I really like the new Acadia Denali, but for the money it should have came with a 300+hp 3.6 to distinguish it from the other Lambda's. I had a rental Acadia back in the winter and I loved the way it drove and had no problems on icy/slushy roadways. Power was plentiful and the 3.6 felt a lot more refined than the 3.6 in our Torrnet GXP, but it definitely didn't have the zip our smaller/lighter GXP has.





I am in the same boat, in a couple of years it will be time to replace the Torrent GXP and we want to get something with 3 rows. I am thinking Acadia or Enclave, but by then they will be pretty long in tooth styling wise if they don't get any updates. As much as I love the Acadia Denali there is no way I would pay $50K+ for a new one.

 

I sat in one at the car show and was not impressed. The interior looked somewhat dated to me already, and kind of drab. From the rave reviews I've read about the CX9, I've gathered that it's a magazine/editorial favorite because it's more fun to drive than the rest. Well, IMO, that's just a dumb reason for them to rave about a three row family hauler SUV. As long as it's as safe, comfortable and practical as possible, you can give me something with novocaine steering and I'll be totally content.

The Acadia Denali is very old GM IMO. They threw a bunch of chrome and shiny bits, fancier wheels, some fancier fake wood and I think as far as semi-functional upgrades go, maybe cooled front seats and an acoustic laminated windshield (standard on the enclave) or side glass (whichever the regular Acadia is missing, I forget).

For the amount more $$ they ask for it, I think it's pretty shameful. But I'm sure people will buy it, which is why GM doesn't bother trying any harder. Probably also why they're not planning on doing a full Lambda redesign for 9 years... because the current ones are still selling well.

 

A lot can be done without changing the basic car. I would say the updated Lambda's will be similar to the difference between the current Malibu, and the upcoming on.

 

I finally had a chance to crawl around a new Explorer Limited, and was much more impressed than I expected to be. Frankly, it wowed me.

The interior is fantastic. My 68-year-old mother was having a fabulous time playing with the MFT, and the cooled seats. My 9-year-old was having a great time with the fold and tumble power seats. My husband was playing with the moonroof and power sunshades. It was pretty humorous.

If it had the V6 Ecoboost available, it would be a very compelling package, to me.

The Lambda's need an update, desperately. They are such good vehicles, inherantly. So, it is frustrating to see them go so long with no updates. Especially in the interiors, where they are especially weak (especially the Traverse, the interior is just awful in that one).

 

I agree. The underlying foundation should still be solid, though they could stand to lose a few pounds.

 

"Can" being the key word.

From the thread I read on GMInsidenews and some Enclave forum I ran across, the updates are described as a "minor refresh" where the most significant change is going to be upgrading the nav system with intellilink.

 

The Traverse came out in 2009, so really, it's just completeing it's 3rd model year, and I don't know that it's overdue by any real measure for updates. If they come, great, but I think Acadia, which is 2 model years older is much more 'overdue'.

As for the Traverse's interior. I actually perferred it significantly over the bland Acadia interior, the Chevy has much more style to it. The Buick's interior is nice, but I didnt like the way teh center stack integrated with the dash.

About the only complaint I would make about the Traverse's interior is that the door panels top side are a hard plastic... that said, they arent hollow feeling, but are very solid feeling and have no flex to them, so as far as that goes, it as least doesnt feel cheap. I dont understand what is 'awful' abou the Tarvers einterior unless you just dont like the styling for whatever reason.

I built out several configurations of Traverse, Acadia, and Enclave, and Traverse was $2000 cheaper than the other two in just about a=every compariable build out. And it sometimes has better equipment when you compare bullet point for bullet point. (Example 20" wheels for the Traverse vs ugly 19's on the Enclave... you can get 20"s there, but have to pay some huge upgrade price ($1200-$2000 addition, though I cant exactly remember as this was 5-6 months ago now))

In my actually "I bought one of these" real life situation, Traverse won out easily over the other products on the market today, and even very easily against the Acadia. The Enclave was closer, but I couldnt find a real reason to justify the extra $2000+ (which would have been more because I just HATE the spine-look dull 19" standard wheels) in the end. There was nothing missing in the Traverse.

As far as other brands, there just is not another product out there that offered the 7 passenger seating, size, room, and ACCESS TO THE BACK ROW (big time important) that the Lambdas did.

In short, choosing our Traverse LTZ was the easiest car buying choice I've ever made.

 

My brother and his wife just picked up a new '11 (or '12?) Explorer. It is very nice overall, though I think the styling may be a bit much for me.

Anyway, the other day I was looking at the power folding rear seat / cargo area, and I noticed that once you are in that back seat, you are IN that back seat unless the middle row is folded for you. There is no pass through in the middle or around the sides of the middle seat, as you are boxed in by the rear shock towers / rear side panels. Maybe other 3 rows are like that; I really haven't looked too closely before. Minivans aren't that confining though...

Side thought, can older brother try to be funny and fold the power rear seats forward with younger brother still sitting in it?

 

The Traverse is like the Impala. It is a fine vehicle that will appeal to people who don't give a rats *** about the stuff people who post on this forum do.

 

I guess I've been in the wrong place for the last decade or so...

I'd be interesting knowing how Acadia differs in this regard... or Explorer, or Equinox, or (enter crossover/SUV/family car name here).

 

The Explorer has an option for 3 people sitting in the middle row, or 2 people (captain's chairs) with a big gap in the middle. It's pretty easy to get back in the back if you just fold up the 3-person middle seat section, but if you want more ease of entry and two nicer seats in the middle, you can go with the $250 captains chairs.

 

I personally think the Traverse has very bland styling and the interior is somewhere between forgettable and odd. Things like the fabric pattern on the cloth seats looking like Grandma's handbag. The interior materials are the worst of the Lamdbas. The exterior hips and pointy rear are odd. The thing about the Traverse is it is not really best at anything. Doesn't look all that good, doesn't wow with features or interior. But if you want an 8 passenger SUV for a reasonable price that will treat you well forever..it's you car. I don't hate the Traverse..hell..I managed to actually get my inlaws to buy one instead of a Traverse. It's just not my cup of tea..and I don't think most people here would chose it of all the vehicles in it's class.

The Acadia in my opinion is a lot better too look at both inside and out...and still one of the better looking cars in it's class IMO. The Equinox has gas mileage going for it, and is better executed. The Explorer is are really nice all around vehicle..and represents a competitive return of one of the last decades best selling vehicles.

 

My sister-in-law, who is also my next door neighbor, has a 2009 Acadia... I can assure you, the interior is made out of the same materials, except the shapes are different.

Hers is cloth, our is leather, so I cant compare cloth patterns.

Styling is obvective, I can see how you might think Traverse looks odd, and Acadia looks better, but I see Acadia as looking old (sicne it's 2 years older without change), and Traverse looking better.

Interior stylingw-ise, I see the Traverse as actually having some style to the dash and door panels, while Acadia is very bland. you cant go past the dash and door panels, because the rest of the interior is pretty much identical.

I dont see how any of this puts Traverse specifically in a class of car that no one who cares about cars would ever consider.

With Impala, at least theer is a basis for that statement in the fact that the arcitecture is ancient...

I've driven the Traverse, the Enclave, and the Acadia. They are , as much as people want to make them out to not be for some reason I just cant understand (not aiming this directly at Formula79 as others have said it too), the same vehicle. If you were able to drive them with your eyes closed, you'd have no clue which one you were driving.

 

I actually priced out a Traverse on the Chevy website a while back and also an Enclave. If I recall correctly I was looking at an Enclave CXL-1 with the screen in the back for kids. I priced a Traverse with every option I could to mimic the Enclave, although some things were still missing like Xenon lights and some of the smaller touches like the acoustic laminated windshield. I don't remember what the price difference was, but it was less than $2000, which surprised me. Buick is marketing itself as a Lexus competitor, and Toyota is marketing itself as a Toyota competitor. The average Lexus that's based on a Toyota definitely isn't separated from that Toyota by only ~5% in sticker price when similarly equipped.

FWIW, the Traverse has an interior that reminds me of the 2008+ Malibu, which I consider to be semi-outdated and cheap feeling by today's standards (yes, I feel the same way about my Aura). To think that they may carry that same interior onward with just a few tweaks, all the way until MY 2016... is just mind-blowing to me. And it's the most recently updated Lamda, too!

...

But I really am curious what these 2013 updates will entail. If it's just Intellilink and a few shiny extra cosmetic tweaks, then cross the Enclave off my list, I'm going for an Explorer, hands-down.

 

Wait... what?

I think you might have a typo in there....