http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/03/19/acura-mdx-suv-awd-transmission/25037063/Honda's Acura premium brand has brought admirable improvements to its respected MDX three-row SUV, the brand's best-selling model. .
A new nine-speed automatic transmission shifts in dandy fashion, Acura apparently having avoided the not-quite-right tuning that has plagued Fiat Chrysler Automobiles nine-speeds.
The console buttons to shift among the gear positions are easy to learn and use, and open space in the area, as Acura notes. Hardly as satisfying as an old-school gear lever, but probably an overall benefit to most users.
The enhanced version of SH-AWD — Super-Handling All Wheel Drive — is a snow champ, gripping and delivering confident forward motion before any wheel slips, which some AWD systems require to trigger their best performance.
Additional features and models make it easier to pick the configuration you want. We especially like the one-button power tip/slide feature that opens access to the third row.
But the infotainment/connectivity setup remains cumbersome. To simplify, we wound up suction-cupping our aftermarket Garmin navigation/phone system onto the factory screen. Blocks your view of what the back-up camera sees, but when you're on a road trip that doesn't matter as much. And you can up-stick the aftermarket device as needed -- if you really do choose the outrageous solution of using an aftermarket navi.
And, based on travel with three adults and four pre-teen boys, the machine's a tighter fit than its size would suggest. Nobody really felt well-treated in the space department, complaints coming from every row.
Second-row riders can't slide their seats back as far as comfortable without slamming rear-riders' legs. That, in turn, meant first-row occupants couldn't slide back as far as they'd like without impinging on second-row space and dominoing the compromise into the third row.
Cargo space behind the third row isn't impressive, though you could argue that there are bigger SUVs available for those who value that attribute more.
Oddly enough, Test Drive found the MDX rides hard, beyond just firm. A new suspension system could perhaps be a culprit. We remember other Acuras having a better blend of ride and handling than the tested MDX did.
And the vehicle's no better-looking that ever, still carrying vestiges of Acura's ill-advised, wedged-shaped, cow-catcher front end, an apparent throw-back to steam locomotives of the 1800s.
Mileage of the test vehicle was so-so. We registered 22.5 mpg in easy-going highway driving, and 14.5 mpg in short-hop, cold weather suburban driving.
Acura offers similar models with and without idle stop, so we get a peek at what the feature's worth: 1 mpg in city and combined city/highway ratings. Most automakers simply assert that without demonstrating it. The feature shuts off the engine at long traffic lights and similar situations where the engine needn't be running.
We left the test vehicle's turned on, and found it less intrusive and annoying that some.
If you think it takes electronic gadgets to drive safely these days — stay in your own lane, halt without bumping the car in front that's made an unexpected stop, see cross traffic behind you before you back up — MDX has 'em.
We wonder whatever happened to responsible, well-executed, even artful, driving by a human. But we accept a friend's argument that you can shut off some of the devices and retain control, while the bozos who can't drive well have electronic help and thus might not crash into you.
And, on long highway trips, the lane-keeping and sudden-stop features can, in fact, be helpful to even top-flight drivers.
Still, we worry about the pronouncement at a California confab earlier this week by Tesla boss Elon Musk:
"In the distant future, I think people may outlaw driving cars because it's too dangerous," Musk was quoted as saying by Automotive News. "You can't have a person driving a two-ton death machine."
That raised such a ruckus that Musk later clarified in a tweet: "To be clear, Tesla is strongly in favor of people being allowed to drive their cars and always will be. Hopefully, that is obvious." He added: "However, when self-driving cars become safer than human-driven cars, the public may outlaw the latter. Hopefully not."
That, of course, could have the effect of preventing folks from driving if they couldn't afford the thousands of dollars that such self-driving suites add the a car's price -- assuming they could afford the car otherwise. It'll take awhile for such machines to trickle into the used-car market and become more affordable.
And it'll remove a source of great joy and satisfaction from the lives of at least some of us.
But that's hardly Acura's fault, or problem.
Stepping back and regarding the MDX as an entire package, we'd say it's easy and inviting to drive, classy enough to satisfy those addicted to premium machines, high-tech enough to indulge that tendency in many of today's driver.
Good choice for those who fit, can decode operation of the infotainment/connectivity electronics and can spend $43,000 to $58,000.
2016 ACURA MDX HIGHLIGHTS
•All-wheel drive: Unusually sure-footed in snow
•Smoothness: Still a major attribute
•Space: Tighter than expected
2016 ACURA MDX DETAILS
•What? Update of Acura's best-seller: Four-door, seven-passenger crossover SUV, featuring new nine-speed transmission, enhanced all-wheel drive, more available options, extended range of models.
•When? On sale since Feb. 4.
•Where? Made at Lincoln, Ala., until 2017, then in Alabama and at East Liberty, Ohio.
•How much?$42,865 to $58,000, including $920 shipping.
•What makes it go? 3.5-liter V-6 rated 290 horsepower at 6,200 rpm, 267 pounds-feet of torque at 4,500 rpm, nine-speed automatic transmission. Available with FWD or AWD.
•How big? Similar to Infiniti QX60 (formerly JX35) outside, less legroom inside.
MDX weighs 3,960 to 4,268 lbs. depending on model and equipment.
Cargo space, 14.8 cubic feet behind third row to 68.4 cu. ft. behind first row, second and third rows folded.
Turning circle diameter, 38.7 ft. curb-to-curb.
•How thirsty? Rated 18 to 20 mpg in the city, 26-27 on the highway, 21-23 in combined city/highway driving, depending on model, equipment.
AWD test car registered 22.5 mpg (4.44 gallons per 100 miles) in easy-going highway driving, 14.5 mpg (6.9 gal./100 mi.) in cold-weather, short-hop suburban driving.
Premium recommended. Tank holds 19.5 gal.
•Overall: Classy, quick and nimble, tight fit inside, complicated infotainment/connectivity suite.
