When it comes to mid-size crossovers that ooze premium through every trim piece, Acura has an interesting contender in the form of the MDX. Redesigned from the ground up for the 2022 model year, the seven-seat utility vehicle is much to the liking of The Fast Lane’s resident canine.
It’s a bit of a tight squeeze for the lovely dog with the rearmost row of seats in their upright position, but in five-seat configuration, the MDX is more than adequate for Blaze. You can also remove the second-row middle seat if you want captain’s chairs, but more importantly, the third-row seats are more than adequate for adults on short journeys and for emergencies.
Tommy Mica from TFL also makes a case for a clever piece of design in the cargo area, namely the two-sided trunk floor with carpet and plastic lining. Of course, the plasticky side is the one you want if you’re taking a furry friend to the park for a walk or to the vet for whatnot. As expected of an Acura utility vehicle, the brand-new MDX also boats a power liftgate.
“Alright, I get it. But what about the rest?” One of the biggest highlights is the pop-up mechanism for the USB ports area, which frees up the center console if you’re not charging your phone. Speaking of mobile devices, this particular specification features wireless charging for Qi-enabled phones.
A full suite of cameras is available at just a press of the index finger away, thanks to a little button integrated on the end of the right-hand stalk, and the quality of the leather is really high quality according to Tommy. The paddle shifters, on the other hand, are a little gimmicky on such a comfy crossover.
Be it the base 3.5-liter V6 or the more powerful 3.0-liter V6 with a twin-turbo setup, the Acura MDX comes standard with a 10-speed automatic transmission that offers four-gear direct downshifts and a lower first gear compared to the previous nine-speed box. Despite this improvement, all-wheel-drive models return up to 21 miles to the gallon (11.2 liters per 100 kilometers) combined, which is one mile to the gallon worse than the previous generation.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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