the Freesytle vs. Acadia is within 1 inch of each other. However, why is the Acadia gound clearance so low? Also, the Acadia is heavier by about 100 lbs than my F-150 pickup. Is the Acadia made of lead? I guess the taller roof and wider body is the extra weight. On the Acadia's side, the fact that you can get 26 MPG (EPA highway) in an Acadia is amazing; the engine is incredible, although the power is sapped trying to pull that much weight.
Why is the ground clearance so low? Because the interior height is a function of height - ground clearance - structure.
Since I do not know the structure I can only use the first factors and get relative numbers.
XC90.......61.3
Freestyle..57.9
Acadia.....65.4
Acadia will have about 4" more of interior height than the XC 90 and a huge 5.5" more than the Freestyle.
The Acadia is a people/stuff hauler and is BIG. Wider/longer/taller. It is not made for off roading so ground clearance can be lower than SUV's AND lowe ground height should make excellent ingress/egress.
I have not found a site that gives height from inside floor to inside ceiling. Either it is headroom, which is primarily a factor of seat height, or interior cubic inches. IF the floor pan of the acadia is like a normal minivan ( which I think it is) it will have a flat floor from front to rear. Ceiling height will be relatively flat except for bumps to surround air ducts and such.
XC90.......61.3
Freestyle..57.9
Acadia.....65.4
From Cars.com is shows for Acadia/Freestyle/Volvo XC90:
Front headroom 40.4" 39.4" 39.7"
Rear headroom 39.3" 39.7" 38.4"
3rd row headroom 38.4" 38.6" 35.5"
Probably more accurate then using ground clearance and vehicle height because there's a lot going on in the ceilings and floors and under the floor!
From my earlier post:
overall height-ground clearance-structure=interior height.
Like I said I do not have the structure dimensions but made an assumption that they would be similar. Most likely the latest design will have the least amount of structure thickness but, like I said, it was a guess.
Now with your supplied head room numbers I can guess at seat height.
XC90:.....61.3-35.5= 25.8"
Freestyle:57.9-38.6=19.3"
Acadia:...65.4-38.4=27"
Per the above I can surmise that the rear seat in a Freestyle is pretty uncomfortable or that they have less "structure" than the other two. Actually I think these guess's have gone too far!! We will have to just wait and see. I just think that the Acadia will have the most interior height than any SUV/CUV and approaching minivan dimensions.
Exterior: VolvoXC90---Freestyle---Acadia
Length 189.3 in. 199.8 in. 200.7 in.
Width 74.7 in. 74.4 in. 78.2 in.
Height 70.2 in. 65.9 in. 72.8 in.
Weight 4400 lbs. 4100 lbs. 4722 lbs. (AWD versions all)
Wheel Base 112.6 in. 112.9 in. 118.9 in.
Ground Clearance 8.9 in. 8 in. 7.4 in.
1. 3rd row is easily accessed by pulling up a lever on the second row seats; the seats move forward and fold up automatically for easy access.
2. Decent legroom in the 3rd row even with the second row seat all the way back (well, I think it was all the way back). My knees were touching the seat just a bit, which could get annoying on a long trip, and since the seat is close to the ground my legs were raised a bit. But overall I was pleased by the amount of room (I'm 5'11")
3. With third row up, again I was pleased at the amount of room behind the third row. Enough for groceries, small suitcases, etc.
4. Quite a bit of hard plastics in the cabin (i.e. the dash, etc.). I would have thought the Acadia would have had more soft plastics, but maybe they are leaving that to the Enclave.
5. Make no mistake, this is a large SUV. There was a Yukon nearby, and this is nearly the same size, although much less boxy. Looks bigger than the new MDX that was also nearby.
Overall not a bad package at all. A little more chunky up close than I expected, will wait for the Enclave/Mazda CX-9 to compare.
Wow, you know a lot more than us!! Which parts on the Acadia are from the parts bin? I guess we could say the powertrain but that sure is normal and everyone does that.
Up til then, you had some good points. but you did make a counter point when I said something correct. Anyway, the acadia's ground clearance is only 7.5 inches? i guess that's not terrible. And it should cut down on gas mileage. 4700 lbs is a bit heavy, but Honda Pilot weighs over 4500(ft shorter). ANd good weight to power ratio (17.1 to hp)in next month's automobile I saw picture of new Volkswagen crossover. Looks good. Lamdas may have some same market competition soon.
tested the Freestyle 0-60 at 8.7 seconds("felt sluggish on takeoff") and they would be so much less influenced by any manufacturer, than any other auto publisher. That's where I intend to make a large portion of my evaluation from.
ACG also states, "this car-type SUV is a cousin of the Ford 500/Mercury Montego sedans, sharing underskin design originated by Ford-owned Volvo".
All the US Auto Makers are sharing their European mergers'
saftey and performance designs. Also I certanly hope we don't go into a diahrea on the keyboards of Porches/MBs/
Volvos/Jaguars/Mitsubishi/Saab/this/that/or/and the other for the next several pages/days. But I feel this coming with some of the Freestyle wagon zealots. I'm convienced this is going to be a GM forum taken over by 'Fordots'.
GM just produced the first Acadia off the assembly line in Lansing, yesterday I think, Nov 13 or 14, 2006. When I dropped my son off yesterday after lunch, there by the front door in the Parking Lot was a new Acadia, so it could not have been over 1 or 2 days old.
These new SUV's (CUV?) look very nice, esp. compared to the Envoy/Trailblazer, which I thought was ungainly and not well proportioned. I will be very interested in the Buick Enclave, as I have turned into a major Buick fan, now having owned 6 Buicks and before that 4 Mercedes. The Benz's, seemed to break and are now very expensive to fix, compared to the old days. The Buicks seem bullet proof, at least the 5.7L and 3.8L engines. They hit 200K miles without much of a sweat...an alternator around 150K, plus a water pump and you're good to go.
So I hope the Enclave is as nice as it looks on its website.
I have to say that if the car is anything like the rendering it is going to be awfully beautiful. Now if they put a decent engine and a 6-speed Direct-Shift-Gearbox it would give the Enclave a huge run for its money. We're talking MDX competition here. I think this thing will be above the Acadia and Outlook in price by a significant margin.
Agree! If there's a need to include additional makes/models to the discussion we can do that or set up more specific comparison topics. For now, let's focus on the Acadia, Outlook and Enclave.
Thanks.
tidester, host