A family looking for a High-Tech, High-Power
Luxury SUV with room for 7
Comparable
models in this class:
BMW X5, Infiniti QX4, Lexus RX300, Mercedes
Benz ML320, Mitsubishi Montero Limited
And another one joins
the fray. Acura has introduced the MDX, a luxury sport utility vehicle that has
been designed form the ground up by Acura to be class-leading in performance and
utility.
The MDX competes head-to-head with the Lexus RX300 in all categories. The
power and performance are similar, with each vehicle reflecting the respective
manufacturer's spin on a luxury vehicle. Like the RX300, the MDX probably
wouldn't be totally at home riding the Rubicon in California, but it'll handle
almost anything a normal SUV can handle. The key is that it does it in complete
comfort.
The
first sensation you gain when you shift into "D" and take off is the
smoothness of the ride. Here is an SUV with ride quality to match the best of
them. So I was surprised when I discovered that the suspension isn't some exotic
combination of intricate geometries. The front suspension is independent,
incorporating struts and an "L" arm. The rear is also independent,
using multi-links and a trailing arm. There are gas-pressurized shocks at all
four corners.
This suspension package offers a smooth ride on paved roads, good handling on
winding roads, and a reasonable ride on washboard dirt roads. We took the MDX on
a nice straight washboard dirt road near our daughter's house in Virginia. In
some vehicles, it's hard to hold onto the steering wheel on these roads. In the
MDX, not only were we able to hold onto the wheel, the ride quality was good.
There was a lot of feedback because of the road surface, but we were able to
maintain control and comfort.
Under the hood is a 3.5-liter single overhead cam V-6 engine rated at a
comfortable 240 horsepower. It also has a wide torque band, so you can stay in
fifth and still pull along with ease. There's no need for the transmission to go
searching for a gear that will give a higher rpm and more horsepower because
there's adequate torque to do the job, even at relatively low rpms.
Connecting the engine to the 17-inch wheels is a five-speed automatic
transmission with a "manual transmission" shifter. It took some
getting used to, not having a "T" lever to work the gears.
Acura has filled the MDX with some interesting features. One is a third row
of seats. This two-passenger 50-50 split rear seat pushes the MDX into a
seven-passenger vehicle. The front two rows of seats are leather-trimmed, with
the third row upholstered in leather-like vinyl. Quite naturally, the third row
seats fold flat to give increased carrying capacity, and this was the use we
gave the MDX most of the time. You can also fold the second-row seats, further
increasing carrying capacity. That's for people who don't have a lot of friends
but have a lot of cargo to carry. Granted, legroom in the back seats isn't
great, but they'll do for children, or for adults on shorter trips. Maximum
cargo capacity is 81.5 cubic feet, 49.6 cubic feet with the third row seats down
and 14.6 cubic feet with all seats up.
On long trips, I found it difficult to get maximum comfort from the driver's
seat. I worked up a back ache that was relieved by the heated feature of the
front seat, but I would rather not have had the ache.
There's a huge screen in the middle of the dash that offers a
mélange of
information. You can learn your range left in the fuel tank, your mileage (21.1
mpg), the outside temperature, the direction of air flow, your instantaneous
mileage (useless) and a few other things. I did not have a chance to check out
the optional navigation system as it wasn't available at the time of this test,
but I know Acura has an excellent GPS system in its luxury sedans so I expect
the unit for the MDX will be just as good. The screen is also quite bright, so on a dark night there's a great
deal of light inside the vehicle. I had trouble finding the switch to either dim
the light or shut it off.
All in all, though, the MDX is a great SUV. It's comfortable, it has utility,
and it's smooth. Acura didn't provide us with a price sticker at the time of the
test, so we guessed
that it would go for somewhere between ,000 and ,000. We were
surprised when we learned that the base price was below ,000 with a loaded
model coming in at under ,000.
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The
first sensation you gain when you shift into "D" and take off is the
smoothness of the ride. Here is an SUV with ride quality to match the best of
them. So I was surprised when I discovered that the suspension isn't some exotic
combination of intricate geometries. The front suspension is independent,
incorporating struts and an "L" arm. The rear is also independent,
using multi-links and a trailing arm. There are gas-pressurized shocks at all
four corners. 
Acura has filled the MDX with some interesting features. One is a third row
of seats. This two-passenger 50-50 split rear seat pushes the MDX into a
seven-passenger vehicle. The front two rows of seats are leather-trimmed, with
the third row upholstered in leather-like vinyl. Quite naturally, the third row
seats fold flat to give increased carrying capacity, and this was the use we
gave the MDX most of the time. You can also fold the second-row seats, further
increasing carrying capacity. That's for people who don't have a lot of friends
but have a lot of cargo to carry. Granted, legroom in the back seats isn't
great, but they'll do for children, or for adults on shorter trips. Maximum
cargo capacity is 81.5 cubic feet, 49.6 cubic feet with the third row seats down
and 14.6 cubic feet with all seats up. 
There's a huge screen in the middle of the dash that offers a
mélange of
information. You can learn your range left in the fuel tank, your mileage (21.1
mpg), the outside temperature, the direction of air flow, your instantaneous
mileage (useless) and a few other things. I did not have a chance to check out
the optional navigation system as it wasn't available at the time of this test,
but I know Acura has an excellent GPS system in its luxury sedans so I expect
the unit for the MDX will be just as good. The screen is also quite bright, so on a dark night there's a great
deal of light inside the vehicle. I had trouble finding the switch to either dim
the light or shut it off. 
