GMC Acadia does not need paddle shifters. What it does need is a second row 40/20/40 bench seating. It also needs to have the 2.7 Turbo Engine like in the Canyon and Colorado cousin pickup trucks. This simplify engine inventories and build process for both the Acadia and Chevy Traverse for GM products.
The 2.5 is based off the 2.7 block, but makes more power and torque. Not sure your argument makes sense. There have been many articles written about why GM chose to go with the 2.5 vs the 2.7
Turbo engines The majority of the driving public do not know enough about engines, turbos, cubic inches, torque and horsepower to care. Just like and air compressor, the higher the pressure you run it the shorter the life of the pump, a car engine is a pump. Turbo's pressurize the engine to falsely make it put out more power. The 4 cylinders lose power as they get more miles on them, there is no substitute for cubic inches, horsepower and torque. I have built engines and turb's boost the pressure into the small engines creating more power at the expense of the life of the engine. Your maintenance cost will exponentially increase with a turbo when it fails. Any economy you may have gotten from the turbo will be totally lost on the replacement cost of the turbo. This vehicle is way too large/heavy for a 4 cylinder. A long list of gadgets will not negate the lack of power from a 4 cylinder, not to mention the turbo lag when you need all the power from the small 4 cylinder. GM has lost this customer.