I am reposting this from the Veracruz vs CX-9 topic which I went off topic to compare the Acadia vs CX-9:
Well, I also drove a CX-9 yesterday (Friday), an hour or two before I found out that my Acadia was at the dealer and being prepped. I was becoming frustrated with how long the Acadia was taking as well as I was intrigued by the back-up camera in the Nav. I went during lunch, with two of my large coworkers who sat in the 2nd row. Here are some of my findings:
Ride and Comfort - Acadia wins hands down. Our new Acadia with the 18" rides smoother by far than the Grand Touring CX-9 with 20" rims. Quieter, smoother. --
Handling-- the CX-9 wins IMO. That is not to say I am not completely satisfied with the Acadia. Today I took it on a windy 2-lane, and the Acadia handled better at speed through turns than my Mustang does. In the CX-9, we had taken a cloverleaf which was fairly well torn up from trucks, and never stopped accelerating through it--wheels were leaving the ground, but the CX-9 was just solid. The CX-9 is a few hundred pounds lighter, but the size is very close, the Acadia is about 2 inches longer and 2 inches wider-- but the Acadia seems like a large SUV, and the CX-9 seems more like a midsize or smaller -- in some ways it seems like you are driving a much smaller vehicle - like a Jeep SUV.
Comfort-- the front seats in the Acadia are way more comfortable. The CX-9 seats were roomy, but it seemed there was too much pressure into my thighs. The Acadia on the other hand just is great. The seats are not as soft as our Grand Cherokee Limited were, but the additional support and firmness will actually be better on a trip I think. My two large buddies reported they were very comfortable in the second row of the CX-9, but it looks like the Acadia has much more legroom from the Smartslide. The entry/exit on the CX-9 sucks compared to the Acadia, I think it made about 8" of floor available for stepthrough-- Mazda screwed up on that, for that much space, if you don't have the smartslide, then you need to go to fold up method like the Envoy XL or Armada (a lot of others fold in the way I am thinking, but these two are the only examples I can state).
Another thing on comfort, it seemed like the controls for the external mirrors are just a long way away in the CX-9.
And another note on entry/exit. The backdoors of the CX-9 are "BIG". The Acadia doors are just 'big'. Where the Acadia doors are rectangular, like a rear door on a truck, the CX-9 doors are shaped to accomodate the rear wheel (like the rear doors on a car), but at the widest point, I think are much wider than the Acadia. First thing I did on the Acadia was put on edge strips on the doors, so my Mustang won't pick up dings in the garage, but as long as we are parked right, the Acadia doors can open fully, and not hit the Mustang-- the CX-9 would probably contact the canvas roof or the passenger windows of the Mustang, but it would be hitting the Mustang a lot.
Visibility - One reason I wanted to drive the CX-9 was for the rear view camera, and that is the ONLY place where visibility was better in the CX-9. You cannot tell where the front of the Acadia or the CX-9 is, but you see almost NO hood in the CX-9- this is always disconcerting to me. Mazda might as well have put sheet metal over the 3rd row windows, I could not see anything from the drivers seat. The side mirrors were lacking in the CX-9-- I would prefer they be even larger in the Acadia, but they are sufficient, with the CX-9 they were just too tiny. I was having trouble merging on the interstate with the CX-9.
Room and storage-- I already stated that I think you get more 2nd row room in the Acadia.. Drop the 3rd rows, and the Acadia has more room for storage behind row 2. The Acadia has a little more behind row 3. The Acadia is loaded with bins and compartments - the CX-9 is not.
This is all seems to say I prefer the Acadia-- and I do for what I bought it for. I drive it for trips and for family outings. It is my wifes car for getting groceries and taking the kid to school and such. We wanted smooth and quiet, and even considered waiting for an Enclave, except we wanted HUD (BTW, not avail on CX-9) -- and also we prefer to think (fooling ourselves) we are too young for Buick. // But if I was buying my daily driver, one to drive to work, one to drive to the golf course, and then to use for trips as a secondary purpose-- I would probably prefer the CX-9. To borrow their phrase, there is more zoom-zoom to it. Mazda is missing an opportunity by not having a smoother ride available for the CX-9 top trim. You can make a sport top trim with the 20" rims, but they should also make one smooth and comfortable just as GMC has made available with the 18"s still available on the SLT2.
And GMC needs to get that back-up camera in the Acadia and other Lambdas PDQ.