The 4 or 6 cylinder was a big decision for my wife and I as well. We ended up going with the 4 for a couple reasons:
- Fuel Economy. Gas might be relatively cheap now, but if it spikes back up (and it will), we'd rather be driving a 4 cylinder. We went with AWD, so AWD+V6 meant pretty iffy fuel economy (we're both used to small 2-door cars like Civics, which inherently get amazing fuel economy compared with trucks and SUVs). The fact that the 4 was rated for roughly the same highway mileage as my Civic is impressive.
- Ride - We test drove a 6, and also a Ford Edge in the summer (similar size/HP), and just weren't overly impressed with how it lays down the power. 6 speed tranny's mean if you stomp on it, you have to let it gear down at least twice until you hit the power band.
- Reviews - All mentioning the 4 was excellent.
Cost wasn't a big issue for us, and I'm not at all opposed to more ponies, but the 4 made more sense for us. I like the fact that with GMs, you have full flexibility about what engine you want in whatever trim you want. You can get a fully loaded model with all the toys, AWD, and still get a I4. With many other companies, you choose between 3 or 4 trims and that's it. Or you need to step up to the larger engines to get the toys. Mind you, that equates to more headache for GM (4 trim levels, 2 engines, 2 drive trains = 16 basic factory configurations, not factoring in options.
As I mentioned, we opted for AWD. We live in Canada and roads get pretty nasty here at times. No brainer.