2007 GMC Acadia SLT AWD

2007 GMC Acadia SLT AWD - In any case, the change was fortuitous, because the Acadia is not a truck. Not in the traditional body-on-frame truck sense. It looks sorta like a truck, and the EPA calls it a truck, but the bones are front-drive unibody. They call it the Lambda architecture, designed for GM’s big new front-drive utility vehicles. The result is one of those new-breed rides we call crossovers — neither car nor truck, and a first for GMC.

Separated from her boyfriend, Gabriel Lajeunesse, when the Redcoats herded the Acadians onto transports, Evangeline wound up in Louisiana and spent the rest of her life trying to reconnect with Gabriel. And even though she was a fictional figure, she has come to be regarded as the original queen of the Cajuns. (Acadians.Cajuns. Get it?)

That’s the essence of this new GM line, which includes the Saturn Outlook, with the Buick Enclave due next fall. Although these new vehicles lack sliding doors and have more ground clearance, they serve essentially the same function as minivans. They have to serve that function, because GM, like Ford, is giving up on minivans. So you can forget about the Buick Terraza, Chevy Uplander, and Saturn Relay. Which should be pretty easy.

To be fair, most minivans have more cargo capacity than this, but they don’t have the Acadia’s ground clearance (7.4 inches) or towing capacity: with the Trail­er­ing package (primarily a bigger radiator) it’s rated to drag a trailer weighing up to 4500 pounds. Body-on-frame SUVs have a clear advantage in this area — half-ton Yukon trailering limits range between 7500 and 8200 pounds, but 4500 is pretty good for a unibodied vehicle that’s primarily a front-driver. The basic trailering capability for the Honda Pilot, for example, is 3500 pounds.

Interpreting from the finished product, the Acadia design charter seems to have been to duplicate the Pilot’s excellent ergonomics, build quality, and nimble (by SUV standards) dynamics on a larger scale. We have to say mission accomplished. The Acadia’s responses are, inevitably, tempered by its mass, but those responses measure up as exceptional among vehicles in this size class.

The Acadia’s suspension employs coil-over struts up front, a new multilink arrangement at the rear with ball-jointed lateral links, and hefty anti-roll bars at both ends. The bars help keep cornering attitudes remarkably level, allowing the chassis guys to keep the spring and damping rates supple. Steering response, via a hydraulic variable-assist rack-and-pinion system, enhances the surprising sense of agility — it’s accurate, informative, and beautifully weighted,

So, first-rate for stops. But when it comes to go, the dynamics are a bit ordinary. GM’s DOHC 3.6-liter 24-valve V-6, tuned for 275 horsepower and 251 pound-feet of torque, provides propulsion via GM’s new six-speed automatic. In our all-wheel-drive tester, most of this power (90 percent) goes to the front wheels most of the time. When system sensors anticipate wheelspin up front, a clutch pack apportions additional power to the rear wheels, up to 40 percent. The system also uses brake intervention to handle side-to-side adhesion differences.

In the realm of everyday family usefulness and livability, the Acadia is going to be a very pleasant traveling companion. The second and third rows provide adult roominess, and the second row provides fore-and-aft adjustability as well as reclining seatbacks. They can also be folded up against the front seatbacks, in addition to flat.

As you’d expect, there are the usual family-peacekeeping options — a DVD player for those seated in the rear, ample audio with jacks for auxiliary equipment, dual climate controls, plus a nav system and OnStar hardware. Safety features are similarly comprehensive: standard ABS; standard StabiliTrak; and multiple airbags, including seat-mounted sides up front and curtain bags protecting all three rows.

But watch it when you’re checking those option boxes. Although the front-drive Acadia starts at a reasonable $29,990, extras add up quickly. Our tester tallied in at $44,965, which begins to seem pretty pricey.