The NSX! The NSX! Type "Acura" into the old Google-ometer and you'd think Honda's upscale brand had invented teleportation. In a way, they sort of have, with a new half-hybrid sportscar that promises to resurrect one of the most beloved performance badges of the 1990s.
The problem is, as shiny and fast as the upcoming sportscar might be, it's just not important. Mid-engined supercars are neat, and I certainly look forward to not actually being allowed to drive the thing (and possibly being told to stop licking its paintwork), but they're not the kinds of cars Acura actually sells in any number.
This seven-seat machine is. Totally new for 2014, the Acura MDX is a vehicle that will more directly affect everyone's lives, not least those of the folks working in the Acura dealership.
It's the backbone of the company, the real flagship of the brand. It's the heavy lifter that carries that Acura banner into the battle for sales - where excellence really counts.
Design
As far as that whole "totally new" thing goes, you might not really have noticed the changes. Let's walk through them together.
Up front, the MDX retains the beaky prow of a robotic snapping turtle, but now it's a robot with eyes formed of LEDs. They're not just the yearround Christmas lights that Audi first popularized either, these clustered "Jewel Eyes" actually work slightly better than regular xenon headlights, and run cooler than the more conventional projector headlamps.
They also give the MDX something of an insectoid look, but it's the sole rough edge on a smoothed-over shape that does everything it can to be inoffensive. Bulging fender flares, plasticized wheel-arches, and big chrome wheels? You won't find those here.
Instead, you get a very conventional, very conservative, handsome but anonymous shape. To my mind, it's a bit like that line of business attire from Arc'teryx -- sensible, capable and no shouting please.
Environment
As the MDX rides on an entirely new platform, you won't be surprised to hear that things have been shuffled around inside a bit. Noticeably, width is down, giving a little less elbow room for side-by-side seating.
The old car ran on the old Odyssey chassis, and was a bit more capacious. However, rear seat room is up, particularly in the third row. It's also easier for small fries to clamber back there with a new button-operated folding system, and they have a bit more space to fill with Lego and Skylanders and what-have-you.
Acura includes a pair of entertainment systems for your unruly rear-seat passengers, with a single DVD player available as part of the Technology package, and an extra-wide screen on the Elite car. This last can also run in splitscreen mode, meaning no squabbling over what to watch.
Up front, driver and passenger get really comfortable seats, with lots of power adjustability and a little bit more lateral support than in the main Japanese rivals.
Where once the MDX relied on a graphing calculator's worth of buttons, it's now controlled by a large touchscreen. It's easy to use, but you wonder if they shouldn't maybe have kept the heated seats and so forth as regular buttons.
Performance
Just like any newly released model, the MDX has even more power than before: formerly propelled by a lusty 3.7-litre V-6 with 300 horsepower, the new truck now gets 290 h.p. from a 3.5-litre powerplant. Wait, I must have read that wrong.
Nope. This year's MDX gets less power overall.
The rationale for the mild reduction in go is simple: less filling, still drives great. Acura has shaved the weight off with the new chassis, and can therefore get away with fewer horses under the hood without hurting performance.
The drive is very good. While the six-speed automatic isn't as slick as the octo-boxes in some of the Germanic competition, it does feel durable and reliable, and is plenty smooth. The V-6 is frankly excellent, with plenty of power and smoothness. Passing and acceleration are not a problem at all, and you'd never notice that a few horses have been put out to pasture.
Handling has also been positively affected by the reduction in mass, although the power steering has a little too much lightness to be really sporting. Not that anything in this segment is supposed to handle like a roller-coaster, but there's a very slight amount of play in the steering - one small way the old model was superior.
The actual grip levels are great, with most of the credit going to Acura's comedynamed Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive. This provides not just good handling, but Super Handling. Says so right in the owner's manual.
Despite being quite large, though nimbler than the old vehicle, the MDX's trick torque-vectoring rear axle can shunt power to an outside wheel, helping rotate it through a corner. You'll hardly be burning up the backroads on the school run, but the system is very good in the wet, and should help bring a little extra driver confidence behind the wheel if the weather turns snowy.
Features
One way Acura tries to entice you away from the prestige associated with a BMW roundel or a three-pointed Mercedes-Benz star is by bundling features together in easy to understand groupings. The MDX comes in four flavours spanning from just under $50K to $65K, and they all make sense.
Just the basic luxuries (and you even get a heated steering wheel as standard)? That's simply the MDX. Need navigation to get where you're going? That's the MDX Navi.
The top level Elite trim is incredibly well-equipped, with everything from the aforementioned split-screen DVD to satellite navigation, to ventilated seats, to a 12-speaker surround sound system. It's also outfitted with several safety systems including a surround-view camera to assist in parking, and a collision warning and lane-keeping system.
Fuel economy has improved as a result of the weight-loss, with official ratings now set at 7.7 litres/100 kilometres highway and 11.2 l/100 km city. Expect city mileage to be slightly higher, but the highway mileage is justachievable with careful driving.
Green Light
Good handling; excellent value; high level of standard features and equipment; very quiet.
Stop Sign
Numb steering; bland styling; limited towing capacity.
The Checkered Flag
A solid improvement. Who cares about supercars? Competitors Lexus RX350 ($46,150) The first Japanese brand to really come up with the idea of a crossoverish SUV, Lexus has been riding a wave of sales success with their RX for some time. It's a no-brainer of a choice, with excellent dependability and a very polished drive.
It is, however, a little outdated when placed next to the just-released MDX. Worse, if you want an updated powertrain, you have to move to the F-Sport model to get the eight-speed transmission. It's fine for a car like the screaming-fast LFA to wear the angry face of the Predator, but it looks a bit wonky on a luxury SUV.
