Holden Acadia 2019 Tow Test

It's been a long time since Holden has offered a seven-seat monocoque, all-wheel drive SUV you could tow with, and that vehicle was arguably not a SUV at all.

The Holden Adventra might have only been a jacked-up all-wheel drive VY-VZ Commodore wagon (and the third row an awkward, kids-only bench from the accessories catalogue), but it could tow up to its 2100kg maximum beautifully and even had a towbar fitted as standard.

Move on from those halcyon days to 2019, where not only do we again get an AWD Commodore wagon (sourced from Opel), but also a fair-dinkum big seven-seat unitary-frame SUV. Enter the Holden Acadia...

It seems a bit out of whack when you look at comparative towing capacities though. Holden’s latest big SUV can tow just 2000kg; not only 1000kg less than Holden’s own ladder-chassis Trailblazer SUV,  but also 100kg less than the ZB Commodore Tourer.

At least it has a half-decent 10 per cent towball download maximum (200kg). And, in fairness, its main large SUV competitors (Toyota Kluger, Mazda CX-9, Hyundai Santa Fe) are no better.

Full of frills

Here we’re testing the premium LTZ-V model of the Acadia range. It comes with a competitive features set including driver’s seat position memory, ventilated front seats, eight-speaker BOSE Premium audio, 360-degree camera, dual sunroofs, eight-inch driver information display, adaptive cruise control with stop and go, all-speeds AEB, HID headlights, active dampers and 20-inch alloy wheels.

All of these combine to ensure a long transport stage on a caravanning holiday won’t be a chore in the Acadia. With its comfortable seats, ample room and good ventilation and storage for all three rows, it’s likely to become a family favourite.

Sub-teenagers are the best option for the third row seats, but while a knees-up seating position for adults, it’s do-able for short urban runs.

The naturally-aspirated 3.6-litre petrol V6’s 231kW at 6600rpm tops the V6 SUV class for power. However, the turbo-four 2.5 CX-9 beats the Acadia for torque -- 420Nm versus 367Nm (at 5000rpm).

Kerb weight is 2032kg for the LTZ-V AWD while GVM is 2722kg (allowing a decent payload of 690kg). Towing capacity is set at 2000kg, of which 200kg can rest on the towball. For the Acadia to tow its maximum 2000kg, the payload maximum is reduced by 200kg (so GCM is 4522kg).

Standard towbar

Towbar and trailer wiring are standard equipment across all Holden Acadia variants. The towing tongue and towball, however, are an expensive $390 option.

While that’s a lot of money for not much metal, getting the Acadia set up for towing is still cheap. Most competitors charge $1000-plus for a fitted towbar and wiring (the fitted price for the Hyundai Santa Fe factory accessory kit is $1059 for example).

The only downside to the Acadia’s towbar arrangement is that the lower bumper has to be removed to provide access to the standard-fitment hitch-receiver and seven-pin trailer plug.

Although Holden isn’t the only company to do this, it leaves the rear bumper looking unfinished.

The Acadia also has a Tow/Haul mode, which raises upshift points to use more of the engine’s power for stronger acceleration, and raises downshift points to help slow the Acadia by using engine braking.

The Acadia features trailer sway control among its many safety features.

Getting down to (towing) business

To find out how the Holden Acadia performs, we hitched up a 1800kg (approx) single-axle caravan with a measured tow-ball download of 140kg.

With this relatively light tow-ball download, the Acadia barely moved when the van was hitched up; staying at the same level at the front and dropping just 20mm at the rear.

Setting off from a standstill on smooth tarmac in 2WD, the front wheels squealed without any provocation. Selecting the AWD drive mode fixed this.

The petrol V6 delivers great performance. Even though peak torque arrives high in the rev range there’s enough of it down low to keep the Acadia motoring along in eighth gear at about 2400rpm at 100km/h along flat terrain.

On a 90km/h steep freeway climb, the Acadia hauled the 1800kg caravan up effortlessly on about three-quarters throttle -- although the engine was revving up around 5500rpm to sustain that speed.

Too many gears for towing?

The trend for more forward ratios in automatic transmissions has resulted in an interesting side effect for engine braking. With a six-speed auto, the lower ratios are typically widely spaced so when travelling down a hill a slow-revving engine is best to keep the vehicle from running away.

Now, with the Acadia’s nine-speed auto, you’ve got a free-revving engine already spinning up near 5500rpm when holding third gear at 70km/h. So while engine braking is very good, you have to allow the engine to rev hard to peg speed.

Helping make quick downshifts for engine braking on descents was the Acadia’s excellent paddle shifters.

The Tow/Haul mode didn’t significantly change the manner in which the smooth-shifting auto operated. Instead, it ensured that the V6 didn’t fall into a torque hole. When attacking a rise the shifts were nicely pre-emptive.

Fuel economy features

The Holden Acadia has a couple of fuel-saving features: engine auto stop and cylinder deactivation. On a trip that included some city stop-start and longer stints at 100km/h unladen, the big SUV recorded an impressive 8.2L/100km.

When towing the 1800kg caravan at the speed limit in mostly 80km/h and 100km/h zones, fuel consumption averaged 18.5L/100km. That’s not a particularly good figure when towing a middling weight caravan.

The Acadia didn’t feel very settled when towing either. While it never felt like it was going to develop a nasty yawing motion, it did feel nervous.

Its inconsistent steering didn’t help matters, This is one of few vehicles we’ve tow-tested that felt fine ‘solo’ but with the caravan attached the steering felt a little too quick to respond to inputs. You’re forced to make deliberate, small steering inputs with the van behind.

Summing up

It’s fair to say that the Holden Acadia SUV is not a complete towing natural: it’s a touch twitchy towing as well as a tad thirsty.

On the plus side it does come with a pretty comprehensive standard towing set-up including towbar and wiring.

How much does the 2018 Holden Acadia LTZ-V AWD cost?

Price: $67,990 (drive-away)
Engine: 3.6-litre petrol V6
Output: 231kW/367Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel: 9.3L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 219g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP