Acura MDX exudes a quiet confidence
Popular mid-size SUV solidly straddles the line between sporty and luxurious
A solid player in the mid-size luxury SUV segment, Acura’s thirdgeneration MDX has always struck me as conflicted, trying to be both sporty and luxurious, yet somehow not completely comfortable in either camp.
Oh, it has the content, especially in the top Elite trim, required of an upscale rig, just not the necessary demeanour to be truly posh. It boasts a strong visual presence, made more so with a freshening last year that re-contoured its front end, and sufficient power under the hood, but not an excessive amount of either.
That said, my fellow members of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) have voted the MDX Best Large Utility Vehicle in Canada for 2018, on top of it winning Best New SUV over $60,000 in 2014. Clearly, it has its fans.
Now the Elite six-passenger version, a late introduction last year, ups the SUV’s luxury quotient. Specifically, Acura swaps out the second-row bench for two captain’s chairs, and adds a centre console with two additional USB ports for third-row passengers — the brand stating that this MDX model is the only luxury SUV in its class to offer this seat configuration.
The result is a cabin mimicking that of a corporate jet.
Throw in genuine Olive Ash Burl wood trim (or Black Limba, if that is your preference) and a surround-view camera system with six selectable viewing angles — all standard on the Elite — and the inner MDX is looking très chic. Making this selection, though, deletes the otherwise available rear-seat entertainment system, reducing the sport ute’s appeal as family transportation.
Furthermore, those rearmost seats are not meant for anyone other than kids or very short, very skinny and very limber adults. And using the back row seats also takes a huge bite out of rear cargo room.
A more serene ride might be expected from the MDX. Yet there are a couple of glitches. The first is an assertive throttle tip-in (more than mild, less than necksnapping ) that, unless one is really light on the gas pedal, can cause the sport ute to take off with a little too much verve. The second is a stiff ride. I’m thinking the tester’s P245/50R20 snow tires might be the culprit.
Sitting under the MDX’s reshaped hood is Honda’s ubiquitous 3.5-L direct-injected i-VTEC 24-valve V6 that pumps out 290 horsepower, along with 267 pound-feet of torque. It’s a responsive and smooth engine.
Acceleration is good, taking about seven seconds to hit 100 km/h.
The nine-speed’s shifts are all but imperceptible.
The cabin is more high-tech functional than overtly luxurious, and packed with all the mod cons that should be typical in something costing $66,190: navigation system with voice recognition, AcuraLink infotainment system, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a 546-watt premium audio system, tri-zone climate control, a surround-view camera system and a whole bunch more.
The MDX is a solid player, the 5,838 units sold last year making it Acura’s second-best selling model after the RDX.
It might straddle the fence between sport and luxury, but it still goes about its business with a quiet confidence and it deserves to be high on the list for those shopping for an upscale SUV.