2011 GMC Acadia Denali Review

The 2011 GMC Acadia Denali.

Almost 20 years ago,  I bought a GMC Suburban (now known as the Yukon XL). In those days, there was nothing to differentiate the GMC from the Chevrolet except for the badges and the price tag. GMC's was generally a bit more, but I found a dealer who beat all the local Chevy dealers.

It occurred to me at the time that GMC could do very well for itself by making its Suburban a much more luxurious piece than the Chevrolet...leather seats, say...and how about upgraded audio systems? Maybe automatic climate control. Nicer wheels...maybe even a sunroof.

Hard to imagine now, but this was radical thinking at the time, though within 5 years, GM embraced the concept beyond what I was thinking. The GMC version became almost Cadillac-like in its luxury...and then came Cadillac's Escalade, taking it all one giant leap further. And they sold like hot cakes.

The Suburban, Yukon XL and Escalade ESV are all still in production, and still sell, but the strike zone has moved to smaller machines. That's not keeping GM from going back to the playbook for what worked so well a decade and a half ago.

Behold the GMC Acadia Denali. The base Acadia is a reasonably priced vehicle...$32,000. And it's very much like the $29,370 Chevy Traverse. The Denali fixes that...for a price.

Rear three-quarters view of the 2011 GMC Acadia Denali.

The all-wheel-drive Acadia Denali we tested starts at $45,220. 13 grand and change more than the vehicle that underpins it all. And not a penny of it is under the hood. The base Acadia has the exact same 3.6 liter V6 mated to a 6-speed automatic as the Denali.

There's two inches less front headroom and one inch less in the rear, thanks to the standard sunroof,  and you can carry one fewer person thanks to the standard second-row buckets. Otherwise, the dimensions and statistics are the same.

So where's the $13K? On the outside, it's in fog lamps, Xenon HID headlamps, a remote tailgate release, heated exterior mirrors, chrome wheels, performance tires, a trailer hitch reciever and a Denali-specific grille.

The 2011 GMC Acadia Denali interior.

Inside, the Denali steps up with a rear-view camera (always a good idea, especially in SUVs), rear parking assist, dual zone climate control, remote vehicle start, the aforementioned sunroof, power heated driver and front passenger seats, the 2nd row buckets, memory seats, a premium sound system, rear seat audio controls, Bluetooth, a universal home remote control, leather-wrapped steering wheel, auto-dimming rear-view mirror with memory and a power lift gate.

That plus all-wheel drive, which is worth about two grand, so yeah...that's probably about $11,000 worth of options. And our tester had more...$1,890 for nav with 3 months of SiriusXM NavTraffic, $1,445 for a rear seat DVD entertainment center, including headphones, and $795 for White Diamond Tricoat paint (which is very pretty). Bottom line on ours after destination charges: $50,125.

I can't knock the end result...a very luxurious, well mannered, fast, capable SUV. I'm even okay with the price. And the mileage is in the ballpark, too: 16 city/23 highway. What I don't get is why GMC sells an Acadia other than the Denali. Unlike the Yukon/Escalade and Yukon XL/Escalade ESV deal, Cadillac doesn't have a clone of this model...so why bother selling the $32,000 version at all? Why not let that be Chevy's?  If you've got thoughts on that one, I'd love to hear them. Just click the "comments" button.

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2011 Ford Flex Review

Nearly three years since TireKicker's first review of a Ford Flex, I'm left with many of the same emotions and questions. Actually, only one question: Why am I not seeing a lot more of them on the road?

First of all, I like the Flex...a lot. Enough to buy one with my own money, were I in the market. And this is one of the few 125 or so vehicles that pass through my hands in the course of a year where wife and kids agree. The Flex is a great big happy-maker. Room, comfort, utility and (especially when equipped with EcoBoost as the one provided to us for a week by Bell Ford in Phoenix was) power.

I also see the same things when I look at it that I did in the summer of '08...a bit of Range Rover here, a hint of Country Squire there. I also see a much more sensible approach to a car I owned and loved nearly 20 years ago.

We're a road-trip family. And when the kids were little, that meant a week or two on the road with strollers, Pak-N-Plays, and assorted other little people supplies. Back at home, it meant kids and their friends wanting to ride together to the movies, Build-A-Bear and other fun places. At the time, there was one sensible choice...so we bought a brand-new 1993 GMC Suburban. I called it the "Swiss Army Knife of cars". Keep the seats upright, and haul 8 people. Fold 'em down (well, actually, the third row had to be removed, was heavy and where do you stash the backseat of an SUV when you're not using it?), haul the big tables and chairs for the backyard birthday parties yourself and save yourself the anxiety of wondering whether the delivery guys would get there on time.

But the  'Burban had big drawbacks, too. It wouldn't fit in a standard-sized garage. It had the handling characteristics of an aircraft carrier. It weighed darn near three tons and it got 12 miles per gallon in the city and 16 on the highway. And every part except the door locks (there may be a bit of artistic license in that, but not much) needed to be replaced within the first five years.

If only there'd been a Ford Flex. Let's start with utility, shall we?

That, my friends, is the view from the tailgate of a Flex with the rear seats, the middle seats and the front passenger seat folded down. Game 7 (if needed) of the NBA Finals could be played in here. Meantime, here's your view:

Yes, that is the Limited model we drove, but there's actually a level above that, Titanium. And even without the wood and MyFord Touch system, you still get that clean design in the SE and SEL models.

Pop for the Limited, though, and you get SYNC, dual-zone automatic temperature control, leather-trimmed first and second row seats, a premium Sony audio system and a whole host of other goodies for $37, 865.  Choose all-wheel drive and it's $39,715 and go full-boat like ours, with EcoBoost and all-wheel drive and the base price is $44,000.  A base Yukon XL (what GMC calls their Suburban these days) is $42,415. Load one up so it's competitive with the Flex Limited and you'll be deep into $50,000 plus territory.

And let's talk about EcoBoost for a moment. 355 horsepower from a 3.5 liter V6. Without EcoBoost, it's 262 horsepower. That's right...a 97 hp improvement. That's boost, so where's the "Eco"? Well, an AWD Flex with the standard 262-horsepower V6 gets an EPA estimated 16 city/22 highway.  Check the EcoBoost option box, get that extra 97 horsepower and it's 16 city/21 highway.

That's right...the same city MPG. You're trading one mile per gallon on the highway for 97 additional horsepower. Useful in a vehicle that can hold this many people and that much stuff, especially when passing.

This is definitely my new Swiss Army Knife. And if the price point of the Limited version is beyond the budget, the SE starts at $29,220 and the SEL at $31,850. You can't get EcoBoost with either of those, but you'll still have a brilliantly capable machine with the utility of a big SUV and none of its drawbacks.

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