Muscular Acura MDX earns its keep
“These Americans,” sputtered Roger from next door. “They don’t know what they’re buying.”
Roger was fresh from the auto show. He was in a high dudgeon.
“These … these things ,” he fumed. “They’re everywhere! They’re just … . “
“I know,” I said, finishing his thought for him: “They’re just tall station wagons.”
Roger is Welsh. Many of our ways puzzle him, including our infatuation with the crossover-utility vehicle, or CUV.
If you haven’t been keeping score, CUVs look like SUVs and in many ways act like them.
But SUVs are built on truck platforms; CUVs are built on car platforms.
SUVs are stronger; they tow more weight and carry heavier loads.
CUVs tend to ride and handle better than SUVs.
SUVs are generally more capable off-road and CUVs less thirsty.
Subaru’s Outback wagon kick-started the CUV movement in 1995; today, nearly every manufacturer has at least one. Last year, crossovers accounted for 14 percent of U.S. auto sales; J.D. Power says by 2010 that number will grow to 20 percent.
A Wagon on Steroids?
But is Roger right? Is a CUV merely a ripped wagon?
He wouldn’t be the first to say so; I’ve done it here.
Luckily, we have at our disposal a prime example of the CUV breed. Let’s take a look.
Acura’s second-generation, midsize 2007 MDX is one of the best of the CUVs. Priced from $40,665, it’s built like a concrete bunker and offers first-class accommodations.
It blends a terrific ride, sport-sedan handling and the all-weather surefootedness of a mountain goat in mid-January.
The MDX is available in a single, well-equipped trim. Every MDX includes leather upholstery (and not just any leather, but fragrant, soft-as-a-baby’s-butt leather); three-zone automatic climate control; sunroof with one-touch open and close; auto on/off headlights; full power accessories; remote keyless entry; cruise control; fog lights; and an AM/FM/CD audio system with MP3 capability and satellite radio.
A full complement of airbags, including three-row curtains; anti-lock brakes, with brake-force distribution and brake assist; and electronic stability control hold down the safety fort.
Three option packages — Tech (which includes a nav system), Sport and DVD — can be mixed and matched.
Muscled-up for ‘07
To increase its appeal to men, Acura gives the MDX new muscle. Its 3.7-liter V-6 is rated at 300 horsepower and 275 foot-pounds of torque. A five-speed automatic, with manual shift mode, manages the power.
A new focus on handling is based on the implementation of Acura’s Super Handling All-wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system, about which we will just say, Acura often engineers its products better than it names them.
SH-AWD works to keep the MDX on the road and pointing in the correct direction. Its genius lies in a programming algorithm that causes the outside rear wheel to rotate more quickly during cornering. This simple trick produces marvelous handling on dry pavement and nearly miraculous stability in wet and snowy conditions – without robbing the MDX of precious forward momentum.
It is the source of its mountain-goat greatness.
A separate anti-skid system works by braking the slipping wheels, slowing the vehicle in the process. It kicks in only if the situation threatens to overwhelm SH-AWD.
The new platform has a longer wheelbase and new suspension geometry and calibrations, producing a smoother ride and better handling. Where some of its sport-oriented competitors ride a bit stiffly, the MDX is fluid and smooth. It slips gracefully over broken pavement, yet digs willingly into fast corners and exhibits only modest lean during quick transitions. The steering is nicely weighted, precise and communicative.
Acura tuned the MDX on Germany’s famed Nurburgring racecourse and the effort paid off – it pulls a remarkable 0.84g on the skid pad.
The 4,541-pound MDX is a bit sluggish off the line, but is plenty quick at freeway-merge and passing speeds. EPA ratings are 17 city/22 highway, and Acura specs premium fuel.
A Wagon by Any Other Name?
So is the MDX a wagon, or does it represent a genuinely new category?
CUVs are built on car platforms, so they’re not SUVs in the true sense. But then neither are minivans — and how do we account for traditional European wagons?
We recently tested an Audi A6 wagon. It’s a lovely machine, with smart styling, seating for five and a spacious cargo hold.
Like the MDX, it aspires to sport-sedan handling and its AWD system is both weather- and track-proven. Like the MDX, its cabin features first-class amenities and rides swiftly and silently down the road.
But the MDX has a tall seating position, carts 20 percent more cargo (83.5 cubic feet vs. 68.8) and offers greater capacity and versatility in seating. Its ground clearance bests the Audi’s (though by less than you’d think) and it will tow a 5,000-pound trailer.
So, Roger, I’m changing my tune: the CUV is its own breed. And the MDX earns its keep and my admiration by wrapping marvelous engineering inside a package that’s eminently safe, comfortable and entertaining.
Call it what you will, that’s a hard proposition to fault.