Compare the2026 GMC AcadiaVS 2026 Kia Sorento

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics

Safety

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The Acadia has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Sorento doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

The GMC Acadia’s rear backup camera has a standard washer for maintaining a clear view under various conditions. In contrast, the Kia Sorento does not offer a rear camera washer, meaning its effectiveness relies on manual cleaning by the user when necessary.

Both the Acadia and the Sorento have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive, front parking sensors and driver alert monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the GMC Acadia is safer than the Kia Sorento:

	Acadia	Sorento
OVERALL STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	165	446
Neck Injury Risk	20.1%	23%
Neck Stress	178 lbs.	208 lbs.
Neck Compression	2 lbs.	58 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	32/13 lbs.	276/445 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	234	340
Neck Injury Risk	35.9%	43%
Neck Compression	48 lbs.	52 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the GMC Acadia is safer than the Kia Sorento:

	Acadia	Sorento
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Chest Movement	.6 inches	.7 inches
Abdominal Force	73 lbs.	117 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	14 inches	15 inches

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Warranty

The Acadia’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the Sorento’s (6/100,000 vs. 5/100,000).

There are over 2 times as many GMC dealers as there are Kia dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Acadia’s warranty.

Reliability

To reliably power the ignition and other systems and to recharge the battery, the Acadia has a standard 220-amp alternator. The Sorento’s 150-amp alternator isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2025 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that GMC vehicles are more reliable than Kia vehicles. J.D. Power ranks GMC above average in long-term dependability. With 21 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Kia is rated lower.

Engine

The Acadia’s 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 137 more horsepower (328 vs. 191) and 145 lbs.-ft. more torque (326 vs. 181) than the Sorento LX/S’ standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder. The Acadia’s 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 47 more horsepower (328 vs. 281) and 15 lbs.-ft. more torque (326 vs. 311) than the Sorento EX/SX’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

Fuel Economy and Range

The Acadia FWD’s standard fuel tank has 1.6 gallons more fuel capacity than the Sorento (19.3 vs. 17.7 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 4 gallons more fuel capacity than the Sorento (21.7 vs. 17.7 gallons).

The Acadia has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Sorento doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Brakes and Stopping

The Acadia’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Sorento are solid, not vented.

The Acadia stops much shorter than the Sorento:

	Acadia	Sorento
60 to 0 MPH	113 feet	125 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Acadia has larger standard tires than the Sorento (255/55R20 vs. 235/65R17). The Acadia’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Sorento (275/45R22 vs. 255/45R20).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Acadia has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Sorento LX. The Acadia’s optional 22-inch wheels are larger than the 20-inch wheels on the Sorento EX/SX.

The GMC Acadia’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Kia Sorento only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

The Acadia has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Sorento doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

Suspension and Handling

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Acadia’s wheelbase is 10.1 inches longer than on the Sorento (120.9 inches vs. 110.8 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Acadia is 3.1 inches wider in the front and 2.5 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Sorento.

The Acadia Denali AWD handles at .81 G’s, while the Sorento X-Pro SX Prestige pulls only .76 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

Chassis

The front grille of the Acadia uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Sorento doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Acadia uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Sorento doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Passenger Space

The Acadia offers optional seating for 8 passengers; the Sorento can only carry 7.

The Acadia has 2.3 inches more front headroom, 2.9 inches more front legroom, 3.6 inches more front hip room, 2.9 inches more front shoulder room, .9 inches more rear headroom, 3.3 inches more rear hip room, 3.9 inches more rear shoulder room, 1.4 inches more third row headroom, 2.5 inches more third row legroom, 6.1 inches more third row hip room and 4.9 inches more third row shoulder room than the Sorento.

Cargo Capacity

The Acadia’s cargo area provides more volume than the Sorento.

	Acadia	Sorento
Behind Third Seat	23 cubic feet	12.6 cubic feet
Third Seat Folded	57.3 cubic feet	38.5 cubic feet
Second Seat Folded	97.5 cubic feet	75.5 cubic feet

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Acadia easier. The Acadia’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 30.6 inches, while the Sorento’s liftover is 31.7 inches.

The Acadia’s cargo area is larger than the Sorento’s in almost every dimension:

	Acadia	Sorento
Length to seat (3rd/2nd/1st)	24”/53.9”/85.7”	15.5”/42.5”/76.5”
Max Width	52”	54”
Min Width	48.5”	42.4”
Height	35”	33”

Both the Acadia and the Sorento offer second row automatic folding seats. The Acadia Denali’s third row seats also fold up or down at the press of a switch. The Sorento doesn’t offer automatic folding third row seats.

Towing

The Acadia’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Sorento’s (5000 vs. 2000 pounds).

Servicing Ease

The Acadia uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Sorento uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

Ergonomics

The Acadia’s instruments include an oil pressure gauge and a temperature gauge - which could save your engine! Often ‘idiot lights’ don’t warn you until damage has been done. The Sorento does not have an oil pressure gauge.

The Acadia offers an optional heads-up display that projects speed, tachometer, navigation instruction, infotainment and driver assistance information readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Sorento doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Acadia’s front and rear power windows all lower with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside of the car. The Sorento’s standard power windows’ passenger windows don’t open automatically.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Acadia’s headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Sorento’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

The Acadia’s optional rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Sorento offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The Acadia has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the vehicle heater warms up. A heated steering wheel is only available on the Sorento SX.

The Acadia Denali Ultimate has standard massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Sorento.

The Acadia has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Sorento S/EX/SX.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the GMC Acadia has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Only the Sorento S/EX/SX offers wireless charging.

The Acadia’s optional Enhanced Automatic Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, stopping and changing direction automatically. The Sorento doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

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