2026 GMC Denali Ultimate Acadia, A GMC First

I like the Acadia.  I'm happy with it in base form.  This one is uptown.  I was given one as a rental and enjoyed it.  Partly, GMC is sort of a "novelty" compared to Chevrolet, which I think most of us or our families have owned.

I never recall getting into the turbo boost phase.  The 2.5 is probably enough.  I appreciate the geared automatic.  Also, I like the way the infotainment screen is engaged in the dash. 

There is no way in hell I could trust this as a daily driver, and would not drop coin on it given past reliability issues. Hell, even for a rental, I think I would turn the keys back over to the rental agent and ask for something else. Honda, Toyota, Subaru please?

Think the Passport is much better looking. 

For that amount of $, I would also prefer a Toyota 4 Runner, infinitely better resale and reliability, and would fit my needs as a camping/hiking vehicle much better. 

@A Horse With No Name

It was a 3 step upgrade, so I kept it.  It helped me drift away to memories of Acadia National Park in autumn!

@G. David Felt

Love the seating.  Don't need the leather and emblems, but that sort of bucket seat is exactly what I like.

I like the brown seats.   The exterior is too bland in white..that is a lot of power and torque for a 4cyl..wonder how it sounds, though.  

This GMC Style is very uninspiring to me. I think GMC could have done better.

I think they should have just made Denali's nicer instead of doing this Denali Ultimate.  Half the trim levels are Denali now.  is a Buick Avenir Ultra next? 

I feel like the Traverse/Enclave/Acadia is kind of a weak spot in GM.  Grand Cherokee is same money (not that I'd trust Jeep reliability) Toyota has Highlander, Grand Highlander, Lexus TX, Land Cruiser, that Palisade and Telluride are good, the competition seems to have GM beat here and the GM trio is pretty new to market.  

On 7/22/2025 at 1:53 PM, G. David Felt said:

This GMC Style is very uninspiring to me. I think GMC could have done better.

Just another lease appliance CUV...take off the GMC badging, it could be anything...probably starts at $60k, since the '25 Denali version starts at $54k.   I can't believe that much money and it's a frickin' 4 cyl.   A supposedly 'premium' vehicle with an econobox powertrain....(I'll admit I loathe 4 cylinders...) 

17 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Just another lease appliance CUV...take off the GMC badging, it could be anything...probably starts at $60k, since the '25 Denali version starts at $54k.   I can't believe that much money and it's a frickin' 4 cyl.   A supposedly 'premium' vehicle with an econobox powertrain....(I'll admit I loathe 4 cylinders...) 

With all the craziness currently in failed leadership, I wonder if GM will really do hybrids or if they will just wait it out with what they have in V8, Turbo 4's and EVs. Interesting times for sure.

Always felt GM failed to optimize doing Hybrid when they brought out Volt 2.0, they should have then also introduced an Equinox / Terrain Hybrid then imho.

2 minutes ago, G. David Felt said:

 

Always felt GM failed to optimize doing Hybrid when they brought out Volt 2.0, they should have then also introduced an Equinox / Terrain Hybrid then imho.

Yeah...more hybrids would have been a good move, I think.  People that I know that have owned Volts loved them, but had to go elsewhere when they needed more space but still wanted a hybrid. 

On 7/23/2025 at 4:52 PM, smk4565 said:

I feel like the Traverse/Enclave/Acadia is kind of a weak spot in GM.

As auto enthusiasts, we feel this way. I see a whole hell of a lot of them for the market to feel this way though. 

On 7/26/2025 at 8:59 AM, G. David Felt said:

Always felt GM failed to optimize doing Hybrid when they brought out Volt 2.0, they should have then also introduced an Equinox / Terrain Hybrid then imho.

It is INSANE to me, that they never did this. It seemed like a slam dunk decision. Our market NEEDED more plug0in hybrids 5-10 years ago. If they had become more of a normal vehicle, there would be so much less resistance to full EVs. People are scared of EVs because of "range", but had they been conditioned to realizing how far 50 miles would get you regularly, they'd realize 250-350 in a full EV would be way more than enough. 

On 7/21/2025 at 9:36 AM, trinacriabob said:

@A Horse With No Name

It was a 3 step upgrade, so I kept it.  It helped me drift away to memories of Acadia National Park in autumn!

@G. David Felt

Love the seating.  Don't need the leather and emblems, but that sort of bucket seat is exactly what I like.

Headed to Acadia in September myself. 

2 hours ago, ccap41 said:

As auto enthusiasts, we feel this way. I see a whole hell of a lot of them for the market to feel this way though. 

It is INSANE to me, that they never did this. It seemed like a slam dunk decision. Our market NEEDED more plug0in hybrids 5-10 years ago. If they had become more of a normal vehicle, there would be so much less resistance to full EVs. People are scared of EVs because of "range", but had they been conditioned to realizing how far 50 miles would get you regularly, they'd realize 250-350 in a full EV would be way more than enough. 

Agree completely. In terms of seeing a bunch of midsize GM suv's I regularly see them at recyclers with low mileage and auto repair shops. 

$60k SUVs with 4 cylinders is what will bring on the era of EV's.  That and batteries getting cheaper.  Once you can get a 400 hp EV for the same cost of a 200 hp 4-banger, ICE dies.