It doesn’t take being the biggest fan to have seen lots of vehicles whose releases brought oversized attention to a particular aspect, in order to make it a strong sales argument against their respective competitors. The current V40, as any other Volvo, gave priority for the safety. A-Class, in turn, highlights Mercedes’ young side, while A3 reminds of Audi’s sportiness. On the other hand, many others have proven it is possible to sell well without that strategy. Acura MDX now reaches one more generation being one of these.
There are so many crossovers, whether small, mid-size or big, that it’s getting each time harder to know at least most of them. Since Honda’s new division was founded in 1986 to compete at the luxury categories, it would be a nonsense not to have what was called a luxury SUV at that time, like Jeep Grand Cherokee and Land Rover Range Rover. But, like every other recently created division, Acura’s own image still wasn’t too clear, specially to the public. The obvious solution is to increase the number of processes which don’t depend on the parent automaker, but these investments frequently result too risky for a marque which is still conquering its first clients. That’s why Acura’s first SUV was, in fact, a new badge for another brand’s model. This time not a Honda, like the urban cars, but Isuzu Trooper. However, the new Acura SLX’s sales turned out poor, probably because it was a minor rebadging for a product sold at several other countries and with cheaper prices. The new brand’s bad luck only came to an end in 2001, when they did nothing but follow that mentioned obvious solution. Named after “Multi-Dimensional Luxury”, MDX used Honda’s global mid-size platform just like Accord and Odyssey, paired to more powerful engines, truly improved interior and much younger design.
And this is the point where MDX’s story becomes curious to observe. The second generation arrived in 2007 also with several improvements in comfort, technology and performance and radical style changes, but the third decided not to worry with the latter aspect. Once again the car has been entirely reprojected and became much more modern, but it’ll be very hard to tell it from the previous one. The fact is this crossover managed to be Acura’s best-seller without any special characteristics such as best performance or revolutionary styling. That’s the most probable reason for MDX’s biggest concern being improve what the people have already proved to like, such as the two LCD console screens to reduce the number of buttons. The dimension increase was dedicated to create easier access to the third row of seats, and the safety was boosted with the latest electronic programs to prevent accidents which will be available through the car’s packages along with lots of comfort equipments. This car now offers some trims with front-wheel-drive probably to reduce the final prices, but AWD is still easy to have, along with the standard six-speed automatic transmission. When it comes to powertrain, the 290-hp and 267-lb-ft 3.5L V6 engine may be slightly weaker than the previous 3.7L, but achieves much better mileage: average 22.5 mpg, which goes to 24 mpg with FWD.
