The United States has always been a nation of the ever-bigger. Why buy a large when you can supersize your McMeal? Looking at a Ford F-150? Have you seen the Super Duty? And so it goes with most automakers’ redesigns for existing models. As soon as a vehicle is green-flagged for replacement, everyone from the engineers to the marketing people feverishly set to work embiggening the design. The interior engineers want more space inside, the safety folks want more crumple zone, and the government’s methods for calculating corporate fuel economy incentivize large footprints. GMC, it seems, has defended the Acadia from the Forces of the Large, having made its popular three-row crossover smaller for 2017.

Lightsaber?

It isn’t presently known what weapons GMC wielded in its efforts to buck the industry trend toward engorging every new car, but a liposuction machine feels metaphorically appropriate. There’s also the not-insignificant claim that the ’17 Acadia is up to 700 pounds lighter than before, assuredly a strong marketing point that can fend off anyone hoping to pile fat onto the crossover during its development. GMC will say the expanded use of press-hardened, high-strength steel, which allows for “thinner components in some areas” without compromising strength, helped drag the new Acadia’s weight down. We’d credit the significant dimensional changes as the real reason the crossover is so much lighter.

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Compared with the outgoing Acadia, the new one’s wheelbase is 6.4 inches stubbier, overall length is down 7.2 inches, and width shrinks by 3.5 inches. Those are significant decreases, and the pinched exterior, predictably, begets a pinched interior. Every interior dimension, from hip room to shoulder room to legroom, is smaller than before save for second-row legroom and also second-row headroom in models without a sunroof. Cargo capacity was also reduced, from a maximum of 116 cubic feet with both the second- and third-row seats folded to just 79. Family-friendly features abound, from USB charging ports in all three rows of seats, a split-folding second row with easy-entry modes for ingress and egress to the third row (the passenger-side second-row seat can even tip forward and slide with a child seat installed), and release handles in the trunk for dropping the third row flat. GMC even fitted the aft end of the center console—the side that faces the rear seats—with a slide-out drawer for hiding gadgets, toys, or half-eaten Chewy bars.

Less Weight, Less Engine

Smaller and lighter, the Acadia no longer requires a V-6 engine, at least according to GMC. For 2017, the base engine is now a 194-hp 2.5-liter four-cylinder. A 3.6-liter V-6, newer than the outgoing Acadia’s similarly sized V-6, will be optional and is estimated to produce 310 horsepower. Official EPA fuel-economy estimates haven’t been released, but General Motors says the front-drive four-cylinder Acadia, which comes with a stop-start feature, will achieve 22 mpg in the city and 28 mpg on the highway, impressive figures for a three-row. The front-drive six-cylinder, alternatively, will be good for 17/25 mpg with the help of Active Fuel Management, which can shut down some cylinders to save fuel.

Both engines are mated to six-speed automatic transmissions, and front-wheel drive is standard and all-wheel drive remains optional. Improvements were made to the Acadia’s all-wheel drive, which is now handled by an “Active Twin Clutch” system. In AWD models, this pair of clutches handles the apportioning of engine torque across the rear axle. Also, a drive-mode selector now enables front-wheel-drive operation via an all-wheel-drive disconnect setting (which effectively decouples the rear axle to save fuel when all-wheel traction isn’t needed), as well as all-wheel-drive “4x4”, Sport, Off Road, and Trailer/Tow modes. Front-wheel-drive Acadias have selectable drive modes, too, including Normal, Snow, Sport, and Trailer/Tow.

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The Acadia being a family truckster, GMC loaded it to the gunwales with safety gear. At least, depending which model you pick from among SLT, Denali, and a new All Terrain. Low-speed emergency braking is standard on Acadia SLT-2 and Denali models, while all-speed emergency-braking capability comes on the Denali. Other new safety features on offer include pedestrian detection, a following-distance indicator, automatic high-beam control, a 360-degree parking camera, and a “rear seat alert” that notifies the driver “when an item may have been left in the second- and third-row seats.” You know, like a child? Or something like that. Carryover safety items such as blind-spot monitoring, lane-departure warning, and forward-collision alert again are part of the Acadia’s rapport.

While the industry largely marches on content in bloating its new models, GMC joins the ranks of Ford (which cut a lot of weight from the F-150) and Land Rover (whose most recent redesigns also lost a significant amount of weight) in driving the opposite direction. The major difference, of course, is that the F-150 and the Range Rover both shaved weight via an extensive use of aluminum. The GMC is lighter primarily by being smaller. It’s not the cleverest solution, but it’s certainly cheaper than engineering and building an aluminum-intensive crossover for the masses. To us, the weight savings—should it hold up on our scales—is worth some interior volume. Lighter vehicles drive better and get better fuel economy; and the new Acadia’s tidier dimensions should make it easier to park and maneuver in city environs. The lightweight Acadia also bodes well for the soon-to-be-redesigned Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Traverse, which will share underpinnings with the GMC. Given how GMC sold nearly 100,000 Acadias last year, the vehicle’s best sales year ever, it strikes us that the company likely can do no wrong with the 2017 model when it goes on sale in the spring. After all, in a world obsessed with big, there’s nothing wrong with swollen sales numbers.

MICHAEL SIMARI, THE MANUFACTURER

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