2024 GMC Acadia Towing & Hauling

Three-row SUVs are top-rated, with drivers needing more than five seats. Besides seating up to eight passengers, they usually have enough room to fit everyone’s cargo. A great example of a spacious and comfortable three-row SUV is the 2024 GMC Acadia. This all-new model is part of the third Acadia generation and adds multiple improvements to an already impressive vehicle. One is the enhanced towing capacity, which allows you to carry a large trailer on your trips. This article details how much the new Acadia can tow, discusses how fuel efficiency is affected based on weight, and provides tips on safe towing practices.

2024 GMC Acadia Features & Capabilities

The all-new 2024 GMC Acadia has been fully redesigned to provide more power, interior space, and towing capability than the previous models. It’s 10.6 inches longer and 3.2 inches taller, resulting in more passenger room and significantly larger cargo space. It also has cutting-edge tech features, including the Super Cruise hands-free driver assistance technology. This works on over 400,000 miles of compatible roads and uses a mix of radars, sensors, and cameras to allow the driver to take their hands off the wheel and let the Acadia drive itself.

Towing Capabilities

When properly equipped, the previous-generation GMC Acadia had a maximum towing capacity of 4,000 pounds. While this is impressive even for a large SUV, the new model pushes this limit to 5,000 pounds. The main reason why the 2024 GMC Acadia has such a large towing capacity for an SUV is its capable powertrain. All trims come with a turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that can produce up to 328 horsepower and 326 pound-feet of torque, painted with a competent eight-speed automatic transmission. It generates 100 horsepower more than the previous standard engine, making this current generation Acadia much more capable.

Can It Tow a Trailer?

Having this towing ability can give your adventures a whole new dimension. You can tow a large trailer for you and your family to sleep in, take a boat with you, or use a toy hauler to bring bikes, ATVs, jet skis, snowmobiles, and other similar equipment with you on your journeys. Safe towing requires multiple dedicated features besides an engine providing plenty of power and torque. Some tow-specific features available for the 2024 GMC Acadia are:

• Trailer hitch: Also called a tow hitch, the trailer hitch allows you to connect a trailer to your Acadia.
• 7-pin wiring harness: This harness connects your trailer’s electric system to your GMC Acadia. This makes driving significantly safer, as the turn signals, brake lights, reverse lights, and running lights are synchronized with the SUV.
• Heavy-duty cooling system: Carrying a few extra tons with your 2024 GMC Acadia will push your powertrain’s capacity to the limit, which may cause it to overheat. You can avoid that by choosing a heavy-duty cooling system designed to keep engine components at optimal temperatures, even under extreme stress.
• Hitch View towing guidance system: This system can be helpful when attaching your trailer, as it displays a centered guideline on your Acadia’s rearview camera when you’re in reverse. It can also be useful while driving, as it allows you to see your trailer.

2024 GMC Acadia Cargo Room

The 2024 GMC Acadia also has 23 cubic feet of cabin cargo space. While this should be enough for everyone’s luggage, if you’re willing to trade cargo space for passenger seats you can fold the third row and get 57.3 cubic feet of space. If you need to carry something even larger, fold down both bottom rows to get a cavernous 97.5 feet of cargo space.

How Does Towing Weight Influence Fuel Economy?

There’s no escaping the fact that increased weight results in lower fuel economy. When not carrying a trailer, the 2024 GMC Acadia is projected to have around 25 mpg of combined city/highway fuel economy. This places it among the leaders in its class. Generally, every 100 pounds of extra weight will reduce your mpg rating by about 1%. While this varies from one vehicle to another, having a large engine specifically designed to carry heavy loads can help reduce this difference, and the 2024 Acadia’s muscular 328-horsepower engine certainly qualifies.

Other factors that have a major influence on your fuel economy while towing are:

• Aerodynamics: Besides the extra added weight, carrying a trailer affects your vehicle’s drag coefficient. This can make a major difference in your gas consumption when driving above 50 mph, so it’s best to load your trailer to minimize air friction.
• Speed: Driving at high speeds increases fuel consumption in any situation, but it’s particularly true when towing heavy loads. This is mainly because air and tire rolling resistance grows as you accelerate and is increased further by the extra weight.
• Tire air pressure: Not having properly inflated tires can make it much more difficult for your Acadia to carry the extra load, resulting in reduced fuel efficiency.

Safe Towing Tips

These tips can help you have a safe and event-free road trip while towing a heavy trailer with your 2024 Acadia:

• Always stay within the vehicle’s towing limit. Exceeding maximum towing capacity can result in inefficient braking and handling and damage your vehicle’s components. Consider all elements that add weight to your trailer and ensure their combined weight is lower than the vehicle’s maximum towing capacity.
• Consider your trailer weight distribution. Even if your trailer’s total weight is lower than the Acadia’s maximum towing capacity, you need to distribute that weight evenly, or else you could have difficulties handling it. Avoid placing too much weight on one side of your trailer.

Check out the New 2024 GMC Acadia at Meadowland GMC

The 2024 GMC Acadia has everything you’d expect from a three-row SUV, plus excellent towing ability. If you’d like to see it and maybe take it for a test drive, visit us at Meadowland GMC. We’re your one-stop shop for anything automotive-related in the Carmel, New York, area. We can help you find your ideal vehicle, determine the most effective way to finance it, and perform maintenance and repair operations later. Contact us today or stop by to check out our inventory.

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