TSX69

1st Test: 2010 Acura ZDX

Super Looking All-Wheel Drive
September 23, 2009
/ By Ron Kiino
/ Photography by Brian Vance

Whether you like the daring curves of Acura's all-new ZDX crossover, there's no denying that there is something super about its shape -- it stands out among today's array of sport/utilities like an Armani suit at 24 Hour Fitness. While one editor thought the ZDX resembled a "Mitsubishi's Dakar-racing Pajero Evo mated with a TL," an overwhelming majority of our team was drawn to this audacious Acura, especially its blacked-out all-glass roof, accentuated fenders, and hidden door handles just fore the C-pillar. "Calling the ZDX distinctive is an understatement," says associate Web producer Carlos Lago. "It looks otherworldly. It's the best looking vehicle in Acura's camp -- and I mean that as a compliment. Love the view from the rear. Its strong, wide shoulders give a dominant, purposeful shape." Editor at large Arthur St. Antoine says, "I'll admit it: I was taken aback -- no, shocked -- by my first sight of the ZDX in the metal. This thing is out there-to my eye, way edgier and more futuristic-looking than the X6. But the more I looked, the more I found the ZDX...interesting. Even...stunning." Sure, the ZDX sports Acura's signature and controversial can-opener grille that we've ridiculed on the TL, TSX, et al, but on this bigger, fastback sport/ute, it works -- at least more so than on the brand's sedans.

We experienced similar fuzzy feelings from behind the wheel. Slide into this so-called "four-door sports coupe" -- watch your head, because the sloping roofline is lower than you expect, especially when entering the back seat -- and you're treated to the most elegant cabin in a luxury Honda to date. A leather-stitched dash? You bet. Leather-stitched door panels, too? Why not. Even the cargo area is lined with premium loop-style carpet that wouldn't look out of place in a Beverly Hills living room. Speaking of the cargo area, it features side panels than can be niftily detached, allowing for such long, bulky objects as golf bags. Our top-of-the-line test vehicle, equipped with the available Advance Package, also included ventilated front seats, blind-spot warning system, adaptive cruise control, Collision Mitigating Braking System (CMBS), and Acura's new Integrated Dynamics System (IDS), which allows for adjusting the dampers between comfort and sport modes. Lest we forget, the Advance Package encompasses everything in the available Technology Package -- ELS premium audio, Bluetooth phone and streaming audio, backup camera, and navigation with traffic and weather updates.

Step on the throttle and turn the fat-rimmed three-spoke leather-wrapped wheel, and those fuzzy feelings are quickly transfused with adrenaline. Underhood resides a 3.7-liter single-cam V-6 that routs 300 horses and 270 pound-feet through a new six-speed automatic and Acura's signature "Super Handling" all-wheel-drive system. Zero to 60 takes just 6.5 seconds and lateral grip, at 0.83 g, falls right in sport-sedan territory. Depending on how you set the IDS, the ride can be tuned from sporty firm to tautly supple. And even with our lead foots spurring it along, the ZDX delivered 17.1-mpg observed fuel economy.

While its most direct competitor, the 300-horse twin-turbo BMW X6 xDrive 35i, is quicker to 60 (5.9 seconds) and around the skidpad (0.87 g), the ZDX is more fun to drive. The reason, unsurprisingly, is weight. At 4445 pounds, the ZDX is no bantam, but it tips the scales with 540 fewer pounds than a comparably equipped X6. Sure, the BMW's twin-turbo I-6 and nifty xDrive all-wheel drive make it quick in a straight line and around a circle, but it can't cheat the laws of physics and mask 4985 pounds when tackling a twisty road. What about the Infiniti FX? Yes, in terms of test numbers and road manners, the lighter 4293-pound FX35 AWD is more akin to the ZDX, scooting to 60 in 6.1 seconds and around the skid pad with 0.82 g of lateral grip. Nevertheless, while it's a looker, the FX doesn't wear the shock-and-awe lines of the ZDX, nor is it as fun to drive, lacking the Acura's utter sure-footedness.

Then there's the value proposition. A base ZDX, which comes standard with 19-inch wheels, Xenon headlamps, leather, power/heated front seats, power moonroof and tailgate, XM satellite radio, and Bluetooth, should start in the neighborhood of $44,000. A base X6, which offers heated front seats, power tailgate, satellite radio, and Bluetooth as options, opens at $56,725. When similarly equipped, the Acura should represent a $10,000-$15,000 savings compared with the BMW. And the Infiniti? An FX35 AWD starts at $44,465 and, unlike the Acura, doesn't come standard with Bluetooth, 19-inch wheels, or paddle shifters. Tart up an FX to mimic a ZDX with the Advance Package, and you're looking at a $50,000-plus crossover.

Of course, the ZDX isn't perfect. A couple demerits worth mentioning are the challenging ingress/egress, a cramped back seat (it offers less headroom and legroom than in a Mazda RX-8), and somewhat compromised cargo capacity, which, at 26.3 cubic feet, is less than in the stubbier and narrower Audi Q5. That said, Acura isn't marketing the ZDX as a family transporter; rather, it's a "passionate getaway" car for two adults. So if you need a rig for hauling the spouse and kids, Acura will gladly point you in the direction of the RDX and MDX. Otherwise, opt for the ZDX. No other Acura is as engaging to drive or scintillating to behold -- period.

Acura ZDX in the Living Metallic Brown Flesh

The Acura ZDX press drive's going on in Manhattan today. We'll have more on that later. For the moment, feast your eyes on the mega-gallery of brown metal flesh — and the nicest Acura interior ever — below the jump.

Although I didn't have a chance to drive the car — John's doing that as we speak — thanks to the nice PR folks, I did get a chance to sit inside the new big-assed Acura. The coolest feature I was able to quickly see inside is the center stack's big graphite black button-filled face plate. What's cool about that? Well, the buttons illuminate and glow upon need. So, for instance, if you're listening to the radio, the radio buttons are illuminated. HVAC on? The HVAC buttons are illuminated. All of it's pretty sweet. The leather's sumptuous-looking and rich in texture.

The back seat presents somewhat of a problem for anyone over, say, 5'10" — and the doorway (really, it's more like a hatch) — is somewhat claustrophobic with the easy-to-hurt-ones-ass door jamb readily accessible to smack your tailbone upon entry.

Still, the interior's hot — especially the dual-cockpit front seats — and the exterior? It don't look so bad up close. At least not nearly as bad as we'd initially thought upon the first look at the press shots.

More to come later.

2010 Acura ZDX Hits High Notes Despite Styling Compromises

By James R. Healey, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — Automakers say they are hearing this message from some important (well-heeled) shoppers: Give us the SUV's high seating position with such a nice view and handy cargo space and the foul-weather and bad-road capability that comes with all-wheel drive and ample ground clearance. But change the look, either to the mainstream appeal of a tailored sedan or the excitement of a sports coupe.

Replies so far include Toyota's Venza in the mainstream category and BMW's X6 in the coupe genre.

Come December, Honda's Acura luxury brand joins the fray with the 2010 ZDX.

Penned three years ago by Michelle Christensen — then 25, fresh out of design school and newly hired by Honda — ZDX's style is distinguished by a tucked and tailored roof covered in black glass panels and by rear-wheel bulges that would be striking even if the roof's taper did not accentuate them. It's three-dimensional drama. ZDX looks far less exciting in photos than on the road.

It's all but unique for a rookie designer to have sketches embraced by a car company and rendered almost literally.

ZDX is an Acura MDX crossover SUV underneath, though that's hard to believe because of the differences in looks, interiors and personalities. Same wheelbase and track width, similar suspension but retuned for ZDX, same engine. Transmission, developed for the ZDX, is shared, too, beginning with the 2010 MDX.

Acura views ZDX as a niche product: 6,000 sales the first year, maybe 10,000 in a hot year. Only way to make money on so few is such hardware sharing.

A morning in city traffic here, then a rural romp on parkways and lanes to the north, plus 250 hot-shoe highway miles back home to Virginia and a few more miles through suburban duty in two preproduction ZDXs left a crisp impression:

If you are willing to accept the compromises that come with the coupe styling — and coupes are all about style — ZDX is one terrific piece of work.

Acura says ZDX is meant not as a family vehicle, though it seats four or five adults. It's more for a couple with no kids at home and craving something exciting to see and drive. Able when necessary to tote back-seaters in relative comfort, but the front-seaters get the emphasis.

Compromises (as you'd find in any coupe, which typically is a two-door car with sleek styling):

•Awkward rear entry. There are back doors, but the low roofline means you'll duck and tuck like a suspect going into the back seat of a squad car.

Once in, leg and knee room are far better than suggested by the 31 inches of rear leg space in the specifications. That's due mainly to sculpting of the backs of the front seats. The curving roof, though, skirts the skull closely.

•Poor rear visibility. Fat rear roof pillars and a horizontal crossbar partway down the tailgate's glass panel mean you'll need the rear-view camera and the blind-spot warning system.

•Imperfect cargo space. To carry four golf bags, for instance, you remove side panels from the cargo area and put them under the cargo floor.

On the other hand, ZDX is:

•Exotic. That roofline, especially seen from above. And covering the roof in black glass, attached to a metal frame, is daring. On a black ZDX, the monochrome look is delectable.

A skylight covers both front and rear seats and includes a sliding sunroof over the front. The dashboard, including challenging convex surfaces, is covered in premium leather (inspired by leathered walls at the St. Regis hotel in San Francisco).

•Erotic. Dangerously close to a Cialis ad, Acura says ZDX is for couples who might like a weekend getaway to, uh, reconnect. Goes pretty much anywhere they'd like, any time they wish, Acura says.

The wide rear fenders are supposed to suggest wide, sexy shoulders, the automaker says, illustrating with a photo of a woman's shoulders graced only by narrow straps.

•Exciting. The 3.7-liter V-6 romps quickly up the rev range, catches a shrieking second wind between 4,000 and 5,000 rpm and the new-for-ZDX six-speed automatic snaps up to the next gear so quickly your senses almost don't notice.

The high-end model, Advance, has an adjustable suspension. The driver chooses "sport" for feisty moves or "comfort" when the road's a beast. Each setting automatically adjusts within a range. The test car with that system was a dream. Comfort was smooth, not sloppy; sport was firm, not harsh.

The less-than-handy configuration imposed by the dramatic style could be a turnoff, but those who can make allowances might find ZDX irresistible.

About the 2010 Acura ZDX

•What? Sleek, four-door, five-passenger, crossover SUV aimed at coupe lovers who don't need family-style passenger room but want the stance, capabilities of an SUV. To be marketed as a car but classed by the government as a truck.

•When? Mid-December.

•Where? Built at Alliston, Ontario.

•How much? Not set yet, but between the $41,000 MDX and $47,000 RL.

•What's the hardware? Acura MDX SUV chassis, retuned; 3.7-liter V-6 rated 300 horsepower at 6,300 rpm, 270 pounds-feet of torque at 4,500 rpm; new six-speed automatic; standard SH-AWD (Acura-speak for its performance-oriented "super-handling all-wheel drive); driver-selectable suspension (optional).

Rear camera with selectable views (normal, fish-eye, straight down); side-curtain air bags with separate chambers that inflate near the roof in the event of a rollover.

•How big? Midsize SUV outside, compact car inside. ZDX is 192.4 inches long, 78.5 in. wide, 62.8 in. tall on a 108.3-in. wheelbase. Passenger space is 91.2 cubic feet. Cargo space, 26.2 cu. ft. behind rear seat, 55.8 cu. ft. when the seat's folded.

Tows 1,500 lbs., weighs 4,424 lbs. to 4,462 lbs., depending on model.

•How thirsty? Rated 16 miles per gallon in town, 22 mpg on the highway, 18 mpg in combined city/highway driving.

Trip computers in the preproduction test vehicles showed 18.8 mpg and 19.8 mpg in two legs of brisk driving on rural parkways, 22 mpg in high-speed interstate highway driving, 14.2 mpg in spirited suburban use.

Burns premium, holds 21.7 gallons.

•Overall: Entertaining, exciting if judged (as Acura intends) as an all-weather, all-road sports sedan rather than as a family-oriented SUV.

2010 Acura ZDX 1st Drive

The new Acura ZDX may just be the best-looking new model of 2010. But its handling and performance prove it's more than a pretty face

By Thane Peterson

Editor's Rating: 4.5/5

The Good: Rakish styling, beautiful interior, sporty all-wheel-drive system

The Bad: Marginal rear seat, so-so fuel economy

The Bottom Line: A gorgeous new model aimed at affluent empty-nester couples

Up Front
What's the best-looking new model on the market this year? My vote could easily go to the all-new 2010 Acura ZDX, a rakish-looking crossover vehicle that Honda's (HMC) luxury car division describes as a "four-door sports coupe" (never mind that coupes, by definition, have two doors). The ZDX looks even better in reality than in photos. When I test-drove a couple of preproduction ZDXs through Manhattan recently, even jaded New Yorkers were stopping in their tracks and shouting questions about the new model, which will hit dealer showrooms in December.

The ZDX is designed mainly for affluent empty nesters, couples whose kids are grown and who no longer need the passenger capacity of a true SUV. It combines the good looks of a luxury coupe such as, say, a Mercedes CLS550 with enough luggage capacity to stow four golf bags behind its second row of seats.

The market for such vehicles will grow, Acura contends, "as the population matures, becoming couples again rather than large family units, and enjoying the fruits of their success through travel, second homes, and unique lifestyle activities." To put it more prosaically: As baby boomers age, Acura figures that a lot of active, affluent old geezers will be in the market for a vehicle that seems more stylish than an SUV but less sedate than a luxury sedan.

Pricing hasn't been announced yet, but the ZDX is expected to start at around $45,000, rising to perhaps $55,000 when you load it up with options. Its image is meant to be upscale and exclusive. Acura sees the ZDX competing with, in addition to the Mercedes CLS, such diverse models as Nissan's (NSANY) Infiniti FX35, BMW's (BMWG) X6, and the Porsche Cayenne. Acura only expects to sell about 6,000 ZDXs in 2010, and 8,000 to 10,000 annually in later years.

The ZDX is Acura's first truly North American model—engineered in Ohio, styled in California, and manufactured in Ontario, Canada. It has the oomph Americans like under its hood, provided by the same marvelous 3.7-liter, 300-horsepower V6 engine found in the Acura MDX SUV. Also in keeping with mainstream American tastes, the only available transmission is a six-speed automatic—though with a manual function for those who wish to do the shifting themselves, as well as the steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters that are now de rigueur on any North American model with pretensions to sportiness.

The ZDX's fuel economy—16 mpg in the city and 22 on the highway—is only slightly better than that of the '09 MDX and six-cylinder BMW X6 (15/20) and about the same as that of the Infiniti FX35 (16/23). However, it's markedly better than the six-cylinder Porsche Cayenne (14/16).

Behind the Wheel
The ZDX is meant to drive something like a conventional luxury car, and it comes close. The big difference is that the floor is a bit higher off the ground than a car's, giving the ZDX more of an SUV-like feel. The ZDX isn't intended to be superfast, but it's lighter and therefore somewhat quicker than the Acura MDX, which accelerates from zero to 60 in under eight seconds. That's plenty of speed for most people, and there's a ton of power when you punch the gas at highway speed. The cabin is luxury-car quiet.

I'm a big fan of Acura's new Super Handling All-Wheel Drive system, which comes standard on the ZDX.

The system (obviously) improves performance on snow and ice, but also dramatically improves the vehicle's handling during hard driving. It varies the distribution of torque between the vehicle's front and rear axles, and can shoot extra power to the outside rear wheel when you're going around a curve or corner. This dramatically improves grip and reduces understeer during hard driving. I tested the system in an Acura TL at the Pocono Raceway last year, and it really is remarkable. When your brain is screaming at you to hit the brakes, you can hit the gas instead and accelerate.

The ZDX's cabin is designed for owners who travel alone or with a spouse and only occasionally have adult rear-seat passengers. The rear doors are unusually narrow, with stylish recessed handles that are nearly invisible. That gives the vehicle a cool side profile, but makes getting in and out of the rear seats a chore. The rear seats also are too cramped to comfortably accommodate adults during long drives, partly because headspace is severely limited by the vehicle's radically sloping roofline. In a pinch, you could squeeze three adults into the back, but the seat is only really designed for two. Another inconvenience: There are no storage bins built into the rear doors.

The ZDX's interior is absolutely gorgeous, with a beautiful curved dash and soft, natural-grain leather throughout. I've driven numerous luxury cars, including many far more expensive than the ZDX, and I don't recall ever seeing interior leather with such a quality look and feel to it. Dual panoramic sunroofs give the cabin an open, airy feel and add to headspace when they're open. From the outside, the entire roof looks as though it's made of dark glass.

Luggage space behind the second row of seats is a sizable 26.3 cu. ft., expanding to 55.8 cu. ft. with the rear seats folded down. There's also a 2.2-cu.-ft. storage space under the rear deck. An innovative feature is that the side panels in the rear cargo area can be removed and stowed in the under-deck storage space. That makes the rear cargo area wide enough to accommodate golf bags laid down sideways (which is why four of them will fit in back). The rear seats fold down in a 60/40 pattern and there's a pass-through to accommodate skis when there are passengers in the rear seats.

Buy It or Bag It?
Although the ZDX is mainly aimed at couples whose kids are grown, it's stylish enough to appeal to some singles and roomy enough for families with one or two small kids. However, the vehicle's high price, tight rear-seat compartment, and lack of a third row of seats make it impractical for many families.

The ZDX's likely $50,000-or-so price tag makes it more expensive than the conventional Acura MDX SUV, which sold for an average of about $41,000 in '09, and the '09 Infiniti FX35, which averaged about 45 grand, according to the Power Information Network (which, like BusinessWeek, is a unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies (MHP)). The ZDX is in the same price range as an '09 Porsche Cayenne with a six-cylinder engine (average cost: $52,962).

The '09 BMW X6 with six-cylinder power cost far more than a ZDX, an average of $64,382, according to PIN. Ditto for the '09 Mercedes CLS550, which has a powerful 5.5-liter, 383-hp V8 engine and an average price of nearly $79,000.

With the exception of the Mercedes, however, the ZDX is better-looking than any of those models, in my opinion—both inside and out. If you don't do a lot of people-hauling and are in the market for a truly distinctive new vehicle, check it out.

Acura's ZDX is $50,000 Velociraptor in Land of SUV Dinosaurs

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Dude, the dinosaurs are dead. Which goes to show that all things must evolve in the face of cataclysmic change or, you know, die off for good. So it is with the auto industry and, more pointedly, sport utility vehicles.

A decade ago (akin to the Paleolithic era in swift-changing car years), 18-foot-long Suburbans and Excursions lumbered around our highways, slurping down petroleum and filling the air with emissions. Americans needed vehicles that could carry the entire family and the kitchen sink, plus be able to ford Donner Pass should the need arise.

Thankfully, the SUVlithic Age has (mostly) passed. Yet like crocodiles and other saurian holdouts who look similar to their prehistoric forebears, many sport utility vehicles look pretty much the same, too.

Now we’re told that a Darwinian evolution has arrived: Acura’s ZDX. A newer, smarter breed of SUV -- sorta, kinda, maybe.

The company has the audacity to call the ZDX a “four-door sports coupe,” a stretching of vernacular that might work for the Porsche Panamera, but not this vehicle. After all, it’s more than 5 feet tall and rides on the same platform as Acura’s regular ol’ SUV, the MDX.

A better description might be “an SUV with a coupe-like silhouette and sporting aspirations.”

While the ZDX may be less than an evolutionary leap forward, it does look sleeker and more agile than most of its blocky, shambling counterparts -- a velociraptor perhaps, in a world of brontosauruses.

Premium Gasoline
The vehicle is an all-wheel-drive, seats five in a pinch, and offers 55.8 cubic feet of storage with the second row of seats folded. Its 16 miles per gallon in the city and 22 on the highway is more in line with SUVs of old than any new, advanced life form. And it needs premium gasoline, too.

The four-door will be in dealerships mid-December, carrying a luxury level of technologies, comforts and price. Acura says the price will be between the MDX and RL, so expect the new addition to start around $45,000, rising to $50,000 for the most popular model with the technology package. That puts it within range of other lither SUVs like the Infiniti FX, and some $10,000 less than the BMW X6, another SUV-cum-“coupe.”

For now, the ZDX will only be sold in North America, and Acura expects a volume of around 6,000 a year to begin. A niche player rather than a game changer.

So just how sporty is it? Well, the 3.7-liter V-6 with 300 horsepower sounds pretty good until you realize that the auto weighs 4,400-plus pounds. More disappointing is the miserly 270 pound-feet of torque available at 4,500 rpm. That’s simply not enough grunt when you need it, especially when you’re looking to surge into gaps on the highway.

Lazy Power
The six-speed automatic transmission takes a moment to drop to the gear below. Power comes on lazily. By then, the space you were hoping to shoot into has probably closed.

Buyers can opt for a system that can switch between sport and comfort settings. Sport tightens the steering and suspension noticeably and body roll is minimized. You can then truly appreciate the excellent all-wheel drive, which transfers torque to the outside wheels as you take curves.

Ultimately, this evolution is less a leap in function than in form. From many angles, the ZDX looks pretty terrific. (The fresh exterior was created by two young American designers, Michelle Christensen and Damon Schell, from the company’s Torrance, California, design studio.)

You’ll first notice the shape of the long roof, which is tallest at the point where the driver and front passenger sit, and then gracefully tapers as it extends to the rear.

Glass Roof
The black roof is constructed completely of glass from hood to bumper, and is only interrupted by two bisecting lines. The ZDX is most compelling from the rear three-quarters and back, where the extremely deep shoulders lend a sports-car look and shows off the width of the vehicle.

Even better is the complex interplay of tail lights, glass roof and the arc of the lift gate. It all fits neatly together like a geometric puzzle. The rear door handles are also integrated into the side windows, which is super cool.

Inside, that sloping roof means much less headroom in the rear. If you’re unlucky enough to be the middle rear passenger, I suggest you practice calling “shotgun” next time. (Still, the BMW X6 has buckets in front and back, so only seats four.) The front seats are extremely adjustable and upholstered in high-grade leather.

Generally the inside shows the same level of detail and care as the exterior. Acura and Honda excel at electronic comforts -- paddle shifters, a power tailgate, rear camera, and iPod and Bluetooth connectivity are standard. Navigation with traffic and weather features come with the technology package. The ability to switch to sport settings, a blind spot warning system and adaptive cruise control are included in the top-level “advance” package.

The ZDX is not the energy-efficient people mover of the future, but it is a step out of the primordial SUV ooze.

The 2010 Acura ZDX at a Glance

Engine: 3.7-liter V-6 with 300 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque.

Transmission: Six-speed automatic.

Gas mileage per gallon: 16 city; 22 highway.

Price as tested: $52,000 (estimated).

Best feature: Emphasis on exterior design and craftsmanship.

Worst feature: Underpowered.

Target buyer: The people hauler who’s looking for an SUV with style.

(Jason H. Harper writes about autos for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Jason H. Harper at Jason@JasonHharper.com

2010 Acura ZDX Road Test

Our road test for the 2010 Acura ZDX includes a full evaluation of the 2010 Acura ZDX from the inside out. We evaluate not only engine and handling performance for the 2010 Acura ZDX, but also interior cabin and cargo space. Let our comprehensive road test ratings for the 2010 Acura ZDX help you decide if a 2010 Acura ZDX is right for you.

ACCELERATION
Technology 6
Advance 6
Class Average 5.9
ZDX's V6 offers enough power for just about any situation; only long hill climbs fatigue it. The transmission is smooth and furnishes prompt downshifts.

FUEL ECONOMY
Technology 4
Advance 4
Class Average 3.5
No opportunity to measure. Acura recommends premium-grade gas.

RIDE QUALITY
Technology 6
Advance 6
Class Average 5.8
A ZDX with the standard suspension and 19-inch wheels provides the best results. The Advance Package includes driver-selectable Sport and Comfort suspension modes. Comfort softens the ride for better absorption; Sport mode delivers stiffer tuning, making some bumps jar.

STEERING/HANDLING/BRAKING
Technology 6
Advance 7
Class Average 5.4
Overall, ZDX is fairly car-like with well-checked body lean and decent cornering ability; it deftly handles narrow twisties. When selected, the Advance package's Sport suspension mode firms up the steering and provides crisper handling.

QUIETNESS
Technology 7
Advance 7
Class Average 6.5
The cabin is impressively hushed and well isolated from wind and road noise. In certain driving conditions, low levels of tire thrum are present. ZDX's 3.7-liter V6 emits a fairly muted, but still sporty note on acceleration and fades during cruise.

CONTROLS
Technology 5
Advance 5
Class Average 5.5
The audio and climate controls are easy to use, but the sheer number of them takes some getting use to. The fact that the buttons are dark until the car is turned on only highlights the vast number of controls and cluttered look of the panel. The navigation screen is large, mounted high on the dashboard, and decently removed from glare. It is fairly simple to use and only absorbs iPod audio controls. The control nob, however, is mounted low near the center console, which forces eyes off the road until functions are mastered. iPod integration is nearly seamless, even custom playlists are easily controlled. The navigation system's Doppler-style real-time traffic function is neat. The multi-view camera's 180 degree view is very similar to the regular angle, and the top view displays a straight-down picture of the rear of the car. The Advance package's adaptive cruise control and blind-spot-detection systems are helpful tools. The blind-spot system illuminates an icon on the C-pillar rather than the side mirror, making it less distracting than other systems.

DETAILS
Technology 8
Advance 8
Class Average 6.6
The cabin is trimmed in top-notch materials, including supple leather with detail stitching. Non-leather surfaces are nicely grained, soft-touch plastics.

ROOM/COMFORT/DRIVER SEATING (FRONT)
Technology 7
Advance 7
Class Average 7
Front seat headroom is adequate for average-size testers, but those above 6 feet will need a bit more clearance. The seats are all-day comfortable, but taller occupants may need a longer seat for more thigh support. Thick C-pillars, a small rear window, and sharply raked roofline combine to impede visibility straight back and to the corners. The Advance Package's ventilated seats are a nice touch on a warm day, though the fan noise is louder than expected.

ROOM/COMFORT (REAR)
Technology 5
Advance 5
Class Average 5.6
The sloped rear roofline cuts into headroom, but there's enough room for smaller adults; most everyone will require more legroom. The small second-row door opens wider than expected, but the opening is fairly narrow, hindering ingress and egress. The low roofline also requires some hunching to get into the backseat.

CARGO ROOM
Technology 8
Advance 8
Class Average 7.6
Small items storage is decent and comprised of a fairly shallow glovebox; a deep, two-tiered center console; and several small cubbies. The rear seats fold completely flat. The trunk features hidden side-panel and underfloor storage spaces.

VALUE WITHIN CLASS
Technology 7
Advance 7
Class Average 5.9
If standout styling is high on your list of attributes a car in this class must possess, move ZDX to the head of the class. With standard AWD and plenty of amenities, ZDX is a comfortable, capable choice, but lacks practicality with its small backseat and poor rear visibility. If you're looking for a sporty, yet practical SUV in this class, Acura's own MDX likely will better fit your needs.

Total Score
Technology 69
Advance 70
Class Average 65.3

Acura ZDX: Thoughts & New Pictures

Last month, the ZDX made its first appearance as a production model at the Orange County Auto Show. The release included some of the details that have been missing from past announcements.

A new “category” is emerging in the United States for vehicles that just refused to be categorized (if that makes sense).

BMW arguably was the starter of this “segment” when it introduced the X6 coupe-like crossover. The BMW 5-Series GT and BMW X1 are other vehicles that have followed after the X6.

Now Acura has entered the fray with its new ZDX crossover. Like many others, I expected the ZDX to be a volume model for Acura. Speaking with Acura’s PR department however revealed a sales projection of only 6,000 units per year. While internal projections are expected to be higher in order to claim a sales victory, that is no doubt a figure the ZDX should hit.

Stylistically the ZDX is a big improvement from what what we have seen recently. The brand’s technologically-oriented design cues play well inside and out – Acura even ventures out a bit with an available two-tone interior color scheme.

It remains to see how consumers respond to these mixed-type vehicles – is there a market? Acura and BMW in particular seem to think so.

I could see the ZDX resonating as a successful new model for Acura. It is the first vehicle to be designed from start to finish in Acura’s design studio in Torrance, California. Acura also says it has been “designed, developed and engineered entirely in North America.”

Many want and need the capabilities of a vehicle like the ZDX but don’t want to sacrifice the “cool” factor in doing so. The ZDX is one that focuses on that factor perhaps more than most – something that on first glance the BMW 5-Series GT doesn’t provide.

As to performance, the ZDX is motivated by a 3.7-liter VTEC® V-6 that generates 300 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque.

On paper and in pictures, the ZDX looks good. Acura is basically positioning the ZDX as a four-door sports crossover coupe and it will be priced as such – official data isn’t available yet but rumors peg it in the $40K range.

A key element for the ZDX is if the driving experience delivers. If the ZDX can live up to that promise, it will be a very appealing package – the most appealing one from Acura in quite some time.

2010 Acura ZDX Review

Internet can be a rough-and-tumble sort of place. That's a fact Acura has learned first hand with its ZDX, which met with a lot of resistance before it was ever in a reviewer's hands. Now that we at High Gear Media have had a chance to give it the once-over, however, we think the masses may have gotten it wrong--at least in part.

Yes, we're still confused as to what it actually is. But what it does is easy enough: it gives Acura an answer to the question asked by the BMW X6 and repeated by the 5-Series Gran Turismo. What was the question? Who knows. Apparently it involved something about hatchbacks, crossovers, and not wanting to fit into established categories.

Once you get past the ontological issues, however, the Acura ZDX--like the X6--is actually an interesting car. Priced to start at $42,500 in base trim, it's also the most affordable of the new breed of luxury crossover/hatch/coupes.

The styling itself is often successful--a muscular fender, a graceful turn of the roofline. But its the utility/performance package that really makes the ZDX. And though it sacrifices a lot of utility with that swooping roofline, it does pack in a fair dose of performance. The 3.7-liter V-6 engine is rated at 300 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque, capable of hauling the big vehicle to 60 mph in less than 8 seconds with the help of a six-speed paddle-shifted gearbox.

Power can be shifted around a lot as well, thanks to the Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system. While normal driving sees a typical 90-10 front-rear torque split, up to 70% of the engine's power can be sent rearward when necessary. That's enough to give the ZDX a distinctly rear-drive feel, and combined with the ability to send power side to side across the axles, it makes the biggish crossover feel more nimble than it would otherwise.

High Gear Media's editors don't like the advanced Integrated Dynamics System for the suspension, however, preferring instead the single-setting system in the base vehicle. When the Comfort mode of the IDS is selected, it's often too floaty and disconnected even for mundane city driving, while in Sport even flowing two-lane black top can feel like a washboard. The base's compromise setting nabs the best of both worlds.

Going back to the issue of passenger and cargo space, there were some obvious compromises made to give the ZDX its aggressive profile. Rear-seat passengers are short on head room, and also on leg room, and the seats themselves are hard to access due to being recessed somewhat behind the door openings. Cramped conditions in back mean front-seat passengers will have to sacrifice their otherwise adequate space, crowding the cabin further.

This is an obvious symptom of a car designed to be used primarily as a two-seater, but capable of occasional rear-seat duty. And at that level, the ZDX succeeds. Just don't expect it to be a grand tourer for four like the BMW X6 or 5-Series GT. At some point, given the compromised weight, passenger space and cargo room, you have to ask yourself if you wouldn't be better off with a true two seater for the weekends and an SUV or crossover for the week.

As for features, the ZDX shows its Acura colors by offering an excellent range of standard equipment, including 19-inch alloy wheels, USB MP3 and iPod connectivity, XM Satellite Radio, Bluetooth, a panoramic glass roof, and a power rear liftgate. Like most other Acuras, a Technology Package is also available, adding navigation, voice recognition, a DVD Audio system, reverse camera, keyless entry and real-time traffic and weather info. Opting for the Advance Package adds the irritating IDS suspension system, ventilated seats, and a sport steering wheel.

Finally, there's safety to think about. Since a lot of the reason behind moving away from a small, lithe two-seat sports car and into the realm of crossovers is perceived safety, it's a fair consideration for any ZDX shopper. The 2010 ZDX meets its goals in terms of features, though neither the NHTSA nor the IIHS have yet published test data for the car. Still, with a flotilla of airbags, antilock brakes, stability control and all-wheel drive standard, the ZDX has a head start on the game. An optional 180-degree multi-view camera lets you see all the way around the rear of the vehicle, a real help when reversing in potentially chaotic environments. Optional blind spot alert, collision mitigating brake system and adaptive cruise control further boost on-road safety.

Overall, the 2010 Acura ZDX is a bit off-putting to some, and requires a willingness to compromise for others, but provides a quality, high-tech package that blends SUV and coupe bodystyles.

2010 Acura ZDX is More than Distinctive

Whats more important — looks or practicality?

Its a natural question for shoppers considering Acuras newest sport utility vehicle, the ZDX.

The new-for-2010 ZDX pushes the styling envelope with a sleek, coupe-like body that rides high above the pavement, SUV-style. But the tradeoffs include compromised visibility out the back and lengthy front doors that can bang into adjacent cars in parking lots when passengers try to exit the vehicle.

The ZDX, arriving in showrooms Dec. 15, comes with the most modernly luxurious interior of any Acura, including handsome, closed-loop carpeting and hand-applied leather strips on the dashboard. But back seat room is surprisingly cramped, and the ZDX roofline can cause some passengers to bump their heads as they enter.

With a starting manufacturers suggested retail price, including destination charge, of $46,305, the ZDX is $1,335 less than the base price of Acuras most expensive vehicle in base form, the RL sedan.

But where the RLs top model has a retail price of $55,060, the top ZDX, which was the test model, is $56,855.

Such lofty pricing puts the five-seat ZDX, which comes standard with a 300-horsepower V-6, automatic transmission, leather-trimmed seats and all-wheel drive, in the company of other high-brow luxury SUVs.

The 300-horsepower, 2010 BMW X6, for example, has a starting retail price, including destination charge, of $57,125. Meantime, the 2010 Infiniti FX35 with 303-horsepower V-6 starts at $43,265.

Acura officials reportedly only expect some 6,000 ZDX sales annually, which would make it the second-lowest-volume Acura after the RL, based on calendar 2008 sales results.

Despite its looks, this newest Acura uses some familiar Acura parts. The ZDX rides on the platform thats used by the eight-passenger Acura MDX, and the ZDX is powered by the 3.7-liter, single overhead cam V-6 thats in the MDX.

The two SUVs, as well as the Acura RL, use the companys Super Handling all-wheel drive system that can distribute engine torque between front and rear wheels as well as between right-side and left-side wheels. The ZDX weighs almost as much as the MDX, too — 4,424 pounds for the base ZDX, compared with the base MDXs 4,550 pounds.

And yet, the ZDX is less of an SUV. It can tow just 1,500 pounds, maximum, which is as much as the lighter-weight Honda CR-V with four-cylinder engine. In contrast, the MDX has a towing capacity of 5,000 pounds.

The ZDX cargo capacity, even with the second-row seats folded down, is just 55.8 cubic feet. This compares with the nearly 60 cubic feet in BMWs X6 and the 62 cubic feet in Infinitis FX35.

The test ZDX was comfortable, though still let in some road bumps, when its suspension was set on "comfort" mode. When moved to the "sport" mode, the firmness in the ride became pronounced, with passengers feeling some road bumps sharply. The different mode settings change damper settings on the suspension as well as steering. In "comfort" mode, the steering on the test ZDX had a light feel.

The interior was decently quiet, even as the ZDX rode on the biggest standard tires ever on an Acura — 19-inch Michelin all-season tires. The vehicles raked profile kept wind noise at a minimum. Like several other Honda vehicles, the ZDX includes an active noise control system to keep unwanted sounds away from passengers.

But it was awkward to step over the multiple sills at the doorway entrances of this SUV.

I also disliked the smallness of the side windows in the ZDX doors and both the thickness and positioning of the metal pillars around the windshield. The rear window was constricted, too, providing limited views of cars behind me.

In fact, when cars pulled up right behind my rear bumper, I couldn't see their headlights or hood, only their windshield and roof. The combination of blocked views made me feel a bit closed in inside the ZDX and hesitant about whether I was seeing everything around me.

As a result, I appreciated that the test model was the top-of-the-line ZDX that included amber blind-spot lights that illuminated at each front door to tell me if a vehicle was next to me.

I also had to use the rearview camera when backing up. Theres simply no way to see much through the smallish rear window on the tailgate.

Still, I have to mention the well-done panoramic roof with two sunshades thats standard on the ZDX. With both roller shades moved out of the way, the roof provided a sunny ambience.

The tester was loaded with all kinds of other nifty features, including a large display screen with navigation map and Acuras premium ELS audio system.

The ZDX doesnt do well on fuel. Premium gasoline is required, and the government mileage rating is just 16 miles per gallon in the city and 22 mpg on the highway.

I had good power — and needed it — to move the hefty-feeling ZDX around town and on highways. Torque peaks at 270 foot-pounds at 4,500 rpm. But I managed only 16.8 mpg in travel that was 70 percent city driving.

The ZDX, by the way, has Acuras first six-speed automatic transmission, and in the tester, there were times when it felt as if the tranny was wondering what gear it should be in. Then, it shifted noticeably.

The ZDX comes standard with most safety equipment, including curtain air bags, traction control, electronic stability control and even Trailer Stability Assist. The federal government has not posted ZDX crash test ratings.

C&D: Short Take Road Test

Highs and Lows

Highs: Smart handling, epicurean interior, seven-year-olds think you’re Batman.

Lows: An MDX minus half the useful space.

Top Competitors

* BMW 5-series Gran Turismo
* BMW X6
* Infiniti FX
* Mercedes-Benz M-class

Specifications

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 5-door wagon

ESTIMATED PRICE AS TESTED: $55,000 (estimated base price: $46,000)

ENGINE TYPE: SOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection

Displacement: 224 cu in, 3364cc
Power (SAE net): 300 bhp @ 6300 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 270 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic with manumatic shifting

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 108.3 in Length: 192.4 in
Width: 78.5 in Height: 62.8 in
Curb weight: 4421 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 6.4 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 17.0 sec
Street start, 5–60 mph: 6.7 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 14.9 sec @ 95 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 127 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 177 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.85 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 16/22 mpg
C/D observed: 20 mpg

Allen-

Most seemed to like it.

It kind of seems dumb now to buy a 60K Acura when they don't even consider themselves a "tier-1" brand. Since most reviews were good, Acura should rethink their decision. I really wish car magazines would quit saying, "it's the best interior in a luxury Honda to date." That doesn't really instill confidence to the consumer who is about to put down 50Kish for one.

TSX69

NitroBahn Review of 2010 Acura ZDX

Rating **** 4/5

The Acura ZDX is a sporty crossover designed to mimic the styling of a sports coupé. It is based on the same platform employed by Acura’s largest vehicle, the MDX. In the ZDX, the roofline sits a half feet lower than the MDX, and it sports five seats as opposed to the MDX, which can seat seven. It is longer than the MDX by a couple of inches. The ZDX falls into the newly created segment of cars, which was created by BMW with the X6. More and more manufacturers have started to venture into this previously unknown segment, with cars that offer the practicality and high driving position of an SUV while wearing a sporty design similar to a sports coupé.

2010 Acura ZDX
Pros

* Excellent standard safety features
* Fresh and bold design
* Powerful engine
* Advance Package includes cutting edge features
* Fun to drive

Cons

* Unimpressive gas mileage
* Runs only on premium fuel
* Difficult ingress/egress
* Cramped back seats
* Lack of cargo space

The ZDX wears the familiar Acura chrome grille at the front, which now looks more aggressive than any other models made by the company. The Acura looks handsome from which ever angle it is viewed from, but looks especially brilliant in profile. The slopping roofline, blackened B-pillar, and the neatly hidden rear door handles make it look more like a large sports coupé. The 19 inch seven spoke wheels match the size of the car and add to the sporty appeal of the car.

Even though the car can seat five people comfortably, the rear seats are not as spacious as one would expect from a car of its size. The ZDX has by and far, the best interiors even seen in an Acura. The leather lined cabin and the elegant carpets gives rich aura to the interiors. The passengers are pampered with a long list of standard equipments. The list gets even longer with the addition of the optional packages.

Standard features include

* Panoramic glass roof
* 19 inch wheels
* Leather clad seats and dashboard
* Heated and power adjust front seats with memory for the driver’s seat
* 6-CD changer with Satellite Radio
* Tilt and telescopic steering wheel adjustment
* Reversing camera

The Technology Package includes

* Upgraded Milano leather upholstery
* Advanced satellite navigation system
* 8 inch LCD screen
* Premium stereo
* Keyless entry and start

The Advance Package includes

* LED ambient lighting
* Sports steering
* Ventilated front seats
* Adaptive cruise control
* Integrated Dynamics System
* Collision Mitigating Braking System

Performance

The car is powered by a naturally aspirated 3.7 liter engine that runs only on premium quality gasoline. The V6 that generates a healthy 300 horsepower is mated to a six speed automatic gearbox with sequential paddle shifters. The gearbox can be set to either drive or sports mode depending on the response that is required. The car features a permanent all wheel drive system. The ZDX can accelerate from zero to sixty mph in 6.5 seconds

* 300 hp V6 engine
* Runs only on premium fuel
* Six speed automatic gearbox with paddle shifters

Drive

Despite the huge size of this car, it handles more like a sporty sedan. The all wheel drive system aids the car’s handling, while the Integrated Dynamics System allows the damper and the power steering settings to be altered to be sporty or comfortable, depending on the mode selected. The IDS and the brilliant all wheel drive system makes this car amazingly fun to drive. The optional adaptive cruise control allows relaxed cruising though the motorways.

* IDS works brilliantly delivering best of both worlds
* Handles like a sporty sedan
* All Wheel Drive system aids handling

Safety

The ZDX leaves no stones unturned when it comes to safety. The car has a total of six airbags to protect its occupants in the event of a crash. ABS, brake assist, traction control and ESP are standards in the car. It has active head restraints for the front seat to reduce injury to the neck in the even of a rear end collision. The advance package includes a collision mitigation system that uses radar to prevent collision. The system warns the driver, and then prepares the seat belts and finally brakes automatically in order to prevent the car from crashing into the one in front.

* Six airbags
* Optional collision mitigation system is a potential life saver
* ABS, brake assist, ESP, traction control standard

Overall

The Acura ZDX is a brilliant car that is fun to drive, good looking and extremely safe. However, the fun is limited only to the front two seats as the rear seats lack in both legroom and headroom.

Primary Competitors

* BMW X6 xDrive 35i
* Infiniti FX35
* Audi Q5

TSX69

Test Driving Acura ZDX

It isn't unusual to go to a car show, admire a concept vehicle and say, "Wouldn't it be neat if they actually built that car?"

Be careful what you wish for. The 2010 Acura ZDX looks like it rolled straight past the leggy spokesmodels, off the car-show platform and into the street. It's striking, perhaps handsome, but undeniably hard to ignore. Long ago, Acura was frequently criticized for pedestrian styling. No longer.

The ZDX is based loosely on the useful, logical MDX sport-ute. Acura added a lot of sporty features to the ZDX and removed most of the practicality, including the third-row seat. Even worse, it removed much of the room from the rear seat. I didn't realize how much until I volunteered the ZDX to transport three average-sized male friends on a quick, 120-mile round trip; I'm still apologizing to the two who had to ride in the rear.

The swoopy roof line makes the two rear doors almost an afterthought, and once you manage to wedge into the rear, it's a startlingly tight fit. Motor Trend magazine noted there is less head and leg room than in the rear seat of a Mazda RX-8 sports car, something no one mistakes for a family vehicle.

And it's all due to the styling. The ZDX is 192.4 inches long — about 6 inches longer than a Hummer H3 — and weighs a hefty 4,452 pounds. Yet there's only 26.3 cubic feet of storage space in the rear.

So what is the ZDX? Essentially a sporty weekend getaway vehicle for a couple, Acura says. Indeed, there are lots of good things about the ZDX. The 3.7-liter, 300-horsepower V-6 is a nice match to the six-speed automatic transmission. Fuel mileage is EPA-rated 16 mpg city, 23 mpg highway (though Acura specifies 91 octane gas). Acceleration is more than adequate, limited by the ZDX's weight.

Handling is better than you'd expect, as that weight is well-masked in tight turns. The ride is smooth and quiet. Front seats are excellent, and the instruments and controls were thoughtfully designed. Most any safety feature offered is included here, including all-wheel-drive. Don't mistake this for an off-roader, though — get the MDX if you have any plans to leave the pavement.

The base ZDX starts at $45,495. A "technical package," including a navigation system, leather upholstery and a rear-view camera brings the price to $50,805. An "advanced package" includes all that plus a blind-spot warning system, adaptive cruise control and automatic braking that stops the car short of a collision. That was our test vehicle, and the list price was $56,855.

Mechanically, there's a lot to recommend the ZDX, but the tiny rear seat is a turnoff, and the narrowish window openings make you feel a bit like a submarine commander.

2010 Acura ZDX

Base price: $45,495.

Price as tested: $56,855.

EPA rating: 16 miles per gallon city driving, 23 mpg highway.

Details: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive SUV with a 3.7-liter, 300-horsepower V-6 engine, and a six-speed automatic transmission.

dave_ramkumar

iTrader: (5)

its very nice 56k is alot tho...it must be one of the most expensive acura ever

vybzkartel

^^ Yeah, the second(NSX) most expensive!

TSX69

Honda Crossovers: 1/2 Duckling; 1/2 Swan

They are strange conveyances -- part beasts, part beauties, vehicles that in the process of becoming, from one perspective, became the wrong thing.

From another view, they are works of genius, blending function and design into a rendering of the modern American psyche -- a mind-set that says you can become one in marriage and parenthood without losing your individual identity . . . and that you can age without growing old.

In short, the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour and its upscale kin, the 2010 Acura ZDX, are motorized contradictions. They are sedans designed to do some of the work of wagons or sport-utility vehicles with the appearance and attitude of sports coupes.

As such, the Honda Crosstour and Acura ZDX are among the latest crossover vehicles, a highly lucrative model segment created for adults trapped in the river of denial and the messiness of redefinition.

Honda's genius is that it has discovered how to exploit the many layers of the cross-purpose, crossover phenomenon, by slicing it into gender, income, age and life stage (young parents in need of a family hauler and golden-parachute empty nesters desirous of hauling, for instance).

Thus, we have the Honda Crosstour for the middle class, a purchase mostly expected to be influenced by women in those households. And we have the Acura ZDX, expected to be favored by well-employed single men, well-employed young couples without children, or those golden-parachute empty nesters.

I, my wife, Mary Anne, and Ria Manglapus, my Washington Post assistant for vehicle evaluations, developed these ideas on test drives in Northern Virginia. Additional research here at the North American International Auto Show, where I interviewed Honda executives and show spectators about the Crosstour and ZDX, backed our theories.

In unscientific polling, we interviewed eight men and 10 women, ages 30 to 62, all employed, all with some college or professional training, all parents and half (nine) divorced. Two of the women and two of the men drove both the Crosstour and ZDX.

Here are some snippets:

-- All eight men interviewed, including Brian Armstead, a fellow automotive journalist who joined me in driving both vehicles, ridiculed the Crosstour's excessively long nose and wide, fat rear end. "Confused," I said. Brian said . . . well, what Brian said can't be printed in a family newspaper.

With the exception of two complaints (Mary Anne and Ria's hatred for that Honda Prelude-like split-rear window extending to the trunk), the women praised the Crosstour. They called it "beautiful" and "really pretty." A medical tech friend, a hardworking mom in her late 40s, called it "hot" and "sexy."

Here's an interesting note: The men hated the Crosstour because it has four full side doors, giving it the appearance of a sedan that someone tried, unsuccessfully, to turn into a coupe before giving up and settling on something that, at best, resembles a hatchback wagon masquerading as a sports car.

But the women loved the Crosstour's four side doors. (Ever tried putting a child's safety seat into a coupe?) They also liked the Crosstour's split folding rear seats that collapse into a flat load floor, as well as a rear hatch opening capable of accepting bikes, carriages, or whatever is on sale at Tuesday Morning.

Here's a puzzler:

The Acura ZDX has a starting price nearly $9,000 higher than that of the Honda Crosstour. Both bodies have Honda Accord breeding. Both look remarkably similar, although the ZDX looks more like a coupe. But it's not really a coupe.

Through clever design, the ZDX's rear side doors appear to be part of unbroken, coupe-like side panels -- a subterfuge enhanced by the design of rear access handles that appear to be air vents.

Both men and women raved about the Acura ZDX -- men much more so than women.

Middle-income men who pilloried the Crosstour joined their richer brethren in praising the ZDX -- two vehicles separated not by much.

The Honda Crosstour comes with a standard 3.5-liter, 271-horsepower V-6 engine. The Acura ZDX comes with a 3.7-liter V-6 that delivers a maximum 300 horsepower. Crosstour specifications say it has a maximum 51.3 cubic feet of cargo space. The specifications for the ZDX claim 56.

But therein is a ruse, provable by transporting five bottoms 500 miles in both vehicles. The backs and butts in the Crosstour will be much more relaxed at the end of the trip, because the Crosstour affords more comfortable space for rear-seat occupants than what is available in the ZDX, which appears to be a chariot more designed for two, despite its claims of being able to seat five.

In the end, clearly, it doesn't matter. Kurt Antonius, public relations chief of American Honda, has long held that cars are so much more than the sum of their parts.

"In many ways, they are what people think of themselves," he said in an interview at the auto show. "We aren't saying the Crosstour and the ZDX will be mass-market sellers. But they will find their niche. There are people out there who think of themselves the way these two were designed."

TSX69

MSN Autos Expert Review

Rating: 7.6

Bottom Line:
The 2010 ZDX brings the Acura experience to the luxury crossover market — the good and the bad. Unique styling and a great drivetrain will likely spur sales, but vague steering and the styling could limit appeal.
Pros:

* Unique styling
* Cool torque-vectoring all-wheel drive
* Great engine and transmission

Cons:

* Unattractive familial nose
* Confusing dashboard arrangement
* Detached steering, especially in the Tech Package

The luxury crossover segment is growing like a California wildfire, but Acura's new ZDX competes in a very specific niche of that segment, also occupied by the BMW X6. Acura is actually calling the 2010 ZDX a 4-door sports coupe, not a crossover.

Regardless, it's a crossover designed to fall between the company's MDX and RL in both size and price.

As we've come to expect from Acura, the uniquely styled ZDX brings plenty of technology to the table, as well as an excellent Super Handling All-Wheel Drive system. But shoppers might be a bit perplexed by the 5-door's looks at first.

Model Lineup
Like most luxury crossovers, the ZDX — built on the MDX platform — comes in a 5-door configuration. The rear doors open up into a reasonably sized seating area, and a large hatch allows for easy access to the cargo area. Storage space is noticeably compromised compared to the MDX, but Acura figures buyers won't need the MDX's hatch room.

Standard amenities include a leather interior, power-adjustable front seats and dual-zone climate control. Acura is sticking with the standard 2-tier option package on the ZDX, and as a result you can have a Technology Package that adds features such as keyless entry, push-button start and a sweet navigation system with voice recognition. If that's not enough luxo-tech for you, there's an Advanced Package as well. The top-of-the-line ZDX adds adaptive cruise control, an adaptive damper system and speed-sensitive steering.

Under the Hood
Acura has done a great job with the drivetrain in the ZDX. Power comes from a 3.7-liter V6 engine. Variable valve timing and lightweight aluminum construction help the engine turn out 300 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque. Those are pretty smart numbers, even in a full-time all-wheel-drive crossover. Even more surprising is the fuel economy — according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the ZDX returns 16 mpg city/23 mpg highway. Not bad, but not stellar either.

Acura's 6-speed automatic transmission adopts gear ratios specifically designed for the ZDX, and the smooth-shifting unit's efficiency helps return those decent fuel economy numbers. The company calls the manual actuation SportShift, and while it yields quick enough shifts, we don't foresee many buyers clicking off gears on their way to the local Pottery Barn.

Mated to that transmission is the company's Super Handling All-Wheel Drive, or SH-AWD. The system uses torque vectoring to put power where it's needed most, meaning you get zero wheel spin and a neutral driving experience. Torque is shuffled between the rear wheels to negate understeer and help with turn-in. A display on the dash shows you exactly where your engine's power is going, too. While the display is about as useful as pumping up your sneaks, it's still cool to watch.

Inner Space
The ZDX seats five, though the second row is best left for just two passengers — two very small passengers. Fortunately, those seats fold flat to allow for a substantial amount of cargo room, given the inherent compromises mandated by styling. A large rear hatch does much to make loading and unloading easy.

The interior in the ZDX is one of Acura's best efforts so far. Real metal door pulls give the cabin a sense of quality, and Acura says the optional leather dash is clad in material straight from Italy. In the Advanced Package, the driver and front passenger get the most effective ventilated leather seats we've ever experienced, and LED lighting soaks the cabin at night.

Acura has carried over the dizzying array of center console and dashboard buttons from the MDX. Navigating the audio/climate/entertainment/navigation screen is perplexing enough while stopped and all but impossible while on the go. The one saving grace is voice recognition — but it's safe to expect the passenger will handle most of the controls.

On the Road
We had the good fortune to take a spin in both the ZDX Technology Package and the ZDX Advanced Package. While both cars offer plenty of horsepower and a sweet-shifting 6-speed automatic, the real difference between them is in the steering. In the Technology Package, expect a seriously detached tiller. With little feedback from the road, the ZDX Technology Package feels geared for a trip to the soccer field, not through the twisties.

Fortunately, the situation gets a little better in Advanced Package trim. Speed-sensitive power steering helps give a little feedback when you yank on the wheel, and offers a more planted experience all around. Though the Advanced Package delivers an adaptive damper system that allows the driver to choose between Sport and Comfort modes; both settings overcome variations in pavement extremely well and offer a comfortable ride at the expense of a sporting nature.

Truth be told, the vague steering and plush ride aren't bad things. Though the ZDX may be marketed as a sportier blend of sport utility and sedan, the crossover's MDX underpinnings and high ride height make it clear this vehicle is built more for touring wine country than cutting up your local canyon. And since that seems to be perfectly in line with the stereotypical CUV buyer, we don't see that as a problem.

Right for You?
Acura is keeping pricing details to itself for now, but says we can expect a price somewhere between the MDX, at around $41,000, and the RL, which runs approximately $47,000. We aren't math geniuses, but that would put the base price somewhere in the mid-$40Ks. If you're after a very comfortable cruiser with extra cargo room, the ZDX might be just the ticket — but don't expect to keep pace with the Bavarian competition.

frugalguy

February 18, 2010

A Widescreen View of the Outside World








By JERRY GARRETT

TORRANCE, Calif.

THE shape that would eventually find expression in the design of the 2010 Acura ZDX was drawn by Michelle Christensen some four years ago, when she was still a student at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif.

Was it, back then, just a seductive form? Or did she see it as a vehicle?

"Yes, I saw it as a vehicle, a driver's car," said Ms. Christensen, 29, the first woman designer at Acura's styling studio here. "I saw it - very much - as a road trip car."

While Acura sells the ZDX as a "passionate getaway" for well-heeled couples, Ms. Christensen sees the car, which made its debut as a design study at the New York auto show last year, as more of an urban escape pod. She envisions it going from Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe - or farther, to the rugged mountains of Utah.

That's the route I decided to take for a test drive.

The notion of panoramic views is an important attribute of the ZDX's design. The designers tried to convey this with expansive windows, a glass-covered roof and a see-through rear hatch. Sitting inside, I was reminded of the City of Los Angeles Domeliner cars used a half-century ago by the Union Pacific Railroad.

The glass-swathed Domeliners once covered the route from Southern California to Salt Lake City and continued east, giving passengers picture-window views of landmarks that included the Hollywood sign in the hills above Los Angeles, the Mojave Desert, Las Vegas, Utah's red-rock Dixie region and the Wasatch mountain range.

The sleek Domeliners are only memories now, but Interstate 15 more or less retraces their route. The ZDX proved to be something of modern-day Domeliner on my drive along this scenic Interstate, but, I found, the sloping roofline and coupelike profile of this 5-passenger crossover had created some unwanted design compromises.

Its high haunches partly block the view in the outside mirrors. There's no wiper to clean the broad span of glass on the rear hatch; Acura says a rear wiper would have compromised visibility. (And rain, ice and snow wouldn't?) A wiper also would have interfered with air flow over the roof to the rear spoiler.

The sunroof opens a mere 10 inches, because of the roof's significant slope. The glass panel over the rear seats doesn't open at all. "The curvature of the roof dictated how far the sunroof could slide," an Acura spokeswoman, Jessica Fini, said. "We didn't want to put the sunroof as an inner sliding sunroof because that would compromise headroom."

Rear passenger headroom, like the rear legroom and the cargo capacity, is already cozy enough. That's a result of the ZDX's tapered tail, created by a roof that plunges toward the rear bumper in a fashion increasingly evident in models from makers like Audi, BMW, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz. The design also inhibits entry and exit through the rear doors. But I liked the cleverly disguised rear door handles, which are positioned to the rear of the window glass.

Still, the trade-off of rear-seat roominess for widescreen vistas seemed worth it as I drove through the pine forests and over towering mountain passes - worth it for those sitting in the front seat, at least.

On those mountains roads in Utah, I appreciated the ZDX's well-sorted handling and standard all-wheel drive, especially when snow started to fall. The 19-inch Michelin all-season tires were not the optimum solution for snow or for maximum cornering performance on dry pavement, but their relatively low rolling resistance helped me to achieve the promised 23 m.p.g. federal rating on the highway, even while averaging nearly 80 m.p.h. on a three-hour highway stint. (Speeding? No, some sections of Utah Interstates have 80 m.p.h. limits.) The rating in town is a mediocre 16 m.p.g.

There's certainly too much sport utility vehicle in this 4,462-pound crossover for it to be considered a sporty four-door coupe, as Acura would like shoppers to see it. But even with 58 percent of its weight over the front wheels the ZDX's cornering seemed surprisingly neutral. The electronics of the all-wheel drive system can shift up to 70 percent of the engine's torque to the rear wheels when needed; combined with nearly eight inches of ground clearance, the ZDX can tackle some light off-roading.

In most important details, the ZDX is essentially a stylish version of the MDX, Acura's seven-passenger crossover. The two share a unibody chassis, with a MacPherson strut front suspension and a multilink independent design at the rear.

They also share powertrains: a 300-horsepower 3.7-liter V-6 hooked to a 6-speed automatic transmission. The transmission can be shifted manually with steering wheel paddles; left in Drive, it shifts intuitively and is well matched to the engine.

The ZDX interior is as high-style as its exterior, although the number and complexity of its dashboard and steering wheel controls are sometimes daunting. The car comes in three trim levels, starting with the nicely equipped $46,805 base model.

I drove both a ZDX with the Technology package, which starts at $50,805, and one with the top-end Advance option, which had a $56,855 window sticker.

Of the two, I preferred the less expensive car with the Technology package because I didn't like or need the warning lights of the blind spot detection system. Nor did I want the electronic controls of the active-damper suspension, adaptive cruise control or the overly sensitive Collision Mitigation Braking System. More than once, the cruise control and braking systems startled me when they activated unexpectedly, apparently after sensing cars too close in adjacent lanes.

The Technology package includes the must-have features like extra-cushy leather seats and interior trim, a 415-watt stereo and a voice-recognition navigation system.

As a value proposition, the sleek ZDX compares favorably with the large and unlovely BMW X6. The beetle-bustled X6 starts at about $57,000, where a loaded ZDX tops out. Conversely, a loaded X6 can exceed $90,000.

The ZDX is a trickier sell against the similarly shaped Honda Accord Crosstour, which offers the same family values of quality and reliability while undercutting the price of its Acura cousin by at least $10,000.

•
INSIDE TRACK: Scenic cruiser.

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2010 Acura ZDX:
& Now for Something Different

BETHANY BEACH, Del. (MarketWatch) -- Give the luxury division of Honda credit for one thing. They wanted the ZDX to look like nothing else on the road and they succeeded -- with the possible exception of the BMW X6.

Over the course of a better than 300-plus-mile trip over the breathtaking Chesapeake Bay Bridge, across lots of flat agricultural land and small towns that date back to the first settlers, the ZDX turned heads. But interestingly, never did I or Mrs. Evaluator see a thumbs up or thumbs down.

For those inside the new crossover based on the popular MDX, there was nothing but luxury, quiet and comfort. The leather-bound adjustable seats (10-ways on the driver's side) were a treat. The thick steering wheel was also electrically adjustable but when set just right I found it blocked the top of the instruments.

Up top was a "panoramic glass roof with power shade" that extended the sunshine to those sitting in back and with everything exposed the gap in the roof was bigger than an Arizona beach. It was not excessively noisy with the sunroof open.

The navigation system was easy to program, although it wanted to send me to the Rehoboth Beach Fire Department instead of the town itself. No big deal since the department was a scant four blocks from our hotel.

There was also real-time traffic and weather on the navi, an unused feature on our trip because the only thing blocking the road was an occasional giant-size farm tractor, and they probably don't show up as congestion. We quickly figured out how to stop the flow of outside air to the cabin, since the farmers are, shall we say gently, fertilizing their fields these days.

Certainly, people have a valid complaint with all the buttons on the center stack (26 of them plus two knobs), but in time they are not hard to figure out. There was an excellent sound system, and the ventilation package was quick to heat and cool.

Visibility, cargo can be problems

Visibility was excellent to the front, with the exception that you have no idea where the hood ends. And that brings us to the limitations of this design. Backing out of a diagonal parking slot the driver became quickly aware of the fact that there is no visibility to the right rear quarter (or left for that matter). Fortunately, the back-up camera in the navi screen fills in the space. Visibility straight back is not great with a big black bar crossing between the upper and lower panes of glass. It tends to partially obscure rapidly approaching emergency vehicles, for example.

While the ZDX stowed a couple of suitcases through the powered hatch without lowering the second row of seats, you will not stash anything that is very tall back there due to the sharp slope of the roof. Even with the second row folded down, storage space is at a premium. A total of 56 cubic feet compared to the 57 cubic feet in a Honda Fit, for example.

Those entering the rear will find it a bit of a task, again due to that rapidly downward sloping roof. Also the higher step up given the fact the ZDX has 7.9 inches of ground clearance. Not that anyone is ever going to take it off road. The rear seat is mounted rather low and anyone taller than about 5 foot 9 will find their head brushing the roof.

Under the hood is a very refined 3.7-liter V-6 tied to an excellent 6-speed automatic with fast acting paddle shifts. Look for zero to 60 in the 8-second range. On tap are 300 horsepower with 270 lb-ft of torque. Drivers will not be embarrassed on interstate on-ramps but neither will your head snap back into the sometimes obtrusive head rest.

EPA estimates are 16-23 miles per gallon of premium unleaded. With mostly highway driving "down the ocean" as it is known locally, I got 19 mpg. Handling is about one would except for a 4,431 pound, high-off-the-ground vehicle. Leave carving up the back roads to your weekend sports car even with the all-wheel system that varies the power to the rear wheels to keep the ZDX on track.

The "advance package" on the test vehicle allowed the driver to select comfort or sport modes, and I would recommend comfort for long trips.

With $810 in delivery fees, the well equipped test mode ZDX would go out the door for $56,855.

I will leave it to Mrs. Auto Evaluator to sum things up.

She found the ZDX comfortable and the dash panel "space age."

So what about the exterior?

"Well, (long pause), if you're on the inside you don't have to look at the outside."

Stuff

* Length: 192.4 inches
* Wheelbase: 108.3 inches
* Curb weight: 4,431 lbs
* Engine: 3.7-liter V-6
* Horsepower: 300 @ 6,300 rpm
* Torque: 270 lb-ft @ 4,500 rpm
* Base price of tested model: $56,045
* As tested: $56,855
* Warranty: 4 years 50,000 miles

On April 13, Honda announced the recall of about 1,850 ZDX models. It wants to check the inside of the dash surface material. On some, it said the passenger-side airbag will not deploy properly. Acura said no incidents have been reported.

Hubcaps

Look for "Crash Course" by Paul Ingrassia at your local bookstore for the definitive story on what lead to the demise of the Detroit Big Three automakers. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author is the former Detroit bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, owned by Dow Jones, as MarketWatch, the publisher of this report. Ingrassia makes the case that the demise was the fault of both union and management -- two sides that almost never saw eye to eye. Elsewhere he notes that in the early stages of the Daimler-Chrysler "merger of equals" that wasn't, the two sides of the ocean actually battled over the size of their business cards.

And before the bloggers go crazy, I bought the book with my own money and am making a personal recommendation here, not the company. "Crash Course" is must reading not only for fans of the three Detroit brands, but imported cars as well.

Vehicles tested in this column are on loan from the auto companies through local distributors.

Ron Amadon is an auto writer and morning news anchor on the MarketWatch Radio Network, based in Washington.

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2010 Acura ZDX is a Space (Challenged) Oddity

Needless to say, the 2010 Acura ZDX is a peculiar beast. And after a week's worth of testing, we're still not sure what to make of it.

But just for some context, let's begin with the fact that despite a similar fastback, five-door body style, the ZDX is not related to the Honda Accord Crosstour. Honda's jacked-up hatch is substantially larger than the ZDX and far more useful. Instead, it's best to think of the ZDX as a rake-roofed version of the MDX – a high-riding four-door coupe (assuming you buy into the marketing spiel) akin to its closest competitor, the BMW X6. Both models share similar designs and purposes – although the ZDX maxes out in price and performance where the German starts off – and both possess some of the attributes of a two-door layout – compromises and all.

Before we get to the main course, here's a little "inside baseball" info that should be included: When an automaker starts the process of launching of a new vehicle, the business, marketing and engineering teams gather together to figure out what the Next Big Thing is. Product planners show a series of charts comparing attributes like price, performance and utility, and plot out various products from both themselves and the competition. With all of that knowledge in front of them, they find an empty slot in the chart – the so-called "white space" – and proclaim that this is where their next wonderwagon will reside.

While "white space" products can yield great results (the Ford Transit Connect, original Scion xB and Subaru Forester come to mind), there are times when there's a reason for leaving the space blank. Like the X6, the ZDX may well fall into the category of "Why bother?"

Obviously, the ZDX isn't going to sway the opinion of those unenthused about Acura's current styling direction. On the other hand, this might be Acura's most successful application of its new aesthetic. From the prominent can-opener grille to its pinched tail, the overall design is far more cohesive than some of Acura's recent efforts. But despite that, it's still polarizing.

Combined with its deeply drawn doors and an inboard greenhouse, the result is a husky appearance that would be far more attractive if it were riding at the same altitude as a sedan. As it is, the ZDX looks like a rally-raid buggy built for Dakar... on Mars.

Compared to the aforementioned other vehicles, the body comes in four inches shorter than the Crosstour and just slightly longer than the X6. But where the ZDX differs from the Crosstour, MDX and its BMW doppelganger is the position of its roof and floor.

The Crosstour has six inches of ground clearance with the ZDX at 7.9 inches and the MDX at 8.2 inches. However, the ZDX has the lowest roof height, standing at 62.8 inches with the Crosstour at 65.7, MDX at 68.2 and the BMW at 66.5 inches. The reason we mention this is when you open the door there's a typical SUV tall step in, but combined with the lower door opening, taller occupants may have to duck to clear their heads, particularly in back. The high floor means you get the tall hip-point that seems to attract people to SUVs and crossovers, but the limited roof clearance requires the seat to be mounted lower to the floor. Instead of the expected upright seating position, sitting in the ZDX is almost sports car-like, aside from the fact that your rear is further from the ground.

While the seating position is peculiar in the context of the ZDX's height, the rest of the interior will be familiar to those who have sampled Acura's recent products. The sweeping dual cockpit layout in the front is similar to what you'll find in a TL or TSX. However, the strip of aluminum that spans those sedans has been slimmed down in favor of a hand-wrapped and sewn leather covering. The combination of the seamless, soft-touch upper dash and the leather trim is attractive, but there's a very visible, if minor, problem. Where the leather-covered parts sweep down to the center console, there is a seam between the upper and lower portions. Because of the leather wrapping, the seam is more prominent than it should be and fails to keep with the upscale look Acura is after. However, redemption is found in the rest of the cockpit, including a reassuringly thick steering wheel and Acura's superlatively supportive seats. And then you get to the back.

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The sweeping greenhouse means that even with the seat cushions mounted low, headroom is at a premium for anyone hovering around six-feet tall. Worse than that is the rear door opening, which has shrunk both vertically and longitudinally, causing more than one instance of unintended head-banging when getting in and out. Acura admits that the ZDX is targeted more towards couples, but we have to question why you have rear seats when ingress, egress and overall comfort is so severely compromised in the first place.

Acura may have sacrificed rear passenger volume to style, but luggage capacity remains plentiful. With the rear seat up, the ZDX can swallow 26.3 cubic feet, a volume that grows to 56 cubic feet with the rear thrones folded flat. The tall rear deck and flat cargo sides make for a useful luggage area, and Acura has also included a trio of hidden storage areas below the rear load floor and in each rear corner.

Pressing the red start button yields a bit of a surprise with an engine note that's decidedly more aggressive than we've grown accustomed to from Acura – up to and including the six-speed manual-equipped TL. The aural entertainment proves pleasant, especially under hard acceleration. We've always been fond of Acura's V6, and this one is no exception thanks to its 300 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque. It revs freely to its 6,600 rpm redline and never complains about having to work hard. Of course, with the ZDX's 4,452-pound curb weight, the V6 has its work cut out for it. To be fair, a decade ago, a 0-60 mph time in the low six-second range would have been nothing to sneeze at for a 300-hp vehicle, but in 2010 it's merely so-so.

Unfortunately, Honda's all-new six speed automatic transmission doesn't help the performance situation. The steering wheel-mounted paddles allow some manual control, although tapping the flippers up or down seems to be more of a suggestion rather than a control interface – ratios will only be switched when the electronics are good and ready. Running the 3.7-liter V6 up to the far end of the tach will still trigger automatic upshifts even in "manual" mode, but on the plus side, when the cogswaps arrive, they are quick and smooth.

Acura's torque-vectoring Super Handling-All Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) was one of the first such systems to come to market and remains one of our favorites. The electronically controlled clutches in the rear axle actively send drive torque to the outside wheel to help push the ZDX around a corner and counteract understeer. Press the CUV into a series of corners and it tracks through neutrally, no muss, no fuss and decidedly un-crossover-like. While the ZDX is no off-roader, if your commute includes a brisk run down a gravel road, the SH-AWD is more than capable of dealing with lower grip situations.

Unlike the TL and TSX, the ZDX retains hydraulic power steering. However, Acura has added an electronic control system to vary the amount of boost according to speed and the position of the Integrated Dynamics System (IDS). IDS adjusts the settings of the active dampers along with the steering, and the hydraulic steering assist gives the ZDX a tighter feel devoid of dead spots. We tried the IDS in both Sport and Comfort modes and ended up deferring to Sport for the majority of our drives. The suspension does a good job of soaking up the worst that Michigan roads can offer, while keeping the body level with minimal vertical motion.

Aside from the lazy transmission response, the ZDX surprised us dynamically. Unfortunately, the design imposes some serious compromises in the name of style. Assuming you can live with something closer to a 2+2 and aren't put off by the deeper seating position, the ZDX has its attributes. However, the bigger sticking point is its price tag. Our ZDX was equipped with the Advance package (adaptive cruise control, collision mitigation braking, etc.) and stickered for a steep $56,855. The price may seem high for an Acura, but even maxed-out, that's still about $500 less than the entry tariff for an X6. The BMW is roomier and ultimately more engaging, though, and if you need more than 300 hp (and who doesn't?) the X6 offers up three different V8 options, including a hybrid and the mighty X6 M.

Ultimately, the decision to buy any vehicle upmarket of the most basic commuter involves a significant emotional element, and there is no doubt that this Acura is capable of stirring up some major gut reactions. The ZDX has arguably the best implementation to date of Acura's design philosophy and generally very good driving dynamics despite its compromised package. In the end, though, the rumblings in our gut are closer to cramped discomfort than excited butterflies. The fundamental premise of a high riding and very heavy 2+2 strikes us as silly unless you are going to take the idea to its (il)logical zenith with some insane performance like the BMW X6 M. Barring that, we'd rather see Acura's product planners focus on the kind of smaller, lighter, white spaces that Soichiro Honda likely would have filled were he still kicking around the headquarters that bears his name.

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Coupling: Jeeps Meets a Coupe

I parked a borrowed 2010 Acura ZDX on the street near my house in Washington, D.C., and when I returned I found two young men standing on the sidewalk, debating what it was.

"It looks like a Jeep," said one. "But it also looks like a coupe."

Exactly!

The 2010 X6, BMW's entry in the growing coupe-SUV segment. BMW sells just a shade under 5,000 of them a year, but because they share hardware and engineering with other vehicles, it can keep them rolling.

Acura calls the ZDX a "four-door sports coupe." You can call it a "segment buster." That's car-industry-speak for a vehicle that doesn't fit into the mainstream categories most consumers recognize.

The cars most people drive are boxes on wheels. A sedan is three boxes (hood, passenger compartment, trunk); a minivan is a rectangular box with seating for seven or eight; a sport-utility vehicle is a small box (hood) joined to a big box (for passengers and cargo).

Coupes, by contrast, are swoopy and curvy.

The Acura ZDX and a small but growing flock of vehicles in the luxury-SUV segment represent attempts by auto designers to bust out of the tyranny of the boxes by creating sporty, distinctive vehicles that have some of the function and interior spaciousness of an SUV. Early-comers to this segment-busting segment include the Infiniti FX and the Porsche Cayenne. The BMW X6 is another. And now the ZDX.

The original look for the ZDX's exterior was sketched by a young Acura designer named Michelle Christensen, and is the first Acura to be styled entirely by the brand's California design studio. The ZDX looks like an SUV from the front, but viewed from the side, it has a sharply sloping roof and no visible rear door handles. The rear doors are there, but the handles are camouflaged to blend in with the roof pillar.

The Acura ZDX has features that are part sports car, part SUV. WSJ's Joseph B. White reports on the latest addition to what auto makers are calling "segment busters."

From the inside and on the road, the 300-horsepower ZDX looks and drives like a luxury sedan. The ZDX starts at $45,495, and is rated at 16 miles per gallon in the city, 23 on the highway.

The Advance model that I drove, sticker-priced at $56,855, came with a lengthy list of bells and whistles, including a voice-controllable navigation system, heated and cooled leather-clad front seats, and two safety systems that helped me avoid wrecking the car.

The first was a "collision mitigation braking system," which I now think of as the Virtual Mom. I unwisely dropped my eyes from the road in city traffic to fiddle with some unfamiliar knob on the ZDX's fairly button-happy dashboard. The car ahead suddenly braked—without my seeing it. My real mom would have gasped and jammed her foot on an imaginary brake pedal. The ZDX's Virtual Mom emits a sharp chirping cry and starts applying the real brakes, while tightening the seat belts in anticipation of impact. End result: I stopped in time.

The other dent-saving safety feature was a system that flashed a little warning light on a display in the windshield pillars to warn me of cars hiding in my blind spots. Good thing, because one compromise resulting from the ZDX's fastback roof line is limited rearward visibility. Sometimes style requires sacrifice.

Acura's early customers are, mainly, married professionals and in their early 50s with no kids living at home and six-figure incomes, says John Watts, senior manager for strategic planning and research for Honda and Acura in the U.S.

Herb Bornack of Orlando, Fla., says he leased a ZDX after test-driving a Land Rover and checking out a Lexus IS convertible. He likes sports cars—he was trading in a Porsche Boxster with manual transmission—but he and his wife wanted a sporty vehicle that also had all-wheel drive, an automatic transmission and a higher, SUV-style seating position.

"This thing solves the convertible problem, the sports-car problem, the all-wheel-drive problem," says Mr. Bornack, 55 years old, who is chief technical officer for Orlando Business Telephone Systems and likes the tech gadgets that Acura features in the vehicle. "It was a mishmash all in one." The 6-foot-1 Mr. Bornack, says the head and legroom in the rear seats are a bit tight for someone his size. But he's not sitting back there.

It may come as a letdown for America's 30-somethings that car makers are still focused on the needs and desires of baby boomers, but so it goes. The auto industry's grinding, two-decade effort to move beyond high-volume mass production is paying off just in time to indulge boomers with low-volume niche vehicles designed for people who don't want to act their age.

"They like performance, they want to stand out, they don't want to drive what everyone else has," says Jeff Schuster, executive director of forecasting at the market-research firm J.D. Power & Associates.

The urge to blend sports-car styling with vehicles that can carry more than a Gucci gym bag is spreading. Mercedes-Benz previewed last week at the Beijing Motor Show what it calls a "Shooting Break" concept vehicle that provides "a further insight by Mercedes designers into the possible future development of the Coupe concept." In other words, please don't call it a big station wagon.

Could these coupe-SUVs be the next big automotive thing? Mr. Schuster guesses probably not, and Honda appears to agree.

Honda Motor Co., Acura's parent, expects to sell just 5,000 ZDXs a year, Mr. Watts says. It can afford to go ahead with such a low-selling vehicle because under the curvaceous exterior, the ZDX shares a lot of hardware and engineering with the more-conventional Acura MDX and Honda Pilot SUVs.

The BMW X6 is the No. 1 vehicle that Edmunds.com shoppers viewed after checking out the ZDX. BMW sells just a shade under 5,000 X6s a year, but because it shares hardware and engineering with other vehicles, BMW can keep it rolling.

Segment busters such as the ZDX get a lot of attention from the motoring press and the auto-design community. But they're not for everyone. After all, the best-selling ice cream flavor in America is still vanilla.

VTEC Racer

^ Herb is famous!

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Acura ZDX - Aesthetics Unencumbered

If you were unencumbered by traditional realms of aesthetics, what would you design? Phillip Johnson imagined a glass house, Frank Lloyd Wright waded through Falling Water, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe brought Germany’s famed Bauhaus stateside. They pushed the boundaries and changed our perception of home and habitat. Great stylists like Gordon Buehrig, E.T. Gregorie, and Raymond Loewy did the same for automobiles, styling beautiful Duesenbergs, Cords, Lincolns, and Studebakers. Those cars were also engineering marvels ? like the Acura ZDX.

Get a load of that rump! Rear views are exotic wide, fabulously chunky, and look like something out of Demolition Man with its Hurst Olds-intimidating twin exhaust outlets and metrosexually body-smooth taillamps. From the front, ZDX looks like any other contemporary Acura with its satin silver shield grille design, cats-eye headlamps, and muscular fenders. The side profile is absolutely fab with a rear-sloping roofline, upturned rear side window, and doorhandles hidden in the window trim. I love the big fat rear fenders with subtle humps to accentuate the beefy 19″ alloy wheels.

Acura calls the ZDX a four-door sports coupe. Although the car rides crossover high, getting inside is much like crawling aboard a luxurious two-door. You kinda wedge yourself under the steering wheel, careful not to bump your head on the roof. Rear passengers will rehearse their contortionist routines as they shimmy up and behind the doorframe while ducking. Kids can do it better. If you want a big gaping crossover, go buy an RDX or MDX. There’s something intimate and special about riding in the ZDX. LED cabin lighting shines on a gallery of stitched leather dash and door coverings, ultra lovable leather-wrapped steering wheel, and cavernous sculpted center console.

Once inside, you’ll want for nothing. Supportive heated and cooled leather seats seemingly grip all of the way to your groin while treating your lower back brilliantly on long drives. Bluetooth hands-free calling, XM Satellite Radio, USB connectivity for full iPOD integration, and Acura Navigation System with Voice Recognition confirm your arrival in the future. A panoramic glass roof, power tailgate, multi-view rear camera, blind spot warnings, adaptive cruise control, and Collision Mitigating Braking System align all of the electrons and photons for your driving pleasure. Everything feels and smells like a ten-star hotel with enough electronic toys to inspire Best Buy to better good.

If you need extra space for your Louis Vuittons, pop down the rear seats, open the glass dome of a rear hatch, and free up 55.8 cubic ft. Crafty little critters that they are, Acura’s designers created removable side panels in the rear compartment to fit golf bags even with four aboard. Under floor storage works great for smaller objects that you do not want spied.

Acura’s 3.7-litre V6 is a beauty in its own right. Producing 300 horsepower and 270 lb.-ft. of torque, the SOHC aluminum engine moves this fashion show along faster than a caffeine-strung Christian Siriano and hits its stride like Lance Armstrong humping through France. The six-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters seems to read your wishes and shifts on-cue. Fuel economy ratings of 16/23-MPG aspire to V8-powered BMWs, requiring a 21-gallon fuel tank to make substantial progress. Acura might want to put the ZDX on a diet or crib sister Honda’s hybrid tech.

Some of the ZDX’ razzle-dazzle takes place under the drapery. Super Handling All-Wheel Drive? (SH-AWD), and ample ground clearance for snow and crud, provides excellent all-weather capability. However, Acura goes further by actively shifting torque for an active steering affect and sometimes a rear-power bias for spirited performance. Adding to the fun is the available Integrated Dynamics System (IDS), which connects the four-wheel-independent suspension system to active dampers and speed-sensitive steering for a relaxed demeanor in “Comfort” mode or ripped and ready when switched to “Sport” mode. With the switch, steering becomes more aggressive and the suspension becomes firmer.

Go ahead, deride the ZDX if you must. You might take a glance at Buehrig’s Cord 812 Beverly, Gregorie’s 1940 Lincoln Continental, or Loewy’s Studebaker Avanti before you do. All of those cars were thought of as odd or ugly in their day, were technically advanced, and are now considered works of art. None come close to the engineering barrage brought to bear against the BMW X5, Mercedes ML, or Cadillac SRX. Be prepared for the $56,855 as tested sum to melt your kryptonite card.

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AskMen Canada
Acura ZDX Total ScoreA: 86

The AM Take

The ZDX is based on the MDX SUV platform, has an MDX-like 7.9 inches of ground clearance, four doors and a rear lift gate -- but don’t dare call it an SUV. Acura insists that the ZDX is a sports coupe designed for two.

Acura all but ignores talk of backseat occupants to focus on how the space aft of the front seats is right-sized for a couple’s vacation luggage. Acura is also quick to point out that the rear bench folds flat and flush to allow for even more cargo-swallowing capability.

But is the ZDX any good? Acura gave us a first drive so that we could find out for ourselves.

Performance
A measure of this car's ride and power, relative to its price
AskMen.com score: 80

The Acura ZDX is a bit of a contradiction, and we’re not talking about its design or marketing team-created classification. It’s a sports coupe designed for two, but Acura also wants it to isolate occupants from the tedium of driving. Though Acura says the ZDX was tuned to deliver an exhilarating driving experience, we feel that the car is more of a cruiser.

Powering the ZDX is a 3.7-liter, 300-horsepower V6. This engine is mated to a six-speed Sequential SportShift automatic transmission and Acura’s Super Handling-All Wheel Drive system. It’s a solid powerplant that provides a good kick in the pants when it wants to; the challenge is convincing the ZDX to give you that kick. It’s like the e-throttle has been tuned for smoothness rather than response, meaning it seems to take forever to get the Acura to move with any sense of urgency.

The steering feels lighter and lazier than we’d like. Step up to the Advance Package and one can select a “sport” setting for the steering, which artificially makes the steering feel heavier, but otherwise doesn’t make much of a difference. However, the big Acura does turn in well and it can tackle a challenging twisty with relative ease. We credit this cornering capability to a robust chassis and a very stiff suspension.

Rated similarly
* BMW 128i 82
* 2010 Acura RDX SH-AWD 82
* 2010 Mercedes-Benz C300 4Matic 81
* Lexus IS F 80
* Infiniti FX50 80
* Aston Martin DB5 80

Design
A measure of this car's aesthetic appeal, relative to its price
AskMen.com score: 91

We know that this Acura doesn’t look that great in pictures, but trust us when we say that it’s much more appealing in person. Acura says that the ZDX is the first vehicle to fully feature its “Keen Edge” design language, and design nerds will talk endlessly about the tension seen in the surfaces and how the lines seem to pull at one another.

The only thing we took away from the design lecture was the Acura ZDX features the deepest rear quarter panel in the company’s history. It’s massively flared, and it does look good. In fact, the ZDX is downright sexy when viewed from the rear or a rear three-quarter angle. From the front, well, let’s just say that the long nose has yet to grow on us.

Acura has definitely hit a homerun with the ZDX’s interior. The interior boasts a stunning design thanks to its dual “pod” layout, sculpted concave surfaces and angular, blacked-out “monolith” center stack. Many of the surfaces are wrapped in hand-selected full-hide premium leather, and to steal an idea from the Acura PR spiel, this interior really does remind one of a high-end luxury hotel. Everything inside the ZDX is pleasing to the eye and to the touch.

Acura equates “technology” with “luxury,” and the ZDX has just about every electronic gadget you can think of, including blind spot warning systems, wide view rear cameras, radar-guided cruise control, and a voice-activated sound system. One new technology seen in the ZDX is the active noise-canceling speaker system. Just like a pair of Bose headphones, the ZDX uses its speakers to cancel out unwanted noise-causing frequencies. This system is on at all times -- even when the stereo is off. Noise was never an issue in the ZDX’s cabin, so we guess that this system works rather well.

We probably should complain about the cheap-feeling exterior rear door handles, the lack of passenger room in the back or the horrid view out the rear, but our time in the car was short, so we’ll save the complaints for when we do a full review of the ZDX.

Rated similarly
* Ford F-150 Lariat 93
* BMW 128i 92
* Aston Martin DBS 92
* Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano 91
* Porsche 911 91
* Porsche Cayman S 91

TSX69

Luxist Drives the Acura ZDX
Replies "Y-E-S"

Well this was unexpected: we spent a week in the Acura ZDX and it was terrific. We hadn't given any thought to the quizzical SUV-meets-flying-saucer-looking ride, and that emptiness of mind continued right up to the moment we opened the front door and realized that the roof of the ZDX sits above the driver's seat almost like the roof on the Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black we were just in. Except for the cabin being about a foot higher off the ground, which completely screwed up our reference points. But even though we're still not exactly sure of what it is, we know we liked it, and that's what this thing called life is really all about, no?

Let's start by piecing the ZDX together from the inside, out, starting with its very well done cabin – perhaps Acura's finest cabin to date. The company has created a dual cockpit without gimmickry. There is no angled center console; rather, gunwales along the center tunnel run into twin arcs that curve across the dash and into the doors, embracing both the driver and passenger. In other instances this kind of thing is attempted with an angled center console, which actually creates a feeling of having a driver's cockpit and a place for some dead weight next to him. In the ZDX, there really is a sense of a cabin for two.

Acura went all the way on detailing for the effect as well: hand-stitched leather wraps multi-dimensional contours, so that both the leather colors and sheer relief stand out from the other panel elements. Lighter colors reveal the seams in the well bolstered seats, and with a fleeting glance the bucket area of the seats resembles the pocket of a baseball mitt, which is not a bad association.

Behind those front seats are two smaller chairs, best left to those who don't exceed 5' 11". It has 35.3 inches of rear headroom, about two inches less than the BMW X6 and an 1.5 inches less than the BMW 328i Coupe. We'll get to this later, but it's the latter number that's more important, because the Acura wants you to think of the ZDX as a sports coupe.

The ZDX has about 2.5 inches less legroom in the back than the 3 Coupe as well, but don't let the number deceive: we're 5' 11" and with the front seat in our preferred driving position, there was still a good couple of inches between our knees and the back of the front seat. Would we want to ride in the back of the ZDX to our Spring Break hotel in Daytona Beach? No. But we wouldn't want to do that in a 328 Coupe or an X6, either, if we could help it.

And Acura doesn't pitch the car that way, the same way BMW doesn't stress the 3 Coupe having seating for four. The ZDX is aimed at you "DINK"s – Dual Income No Kids – who don't need to carry extra people but want a decent spot of room when that duty calls. Although Acura says the ZDX is a five-seater, it can seat five, but with those deeply scalloped sides eating up three-wide shoulder room in back, if you can put that fifth person somewhere other than that middle seat you might want to think about it.

On another marketing note, the ZDX is for DINKs to go on "Passionate Getaways," which, in the words of Acura, is "the idea that the car is perfect for two people who want to get away for the weekend. Enough cargo space for their luggage and whatever they buy along the way." You'll want to save the passion for your hotel room, though – certain other frivolities are no-can-do in the ZDX.

While there might be no room for passion, there will be plenty of room for luggage: 26.3 cubic feet of swallow-space with the rear seats up, 56 cubic feet with them flat, both those numbers just slightly less than you'll find in the BMW X6.

In front of that cabin is a 3.7-liter, all-aluminum six-cylinder VTEC with 300 horsepower and 270 foot-pounds of torque. At 4,452 pounds those 300 horses won't snap your neck when you mash the gas, but they're certainly brisk enough to give you the right answer to "Can I squirt into that gap in traffic?" Those horses really need the spurs to get going, but once they know you mean it the six-speed transmission will drop as many gears as necessary to get you where you want to go.

Underneath that cabin is Acura's Super Handling-All Wheel Drive (SH-AWD). There's a ton of science and engineering and physics involved, but we can spare that lecture here. All you need to know is that it sends torque to the proper outside wheel to counteract understeer, that it's fantastic, and that Acura should get a lot more credit and a lot more press for its achievement.

On top of that, our car had the Integrated Dynamic System with active dampers, which meant that as the ZDX was sharply steering its way through tight, fast corners it remained flat and level. It drives like a properly sorted, sporty sedan – not at all like a tall, heavy SUV.

Now to the main event: the item wrapped around that cabin. That would be the body, and that is what has caused people to look at the ZDX and Acura and wonder, "Uh... wut?"

First, there's Acura's design language. We have never heard anyone yet describe it as "meh." You dig it totally. Or you don't. At all. You can make your own decisions, but we do believe that this is the best application of the language that was introduced on the 2009 TSX. Given the size, space and complimentary curves to properly coalesce, the aesthetics have a clear voice and we understand those who dig it totally.

Second is the design itself, outside of the shield surfacing. It was penned by 25-year-old Michelle Christensen, an American, at the Acura Design Studio in Los Angeles, and her intent was to sketch out the combination of an SUV and a sports coupe. This kind of genetic recombination, still in its infancy, is of course going to produce something new to the eye, and the ZDX presents all kinds of new aspects from various angles.

From the front it's wide, cut up by numerous angles, and you can sense its intensely protruding curvature coming at you. From the side it's long in front, truncated in the rear. From the back it's narrow up top, sliding swiftly and decisively outward into width and strong haunches that anchor the base of the vehicle. It's half an inch longer and half an inch wider than an X6, but the X6 is four inches taller. The three-quarter view is probably the closest you'll get to anything "normal," but even then you need to turn your head and squint a bit.

If due to a sudden cataclysm it left some sort of fossil-like imprint on a rock, we could see archeologists in the distant future asking, "Was it some kind of dinosaur?" Nothing else looks like it, not only in the automotive world, but anywhere.

Acura's VP of sales said this about their creation: "The ZDX is truly a luxury performance coupe – plus." It's that "plus" part that's kept folks guessing. The floor of the ZDX sits high, but the driver's seat sits low. You get in expecting to hoist yourself up into an SUV-level throne, but then take a position somewhere between a sedan and an SUV. Meanwhile, the roof is pulled taut over the cabin, so close to your follicles that the first thing you'll think is, "Oh, hey, that's the roof... right there." With the high door sill, low seat and low roofline, it really is like climbing inside a jacked-up sports car – which, again, was the point. Imagine getting in a Porsche 911 with a ten-inch lift, that's what the cabin is like.

But what... is it?

As far as we're concerned, there's no guessing to be done with this vehicle. It is a ZDX, and we think any honest answer should stop there. Stories on Acura's latest always get around to the 'It's odd and we don't really know where it belongs or who buys it' issue. Some suggest it's not practical, that it doesn't have enough space, that rear headroom is dear, that it isn't... well, what is it again?

We think that's the wrong question. We could answer "It is a vehicle with solid pep, a hot cabin, great handling and plenty of room for two-plus and oodles of gear."

But beyond that, a categorical answer is irrelevant. Who cares what you want to call it or what category it might or might not fit into. It is the ZDX. It has enough headroom, space, and practicality for the ZDX. If you need more space, then you should check out the MDX or the TSX SportWagon.

But a blanket statement like "The ZDX isn't practical" is the same as saying "A Komodo Dragon isn't practical." Isn't practical for what? If you looking for cuddly company that might make a great excuse to meet your hot neighbor, then no, a Komodo Dragon isn't for you. If you're an Indonesian forest and you need something to get rid of rampant buffalo and deer, then a Komodo Dragon is exactly what you need. Practicality, space, headroom, and yes, Komodo Dragons, they're all relative.

What you like, on the other hand, isn't.

And once you know this is a ZDX, the only other question should be, "Do I like it?" If the answer is "Yes," then damn the torpedoes. And the Komodo Dragons. You know what to do.

JZDX

This writeup made me LOL... good one.

vybzkartel

X2, lol!

There's a motor journalist who knows a thing or two about automobiles and practicality! The man speaks words of wisdom!

rskdsk

For the price ... I would have to go for the X6 ... and the 6k towing capability

JZDX

Yea I TOTALLY see your point

My ZDX Tech - 50K

X6 with same opts - 71K ( and this is the Xdrive 3.5i )

TSX69

Review: Acura ZDX & Honda Accord CrossTour

I was prepared to dislike both the Honda Accord Crosstour, the chubby wagonish crossover based on the Accord, and its more upscale cousin, the Acura ZDX, the highly sculpted crossover based on the minivanish MDX.

Instead, I’ve come to some degree of understanding for these two highly niche products—with reservations. I’ve also been pleasantly surprised with some of what’s going on with these respective wagons—though you still can’t help but wonder what might’ve been in each case. What follows is a look at both, rather than a comparison, since cross-comparing these Honda/Acura products will happen very rarely in the real-world marketplace.

Meat + Potatoes

The Honda Crosstour is anything but cheap. My 4WD EX-L NAV tester ran $36,930; $30,380 is the sticker for the base model with FWD. And while this may be billed as a more useful car than the Accord sedan, the Honda Fit, a car that’s three feet shorter than the Accord Crosstour, and over 1,000 lbs. lighter, has more cubic feet of storage — 51.3 for the Crosstour vs. 57.3 for the Fit, rear seats folded flat in both.

And you could buy two Fits for the price of one Crosstour.

But numbers don’t always tell the whole story. The Crosstour buyer would be rewarded with far greater passenger room, especially for rear seat occupants, where shoulder, hip, and knee room are far more generous in the Crosstour than the Fit. Likewise, the longer Crosstour is a very comfortable highway cruiser; the Fit is jumpier, especially for passengers.

Also, because the Crosstour is so much longer than the Fit, long loads are more easily stowed inside; a trip to the lumber yard was no sweat, and I brought back several eight-foot two-by-fours (that stretched from tailgate to dash, front seat reclined all the way). Another trip to the garden center (see photo) and the Crosstour swallowed eight bags of pine bark mulch and several more of potting soil plus a few pots and assorted supplies. One nifty feature: beneath the cargo floor there’s a tilted, washable plastic bin. It’s big enough to swallow several grocery bags and is deep enough to keep them from shifting during driving.

Ah, yes, driving.

The Crosstour, happily, isn’t built on a truck chassis. While its six inches of ground clearance is decidedly un-SUV-like, especially vs. competition like the high-riding Subaru Outback (8.7 inches), and that might make it less of a snow plow come winter (Subaru buyers in Vermont will never switch), the all-wheel drive system is really more of a back-up plan anyway. If the front tires slip, power is sent to the rears, but otherwise this is a front driver and that makes it reasonably fuel efficient (17 city/25 highway); we got about 21 mpg on a mix of urban and rural motoring, which included some semi harrowing darting through stop-and-go gridlock in the Bronx.

Speaking of which, the Crosstour does even that sort of dance with reasonable alacrity; you can muscle around double-parked cars and mash the gas to dart into an opening in traffic and response from the 271hp V-6 is decently muscular. Incidentally, that motor has a cylinder deactivation system to save fuel, and during cruising can run on four or three cylinders. An “ECO” light in the console lets you know the system is working, but otherwise there’s zero sense of increased vibration or shuddering when you get back on the throttle.

Aggressive driving isn’t this big Honda’s forte. Steering feel is a tad sedated, and the tall, 225/60/R18 Michelin Latitude tires mush around corners, scrubbing and howling if you decide to play. The Crosstour is just agile enough, but no sports sedan.

There is a bit of the Teuton in this car though, in the interior, where function is king. The front seats are firm but totally comfortable; the nav system continues to be one of the best in the business, recalculating when the driver zigs instead of zags without delay; and iPod integration is likewise excellent, mirroring the menu organization of the Apple device so it's more intuitive to the owner of said player.

Would that Honda had also carried some of this form-following-function logic to the tail of the Crosstour, where the aft view is decidedly poor (big C pillars are the issue). Get the backup camera option or you’ll ding your Crosstour the first time you visit the supermarket.

Gawk or Gaze?

There’s an ad on TV that features the Acura ZDX and we see a stylish woman having her head turned by the crossover rolling by. We see the ZDX from the front very briefly, then from the side. Somehow, the woman is floored. But you have to wonder what’s she’s thinking, because the nose of this vehicle is decidedly odd. A friend said the visage of the ZDX reminded him of a Japanese cartoon character’s face, and he wasn’t referring to the endearing Hello Kitty! that little girls love.

Then again from behind the wheel the ZDX is fairly glorious. A tower of buttons wraps around a shield-like center console; dual eyebrows of leather curve off to the left and right, starting at the driver and passenger’s knees, bending around beneath the dash and back around toward the doors. This is a dramatically rendered space, with curves and arcs and intersections of metal and softer fabrics -- Frank Gehry would approve. And, from the outside, looking at the car side-angle on, you could say the same thing — there’s a lot of drama in the surface, and a tautness that looks exciting. You don’t have to love it, but it’s not boring no matter what you think.

But, like the BMW X6 and the Infiniti FX, there’s a question of who exactly needs a tall crossover shaped like a coupe. And with the ZDX that question continues to crop up regardless of what you think of the styling.

For one thing, second-row ingress and egress are egregiously restrictive -- you have to duck very carefully to climb aboard, and unless you’re under 5’ 10” there’s no way you’re riding back here. Unlike with the Crosstour, you can’t argue that this is a well packaged vehicle for utility: there’s less rear seat legroom than in the Honda Fit, a mere 31.1 inches, and the cargo hold, even with the rear seats down, is still two cubic feet short of what that tiny Fit offers. Now recall that the ZDX is based on the MDX, which offers nearly 30 cubic feet more cargo room than the ZDX and seats seven, and you just have to scratch your head in wonder.

On the plus side, again because like the Crosstour this is a long hatchback, you can make use of that length and carry home eight-foot pieces of lumber.

Not a Sports Sedan….but

The ZDX is styled as if it were a tall sports sedan. This isn’t quite what you’re getting, and unlike, say, the TL, this Acura rides high and is about 500 lbs. heavier.

The roughly 4,400 lb. (depending on the model) ZDX can feel somewhat agile, especially in sport mode — our ZDX came with the Advance package, which includes an adjustable suspension that uses a magnetic-fluid damper system to instantly firm the suspension as a computer senses increased yaw or pitch. It also comes with Super Handling all-wheel drive, one of the better adaptive all-wheel systems on the market, because it doesn’t just measure slip but understeer; if the car begins to “push” wide of an intended apex it sends more juice to the outside rear wheel, jamming that big butt around so you stay on your line.

But no amount of electronic hocus pocus can make a car this tall corner like a lighter vehicle that sits lower. Yes the six-speed, 300hp V-6 combo is impressive for its freely revving character, quick upshifting and willingness to hold a high revving gear for more chassis control -- or upshift to the point of lugging the engine if you’re driving on slippery surfaces.

But this only gets you so far. You can have a much sportier crossover in the muscular Infiniti FX50 or a more engaging overall package in the BMW X6, with superior legroom and cargo room in the BMW. And given that our tester Acura ran to $56,045, an Audi Q7 isn’t out of the question as competition, since that crossover at least offers more utility, all-wheel drive, and not especially horrendous fuel economy for a big vehicle (14 city/19 highway versus 16 city/ 23 highway for the Acura).

Honda vs. Acura

The Crosstour makes some sense.

There’s a Honda-only buyer who won’t buy a true crossover, like the CR-V or the quirky Element. So they’ll buy a Crosstour, a more traditional sedan with a bit more utility, a good ride that’s less numb than much of the competition.

The ZDX, meanwhile, is in a worse spot than the Crosstour, in part because Acura as a brand doesn’t have a firm fan base. Where BMW can build smash-roofed crossovers because it has built its brand on the perennially strong selling 3-series (BMW’s core product, mind you, is also very inexpensive relative to the rest of its offerings), Acura’s following is far softer.

For over a decade that’s been the way with Acura, ever since the Legend and, later, Integra marques were snuffed out. These were cars with passionate customers; these were cars built from a sporting, aggressive, playful mindset. Today, though, Acura can’t decide whether to chase pure luxury, a la Lexus, or performance, like BMW.

The game plan clearly exists, however.

Audi is following the BMW angle with increasing sales of its A3/A4, and even Infiniti, which through Q1 2010 matched Acura’s sales on the car side (with two, rather than three models) has the strong selling, purpose-built G series, probably still the best Infiniti there is.

But instead of an Acura built to foster future Acura sales, we get the rebadged European Honda Accord, the TSX. In what way does this car match the BMW 3-series? None, save the $30k-ish price.

Unless and until Acura commits to killing it with its base car it cannot expect great success with niche models like the ZDX. You have to start with the base of the pyramid before you can add small adornments.

TSX69

2010 Acura ZDX Review:
Innovation in Art & Automotive Performance
By Holly Roberts

Pros:

* High commanding view high like an SUV
* Seriously comfortable seats
* Excellent handling ability
* Really fun to drive
* Roomy interior
* A place for everything and everything in its place
* Massive panoramic glass moonroof
* Gorgeous styling

Cons:

* Back seats aren’t really geared for tall people
* Manual and automatic shifting from 1st to 2nd was sluggish (that could just be a tuning issue)
* I felt like the rear-view mirrors could have been a *bit* larger

Wow. The ZDX is one gorgeous automobile. Whether you wan to call it a car, a crossover, or a luxury sports coupe, it’s really easy on the eyes. The ZDX has a few, unique distinctions: it was the first vehicle to be completely designed at Acura’s Southern California design studio. Also, it was engineered in Ohio, making the ZDX the most American made Acura.

Even though the ZDX is a 5-passenger vehicle, the emphasis was clearly geared more towards the driver and the front passenger. The front seating area had tons of room. Plenty of room to move around freely. The back seating area felt cramped to me – headroom wise. While I had no trouble getting my bicycle to fit, the human comfort component was lacking a bit. I felt like maybe the sloping of the roof contributed to feeling as though the rear-seating ceiling was really low.

Fuel Economy:
Advertised: 16 mpg in the city, and 23 mpg highway (19 mpg combined)
Actual: 19.6 mpg (had I driven more highway miles, it would have been better. The city driving really pulls the mileage down, down, down).

Driving Impressions:
The ZDX is an impressive ride. Even though it sits up higher like an SUV, the seating is low to the car floor, giving the distinct impression of sitting in a sports car. And it handles almost exactly like a sports car. Once you slip it into “sport” mode and drive with the paddle shifters (which are really nice in this car), you feel just like you’re in a hot little sports car. It was a blast to drive! The turning radius was pretty tight, given the size of the car. While it doesn’t have the turning radius of a true sports car, it’s better than a lot of cars, SUVs and crossover vehicles.

Even with the transmission in automatic mode, you can utilize the paddle shifters to drop the gear a bit when climbing, passing someone, or just getting yourself slowed a bit approaching a tight corner, traffic light or stopped traffic. The ZDX was zippy and fun in either manual (sport) or automatic mode.

The panoramic moonroof is simply stunning. It seems like nearly the entire top of the car is glass. While it isn’t the same as driving a convertible, it seems to be about as close as you can get to driving one — without the sunburn and bad hair.

Build:
Not a peep out of the ZDX which would indicate anything other than quality construction. Doors closed easily and felt solid, not heavy. Manually opening and closing the rear hatch required minimal effort and the power liftgate was a welcome luxury when your hands/arms are wrapped around multiple packages.

Everything on the interior was like “buttah” and slid open easily and then closed back in place nicely. Solid, quality construction is evident throughout the cabin. Interior and exterior door handles were easy to grasp and well-placed. As far as the exterior, I felt like every section of the ZDX was perfectly blended into the next piece, for a flawless, and sexy line. With the door handle for the rear doors positioned above the door, the flow of the rear beltline is smooth and uninterrupted.

Interior Comfort and Ergonomics:

The good:
Very unique in that you feel like you’re climbing into an SUV (tall!), but when you sit down, you’d swear you’re in a sports car. The seats are low to the floor once you’re inside the car, so it really does feel like you’re sitting in a sports car! And the seats are really, really comfortable! Sitting in the driver’s seat, felt like sitting in your favorite chair at home, only way nicer leather!

LOVE the push-button ignition controls and proximity keys. Nice to not have to insert a key into the ignition, unless you really want to, or fumble for your keys when you approach the car to get in.

Everything in the interior area of the vehicle blended and matched perfectly. Compartments and cubbyholes all over the place, but none of them stood out as unsightly. I wasn’t sure if I’d like the two-tone leather interior, but it really grew on me. The coloring was nice and offset the vehicle color perfectly.

Acura ZDX center storage/armrestAcura ZDX front seatsAcura ZDX view of cockpit

The bad:
The back seats. While they were comfortable to sit in, I felt like my head was really close to touching the ceiling (it wasn’t). I’m not tall by any stretch of the imagination (5′6″), so if I felt cramped back there, anyone taller might feel more uncomfortable just trying to fit back there, or get in. I also nearly hit my head exiting the back seat. Had I been in a hurry, I’d have slammed the side of my head pretty good. One guess though: if you did it once, you’d probably not do it again. But given that, it’s safe to say that the back seat would be strictly for small adults or kids (or a bike).

Performance:
With its 300 hp 3.7 liter SOHC 24-Valve VTEC V6 engine, it was tough to keep the ZDX at (or near) the speed limit. Pretty impressive performance for an AWD vehicle! Although, I shouldn’t be surprised, after testing the Acura TL SH-AWD car in 2009 – the ZDX was similarly impressive.

It was really fun to drive using the Sequential Sport Shift (manual mode) and paddle shifters! But even in automatic, the ZDX performed extremely well, accelerating more than adequately when asked to do so.

Handling:
ZDX handling characteristics were impressive. While the ZDX is tall like an SUV, it never felt cumbersome, off-kilter or overweight. It handled like a very sporty car, which included the excellent turning radius and solid feel rounding a tight corner at speed. I even had a really positive experience parallel parking it in front of my building the first night. In the dark and rain, no less!

Styling:
In a single word: HOT.

The ZDX is clearly one of the hottest, and best-designed cars to come out in 2010. From front to back, it’s one long, graceful arc. The outside rear door handles are integrated into the panel above the rear door and just aft of the rear door glass such that they’re scarcely noticeable. Not a piece of this car detracts from its beauty. Don’t believe me? Go drive one. People stopped and stared at the ZDX as I drove by.

Not only does the ZDX look good, it looks like it could pounce on you and kick your butt. It looks READY. Ready to go fast. Ready to go for a long drive. Ready to go drive in the mountains. Ready to show you that it’s not your average SUV, crossover, or even luxury car. Ready to take your breath away.

Value:
Being a luxury class vehicle, the ZDX is not really economically priced. The model we tested came in at around $50,000. But for that money, you get a seriously nice vehicle. Almost all of the standard and additional options are listed below, for quite the impressive array of features.

Safety features included: Driver and front-passenger dual-stage airbags, drivers and passenger side-impact airbags, side curtain airbags with rollover sensor, vehicle-stability assist, ABS, electronic brake distribution, 3-point seat belts (front ones with automatic tensioning), active front head restraints, tire pressure monitoring system, side-impact door beams, daytime running lights and the LATCH system for child seats.

The tested vehicle had the tech package which adds $4,500 over the base trim. The Technology Package includes the following standard features: XM® Satellite Radio, MP3/auxillary jack, USB Audio Interface, Radio Data System, Bluetooth® Audio, Driver Recognition Memory System, Driver’s 10-way Power Seat, Front Passenger 8-way Power Seat, Heated Front Seats, Homelink System, Bluetooth® HandsFreeLink, Front Auto Up/Down Windows, Acura Personalized Settings, Auto-dimming Rear-view Mirror, Power Tailgate, Panoramic Glass Roof with Sunshades, 19″ x 8.5″ Alloy Wheels, P255/50 R19 All-Season Tires, Xenon HID Headlights, Fog Lights and Heated Power Door Mirrors with Turn Indicators.

Acura Navigation system with voice recognition and multi-view rear camera, AcuraLink Communication system with real-time traffic and weather, sport seats with perforated premium leather trim, Acura ELS surround-sound system with 10 speakers and AM/FM/DVD-A, CD, DTS, Dolby ProLogic II, Hard Disk Drive, push-button ignition, GPS linked, dual-zone auto climate control with air-filtration system, and the Keyless Access System with Security System.

Conclusion:
If having a head-turning, sporty, fun, luxury performance-oriented crossover is your cup of tea, get one! I had a heck of a good time driving it, and it served my needs rather well. I haven’t driven a car that turned so many heads in quite some time, and it was really entertaining to see how folks reacted to it.

PHP Code:

    BUILD     INTERIOR     PERFORMANCE     HANDLING     STYLING     VALUE     OVERALL
RATING     5.0     4.75     5.0     5.0     5.0     4.5     4.9/A- 


Who should buy it?
The ZDX will cover you for pretty much every scenario, except a family greater than 2 adults and 3 small kids! It was almost too pretty to put my dog in and I’d be hard-pressed to put a dirty mountain bike in it without completely covering the interior with a sheet of plastic, but it was a great, all-around car. The ZDX drove great, hauled all my stuff around, and I even felt comfortable hiding my laptop in the secret compartment in the back while I was out bike riding (the word is out now!). It drives nice in the city, on the highway and with its awesome AWD, the Acura ZDX can carve up a mountain road better than Iron Chef Morimoto preparing a sushi dinner for six.

TSX69

AutoWeek Driver's Log

EDITOR WES RAYNAL: This is a weird car. It’s a polarizing shape for sure: Some love it and some said it was ugly. It’s new enough in the market that it attracts some attention, but people don’t know what it is yet. Plenty thought it was an Infiniti. I think it looks kind of cool. I also think the interior is terrific, comfortable and well built. I did whack my head once getting in, but I learned to duck quickly.

The ZDX drives well. The six-cylinder is smooth and peppy. There is a lot of grip, and I’m a believer in this super-handling all-wheel-drive. It’s hard to get the car out of shape in corners. Generally, it was a pleasant conveyance on the weekend.

I’m not sure what the ZDX is for, exactly, and I don’t know why one wouldn’t just buy an MDX, which is so much less of a compromised vehicle. I suppose its Acura’s version of the BMW X6.

SENIOR EDITOR FOR NEWS BOB GRITZINGER: I’m not sure whether this is a squished MDX or a TL tall--either way, it’s an unusual design that draws a lot of double takes. And I think most of those second looks were of the approving variety. Oddly, as you approach the parked car from the front, it appears much smaller than it is; once you’re upon it, the entire height, width and length becomes apparent, and it’s no longer quite so small and sporty looking.

From behind the wheel, however, the ZDX is plenty sporty, with a lot of power and flexibility built into its various moving parts. The engine/transmission set up is particularly punchy, getting this nearly 4,500-pound trucklet moving in short order. Switching between the comfort and sport modes for the suspension produces noticeable results, with the sportier setting providing a seriously tauter ride.

Overall, I like the packaging and could even live with the compromised cargo space to get this unique look in my driveway. From my perspective, it’s the freshest, cleanest and more interesting take on the crossover that we’ve seen in quite a while. And it may be the first Acura wearing this giant-fanged front face where it actually fits.

SENIOR WEB REPORTER GREG MIGLIORE: The ZDX looks a like a real-life concept car stolen from the floor of an auto show. I really like the looks. They’re polarizing, different, angular and intriguing. I got plenty of stares in the car.

Acura makes an impressive effort here with the design. The wide hips and sharp angles of the roof really are striking, and the big wheels, bold grille and detailed headlights are very complementary to the silhouette. I like the concealed door handles in back and the way the doors themselves don’t intrude or diminish the shape of the ZDX.

The suspension is very comfortable and there’s not much body roll in turns and corners. It’s like a bulky sedan or well-manner ute, depending on how you choose to view it. The cargo hold in back is basically a hatch with trunk space, so Ford Explorer this is not.

I spent all of my commuting laps in sport mode, and the ZDX had a fairly athletic dynamic. The V6 engine is very strong and is excellently paired with this six-speed automatic. There’s plenty of power from launches, and it’s easy to find yourself over the speed limit on the expressway. There there’s a nice power level between 3,000 rpm and 5,500 rpm, though I didn’t feel the need to redline this beast. Downshifts are smooth and efficient.

I like the interior, too. It’s subtle but elegant, and I like our tester’s dark finishings which looked and felt nice. We had some very savvy tech features, with the backup camera--which is very clear; the blind-spot detection which was spot-on and a brake warning for when you are crowding the car in front of you. It all worked great for me. And satellite radio and a colorful nav screen are also pluses.

I like the character of this car. I think some consumers might too.

EXECUTIVE EDITOR ROGER HART: This thing got hit really hard by the ugly stick. Not sure who in the world was asking for a car like this--an MDX with a smaller cargo area. Maybe it’s supposed to look more like a car than a ute, but it drives like a ute. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because the MDX handles pretty well for an SUV.

One nice thing about the ZDX is that the inside is really attractive and quite comfortable. And from behind the driver’s seat, you can’t see the exterior design at all--unless you drive by a building and see your reflection in the windows. In that case, just keep looking forward and enjoy the ride. It’s actually quite good, despite the exterior looks.

COPY EDITOR CYNTHIA L. OROSCO: The ZDX seems to evoke a love-hate relationship: I love the interior, but I’m not a fan of the hulky, bulbous sheetmetal. Inside, the materials are very nice, the seats are comfy, the nav/radio/info system is easy to use, and the big screen is easy to read. All of the controls are easy to use and are right at hand.

The ZDX is a tall ride, but it lacks headroom. After three or four times, I got sick of ducking/contorting to get in. The car appears tall from the outside, but that doesn’t translate to the interior. And Roger is right: If you want this type of vehicle to carry people and stuff, you lose space with the ZDX over the MDX. I really enjoyed the long-term MDX we had in the fleet.

That aside, the V6 does a good job of moving this CUV along. For as heavy as it is, the ZDX is pretty fleet on the expressway, even in passing. You definitely get a sporty vibe. There’s no lag in getting up to speed, and the solid brakes easily bring everything to a halt when needed.

While the ZDX is a fine ride, if I was looking for something in this segment, and specifically from Acura, to haul people and stuff, I’d go with the MDX.

2010 Acura ZDX Advance

Base Price: $56,905

As-Tested Price: $56,905

Drivetrain: 3.7-liter V6; AWD, six-speed automatic

Output: 305 hp @ 6,000 rpm, 290 lb-ft @ 4,000 rpm

Curb Weight: 4,462 lb

Fuel Economy (EPA/AW): 18/20.2 mpg

Options: None

TSX69

Acura ZDX Ready for TakeOff, w/ the Right Driver

The 2010 Acura ZDX is not for everyone. It's not even a safe bet. It's for people reaching beyond the typical. It's for risk takers, people who define their vehicles instead of the other way around. Astronauts come to mind as potential ZDX drivers. They would appreciate the engineering finesse of Acura, and the ZDX could pass for a lunar rover. My test vehicle even arrived in NASA white. If not from another planet, the ZDX is definitely from something outside of Acura's wheelhouse. Honda's luxury brand has finally built a vehicle to that makes the giant bottle opener of a grille look tolerable.

Mixing things up is a good thing for Acura. The brand seems to have struggled in recent years with defining who it wants in its cars and crossovers.

There's nothing understated about the ZDX, which Acura refers to as a four-door sports coupe, a phrase I hate. Ray LaHood, the automotive kingpin and Secretary of Transportation, should ban any manufacturer from attaching the term "sports coupe" to a vehicle if it:

• Has more than two doors. (ZDX has five if you include the rear hatch.)

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• Requires people step up to get inside. (ZDX does.)

• Is not a sporty coupe. (OK, the ZDX is sporty in a moon mission sort of way.)

But marketing-based definition aside, the ZDX is an oddly great vehicle.

Impressionism in metal

First, there is that exterior. Somehow, Acura managed to stay true to the original concept. All of the great aspects about the vehicle shown at the 2009 New York Auto Show made it on the production model. The sloping roof line, which includes panoramic glass, and the body stretched out like angular taffy make the ZDX look like an unfinished Picasso. You're not always comfortable looking at it, but you like looking at it. There are even those hidden door handles on the second row, which make you look twice just to find them.

The ZDX performed like Picasso as well; the older, less agile 4,400 pound Pablo. But still, there's engineering artistry behind its performance.

The 3.7-liter V-6 provides plenty of power at 300 horsepower and 270-pound feet of torque. Acceleration is quick and the Sequential Sportshift six-speed automatic transmission clicks through the gears with precision.

The independent suspension provides an extremely smooth (and quiet) ride, gliding over Detroit's bumps. The ZDX is best on the highway, where its wedge-like design cuts through the air and powerful motor never misses a beat.

On hard curves, the ZDX loses some of its sports appeal. The Super Handling All Wheel Drive system manages the torque between axles and wheels, and improves handling dramatically. The Active Damper System, which can tune the ZDX's suspension on the fly, helps its performance.

If Acura wants to attach that sports coupe moniker, it needs to deliver sports coupe performance. "Really sporty crossover" would be more accurate. The real question is: How much does that matter to you? For most people, probably not much.

The speed-sensitive system steering feels nicely weighted at any speed. There were also some nice high-tech driving features that simply make driving easier.

The blind spot detection system worked nicely, catching your eye every time someone sneaks into that space right off your bulging rear fender. The intelligent cruise control takes all of the work out of long hauls, adjusting the vehicle's speed based on the car in front of it. The back-up camera is a necessity, as you can see almost nothing out the back because of the roof's angle.

Plush and Exquisite

While the vehicle's performance was good, its interior is absolutely fabulous. If this ZDX is a sign of Acura's future interior, look out Audi, there's some competition on the way.

Acura managed to provide the mirror image of the exterior on the inside. But all of the sharp edges are covered nicely in supple leather.

And while there are a lot of busy lines throughout the cabin, it remains calm and sedate. The center console, which on other Acuras becomes an alphabet soup of buttons and knobs, is nicely organized. The black-face stereo only lights up the buttons if the stereo is on. If the stereo is off, the buttons meld in a simple black finish.

The navigation system takes a little getting used to, but has an excellent 8-inch VGA display screen. Add the technology package includes a 435-watt, 10-speaker surround sound stereo, Bluetooth audio connectivity, a USB port and auxiliary jack to connect other devices to the system.

The advance package includes LED lighting in the cabin, as well as the blind spot detection system, adaptive cruise control and Acura's Collision Mitigation Braking System -- as well as ventilated front seats and a brushed tricot headliner.

Everything about the ZDX feels plush and exquisite.

There's also lots of storage space, including 26.3 cubic feet behind the second row. There's even a hidden compartment below the floor of the back big enough to hold 2.2 cubic feet of stuff -- a handy feature when people passing by can look into your trunk space.

Really, the ZDX is fascinating. Some people will love it and others will hate it. But it certainly leaves an impression. And if you don't reach for the stars now and again, you're stuck right where you are without a hope that anything will change. Go on, take a risk. Acura did.

This may be a reach for Acura, and it's not going to set many sales records, but the result was worth it.

sburgess@detnews.com (313) 223-3217

TSX69

Acura ZDX CrossOver Sports Radical Design
12:26 PM CDT on Friday, July 23, 2010

By TERRY BOX / The Dallas Morning News
tbox@dallasnews.com

Give me a second here with my mod-pod Acura ZDX, the wildly styled crossover for chic urbanistas and well-dressed extraterrestrials.

Being a low-tech hick in common clothes, I need to flick through a few dozen of these buttons on the ZDX dash real quickly just to make sure this thing is not plasma-powered – or equipped with an ejection seat.

I wouldn't want to mess up its magnetic field or cosmic alignment – or mine.

You probably know all about the ZDX. Think of it as a mainstream Acura MDX crossover that has been chopped, shortened and treated to a full George Barris makeover – a radical body inspired by space-station hardware and old episodes of The Jetsons.

Somewhere far back in its genealogy, you can find a Honda Accord, but you won't see any evidence of it in the blade-runner ZDX.

The 1st time I saw 1 sitting in a suburban driveway, I thought: That's nice. ET must be home for the weekend – and he's driving Luke Skywalker's Jeep.

If great design is polarizing and provocative – as people much smarter than me contend – the ZDX is surely bound for Barrett-Jackson auctions and coffee-table collector books. I'm just not entirely sure I get it.

The Acura ZDX has a radical body that Terry says was inspired by space-station hardware and old episodes of The Jetsons.

But then, we plebes don't really have to. This is a low-volume vehicle (about 6,000 buyers are expected) that's supposed to compete with other, equally odd – er, provocative – crossovers such as the excessive BMW X6. And at a breath-taking price of $56,855, the adventurous ZDX is clearly not meant for duty as a soccer bus.

Unlike the hideous Honda Crosstour, though – to which the ZDX is related – the black 2010 ZDX I had recently was a pretty intriguing mode of transport.

1st, you have to get past the front end, which for some reason has become Acura's leading edge of clumsy styling. The glaring headlamps and bulky silver grilles give modern Acuras a kind of militaristic, armored look – though a couple of times, I believe I also saw likenesses of Richard Nixon in it. (I blame that mostly on the '70s.)

Tall and thick, the ZDX's dramatically swept-back headlamps flow into large shoulders over the front wheels. A faint character line becomes more prominent through the rear doors, growing into a shoulder that wraps around to the hatchback.

Getting a Handle on Doors

And check out the back doors if you can find them. Their latch is hidden in the rear roof pillar – a touch that custom king Barris would surely approve of.

All of this is topped, literally, by a radically sloping roof that Zippy the Psychedelic Skateboarder might be tempted to use some night as a roadside ramp. One of the best exterior features, the seven-spoke 19-inch alloy wheels, are wrapped with really meaty 255/50 tires.

Inside, the, uh, uniqueness continues. The dashboard is formed in textured black plastic with hoods over the instrument panel and navigation system. It curves down into a busy black center stack with silver trim running along the base of the dash.

Beneath that is a sculpted 6-inch band of stitched material that curves into a console covered in brushed aluminum-looking material. The lower dash and door panels are gray, contrasting with black upper panels.

The seats in mine were gray leather with perforated centers. Dramatic black-faced gauges share interior space with unusual gray tweed floor mats.

It all sounds dizzying, but it is a reasonably pleasant place from which to view the universe.

For the record, however, it's tough to get into the back seat of the ZDX because of the sloping top. Once you're back there, it's fairly comfortable.

With Acuras, the strangeness stops once you raise the hood – and the ZDX is no exception. It is propelled by a muscular 3.7-liter V-6 that makes 300 horsepower and is tied to a sophisticated 6-speed automatic – Honda/Acura's best powertrain.

On a Sunday morning with the Crawlway clear, the ZDX can scoot to 60 in a relatively fleet 6.4 seconds, according to Car and Driver.

Thanks to its heavy content and all-wheel-drive system, the crossover weighs in at a porky 4,421 pounds. As a result, fuel economy isn't stellar: 16 mpg city, 22 highway.

But the all-wheel drive that adds weight also makes the ZDX feel a lot more nimble than it really is.

Although not especially fast, the ZDX accelerates with vigor, its gutsy V-6 pulling hard to 6,700 rpm and even growling some along the way. The steering, while thick like a Honda Accord's, is quick, with good feedback.

The ZDX doesn't have sharp turn-in, but once it's in a curve, it grips tenaciously with little lean. If you overcook a corner, Acura's Super-Handling All-Wheel-Drive system can alter the speeds at which the wheels are turning to bring the ZDX back into line – a sort of stability enforcer, ironically.

Firm Ride

As with every Honda I've driven, the brakes were strong and reassuring. They complemented the firm ride of the ZDX, especially with the suspension set in sport. On the Crawlway, the ZDX feels like an aggressive crossover on performance enhancers.

I doubt I could ever own 1, though, because it doesn't pass my wax test – I don't like it enough to spend hours rubbing off a haze of Liquid Lustre. (My test is like one of those commitment quizzes with fewer goofy questions and absolutely no hand-holding.)

But I do like wacky nonconformists, and maybe the ZDX is just a good crossover in a beret and cape.

VTEC Racer

I stopped reading at the part that says the ZDX and Crosstour are related. The reviewer should at least know something about the car before writing an article on it.

TSX69

2010 Acura ZDX Looks Great, Little Room

The ** 2010 Acura ZDX luxury crossover's arresting looks aren't enough to overcome a cramped interior and poor visibility. The ZDX's 4,400-pound-plus curb weight also hampers performance and handling, despite its 300 horsepower and all-wheel drive system.

The ZDX has a lovely, high-quality interior. Available features include radar-based adaptive cruise control and a collision sensor that applies the brakes automatically when a frontal crash is imminent.

ZDX is pretty but impractical

I have a love-hate relationship with the 2010 Acura ZDX. Mostly hate.

First, because I'm a romantic, the love. The radically styled luxury hatchback is eye-catching from every angle, and lovely from most. The interior is swathed in sumptuous materials. The sporty and expensive crossover SUV is nearly identical to a dramatic concept car Acura sprung on an unsuspecting public about 18 months ago.

Sadly, Acura forgot that while concept cars only have to look good at auto shows, production vehicles must do mundane things like carry people and their stuff.

Thus, the hate. The Acura ZDX may be the least space-efficient vehicle I've ever driven. It looks good on paper, with 5 seats and a practical hatchback layout.

At 192.4 inches long and a broad-hipped 78.5 wide, the ZDX eats up more garage space than roomy SUVs like the Chevrolet Equinox, Ford Escape and Toyota RAV4. It's also larger than sportier and more exciting cars and SUVs like the Audi A4 and Q5 and BMW 335i and X6.

The striking and powerful ZDX is not intended to be practical. It was designed to be Acura's flagship for style and performance. That does not excuse flagrant impracticality, however. The ZDX's shape badly compromises the driver's visibility, rear passenger space and cargo room.

As a fast and stylish luxury vehicle with one foot in the world of sport sedans and the other among SUVs, the ZDX has few direct competitors. The lovely BMW X6 and Infiniti FX 35 probably come closest, followed by sport-luxury crossovers like the Audi Q5 and Cadillac SRX turbo.

Prices for the ZDX start at $45,495. All ZDX models come with all-wheel drive, a 300-horsepower 3.7-liter V6 and six-speed automatic transmission. Adding the technology package, a suite of features including navigation, ELS sound system and sport seats, raises the price to $49,995. Layer on the Advance package -- adaptive cruise control, collision alert, blind-spot warning and more -- and the price rises to $56,045 for the top-of-the line model I tested.

The parking assist and blind-spot alert should be standard equipment. The ZDX's fancy shape creates a very limited field of vision, with large blind spots and poor visibility out the small rear window.

The coupe-like body's low roofline constricts rear headroom as if the backseat were shrink-wrapped. Small and oddly shaped openings for the rear doors make it difficult to get in and out.

The ZDX's SUV-like 8.2 inches of ground clearance and wide sills exacerbate its poor accessibility, making it hard to step into. The front seat offers good room, but the low roof leads to an odd sports car-like seating position in which your legs stick nearly straight out in front of the seat rather than down into a conventional footwell.

The seats are extremely comfortable. All the controls are legible and easy to reach.

The hatch offers 26.3 cubic feet of space behind the rear seat. That's less than the Q5 and SRX, but more than the FX 35 and X6. The cargo opening is small, narrow and has a high liftover. With the rear seat folded, ZDX's capacity increases to 55.8 cubic feet, smaller than all four.

The interior is beautiful. Acura used top-quality materials and arrayed them in a pleasant design marked by sweeping curves and pleasantly contrasting colors. The fits are excellent.

Acceleration and handling are adequate but unexciting. The ZDX I tested suffered from a 4,462-pound curb weight. The vehicle's nose-heavy weight distribution also works against sporty handling.

The ZDX scored an EPA fuel economy rating of 16 m.p.g. city/23 m.p.g. highway/19 m.p.g. combined. That trails the Audi Q5, but beats the SRX turbo, FX 35 and X6. All five require premium fuel.

As a perceptive woman friend of mine observed about a boorish patron at the Balcony Music Club in New Orleans: "You know the type: Patent-leather stilettos and a piercing voice. Thinks she's special, but she's not."

Looks alone aren't enough.

Contact MARK PHELAN: phelan@freepress.com or 313-222-6731.

TSX69

DRIVE TIME:
Acura ZDX Technology:
World-Class Quality Made in Canada

When I drove the Canadian-built Acura ZDX briefly last fall at the press launch, my seat time was far too brief on which to base a driving impression.

It was, along with the BMX X6 and Infiniti FX 35, one of the 1st vehicles in what has been called the “four-door coupe” class, a segment that continues to grow especially in the “near luxury” group.

It has all the utility one would expect in a CUV along with all the curves and a steeply raked rear roofline to make it look very aggressive in a handsome way.

ZDX comes standard with a panoramic glass roof that tapers to the rear. It features 2 large glass panels (front that opens, rear fixed) designed to give the cabin an open feeling. The front panel is powered with a special wind deflector which helps minimize turbulence and noise. When the front moonroof panel is closed, dual power sunshades can be opened or closed to adjust the amount of light that enters the cabin.

The prominent Acura signature grille, xenon headlights and big 19-inch wheels are designed to catch the eye and it works. When you see this vehicle from any angle, especially from the rear, it makes you take a 2nd look.

Now in full production at Honda’s Alliston assembly complex, this is the 3rd Acura being built there, the others being the MDX SUV and the Canada-only CSX compact sedan.

Another reason I wanted to drive this CUV for a week was to judge the build quality.

My personal test for fit and finish is whether 2 credit cards fit snugly between the panels and slide easily up and down. If they don’t fit or they wobble, the door fit is mediocre. With the ZDX it was near perfect.

Another test is to roar across the main CN freight rail line near my home at 50 km/h. I don’t care who makes the car, if it shakes and rattles, it simply isn’t good enough.

The ZDX sailed through. In fact, it was supple which I credit to the Acura/Honda Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive (SH-AWD) which is described in more detail below.

Bottom line is the good men and women at the Alliston production plant are doing Canada proud.

Acura describes the ZDX as a “passionate getaway” that provides “a means of freedom and escape for 2 adults and their cargo, whether that’s luggage for a weekend, sporting equipment, antiques or gardening supplies.”

The ZDX has a cargo area of 745 litres (26.3 cu ft) behind the back seat and 1,580 litres (55.8 cu ft) with the seats flat. There is also a 25-litre bin hidden beneath the cargo floor in addition to a storage cubbie on each side sculpted into the side cargo bay walls.

A touch of class comes from the plated metal latches and full carpeting and power liftgate.

Both the rear and front seats are heated as standard.

To get you on that “getaway”, the ZDX is powered by a 3.7-litre DOHC V6 producing 300 hp and 270 lb/ft of torque with 6-speed automatic with shift paddles on the steering wheel for those who care about that sort of thing.

Transport Canada fuel consumption is rated at 12.7L/100 km city and 8.8L/100 km highway.

Fitted as standard is the Honda-developed Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system.

What SH-AWD does is actively vary the torque distribution firstly between front and rear axles, and secondly, between the left and right rear wheels providing the best possible grip depending on circumstances.

Called “torque vectoring,” the system functions seamlessly letting SH-AWD overdrive the outside rear wheel up to 1.7-per cent faster than the front wheels.

Sorry for the technospeak but this creates what is called a “yaw moment” that keeps the ZDX stable in a turn and lets it rotate better around a corner while quelling the tendency of the ZDX to keep wanting to go straight in what is called understeer.

While you can’t really feel it all that much unless you are really pushing it, you can see it.

Between the 2 main instruments on the dash, there is a small display showing the 4 wheels. As you turn left or right, bars come out for each wheel that increase with the level of torque being demanded.

Now you probably say this is all very entertaining, but what is the advantage for me?

In our climate, snow, slush and ice are villains. If you find the going getting rough, the display will tell you where the traction is, and isn’t. The same holds true for rocky or muddy paths off the main roads.

Aiding and abetting all this is a battery of driver assists like standard traction control with stability control not to mention ABS, brake assist and hill start assist.

The ZDX is available as the base model starting at $55,990 or, as tested here, as the toptrim Technology version with an asking and as-tested price of $59,590. The Technology comes with everything, and I mean everything.

I wish I could list them all but for “cool factor” how about Acura’s Active Sound Control (ASC) system that is linked to throttle position and engine rpm for quieter cockpit during normal cruising.

It is more than simple sound level linked to road speed.

The ASC system operates whenever the ZDX is running, whether the audio system is on or off. There are 2 microphones mounted in the roof, 1 above the front seats and the other just ahead of the overhead rear dome light. The microphones capture low-end drivetrain frequencies entering the cabin, and then send a signal to the Active Sound Control unit.

According to Acura, “the ASC then creates a precisely timed reverse phase audio signal that is sent to the door speakers and the subwoofer positioned under the cargo deck to dramatically reduce amount of booming sound from the exhaust. ASC also substantially reduces high- and middle-frequency noise during normal cruising.”

The 410-watt ELS surround sound system in the Technology model can run up to 6 iPods and its 15-gigabyte hard drive can store up to 3,500 songs.

And lastly, the backup camera has 3 views: normal, up to 180 degrees and pencil beam for tight spots.

1 thing you will have to watch out for is the blind spot due to the sloped rear hatch and the very high rear wheel well hunches. You will have to learn to use and trust your outside mirrors. Glancing over your shoulder is not good enough.

I suppose it is the price you pay for style, and the ZDX has plenty of that getting tons of looks from other motorists on the highway.

But when you look at the rationale behind the ZDX, it’s not so much about utility, which it possesses, but about making a statement which the ZDX does in spades.

(ACURA ZDX TECHNOLOGY 2010 AT A GLANCE)

BODY STYLE: Luxury 4-door coupe.

DRIVE METHOD: front-engine, all-wheel-drive.

ENGINE: 3.7-litre DOHC V6 (300 hp, 270 lb/ft).

FUEL ECONOMY: 12.7/8.8L/100 km (city/highway.

TOW RATING: 680 kg (1,500 lb).

PRICE: $59,590, as tested $59,590.

WEB: HYPERLINK "http://www.audi.ca" www.acura.ca

TSX69

Arrival: 2010 Acura ZDX

Sports Car SUV with Space-Race Styling
From the September, 2010 issue of Motor Trend
/ By Allyson Harwood
/ Photography by Jessica Germiller, William Walker

The 2010 Acura ZDX is in an elite subcategory of the SUV world. How many have basically abandoned off-road ability and instead shifted complete focus to on-road high performance? Two: the BMW X6 and the ZDX. How many have 4-door sport coupe/SUV styling? The same 2. It's the same combination of futuristic styling and impressive performance that makes this vehicle so intriguing.

At Motor Trend's 2010 Sport/Utility of the Year competition, the ZDX was hands-down the vehicle that generated most comments on styling. One tester said, "I'll admit it: I was taken aback -- no, shocked -- by my first sight of the ZDX in the metal. This thing is out there -- to my eye, way edgier and more futuristic-looking than the X6. But the more I looked, the more I found the ZDX...interesting. Even...stunning." Another: "Calling the ZDX distinctive is an understatement. It looks otherworldly." This doesn't even take into account the praise for the leather-wrapped cabin, excellent handling, and impressive straight-line performance. How could we not get 1 to try out for a year?

We recently got the keys to our long-term 2010 Acura ZDX. While there are three models available, we opted for the topline ZDX with Advance Package. This model comes with Super-Handling AWD, the 300-horse, 3.7-liter V-6, and 6-speed automatic with paddle shifters found in the rest of the line, but adds satellite radio, 10-speaker surround-sound audio with hard drive, auxiliary jack and USB interface, 10-way power-adjustable heated driver sport seat (8-way for the front passenger), panoramic glass roof, power tailgate, and 19-inch wheels. Further, the Advance tacks on an Integrated Dynamic System, Collision Mitigation Braking, blind-spot information system, ventilated front seats, and adaptive cruise control. All in, our long-term ZDX cost $56,905.

The test crew has already put our long-term tester through its paces at the track, where it hit 60 mph in 6.5 seconds, and its lateral grip was an impressive 0.83 g. It stopped from 60 mph in 129 feet. Many of our editors have also put the ZDX through its paces, and none has been left unimpressed. A few, though, have noted some shortcomings-namely, that the back seat is snug and that entrance and egress are tricky (it's easy to hit your head because of the sloping roofline). But this is not necessarily a vehicle for people with big families, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem; plus, the gorgeous interior, adjustable suspension, and excellent performance more than make up for it. We'll let you know how the ZDX fares over the next year.

jtsc

I will be making this crossover my next purchase but, still about 1-2 years away. My kid loves this car and I'm trying to find a scale model ZDX for his collection (heck, I'd take one too) - it's my type of styling. I know some were made for the ZDX launch and for some dealers. Anyone know where I can purchase one or two? Appreciate any info anyone can provide.

thx,
JTSC

TSX69

http://www.thecarconnection.com/mart...2011-acura-zdx

A week with a ZDX still wasn't enough to help me make up my mind about a few key questions: Is this a good-looking vehicle? And does the whole package work?

Ask me at various points in the week, and depending on the angle I was viewing it from at the moment my responses could be very different.

It's a car that at one moment will seem ungainly, then the next moment seems like car porn. And it's one of the few vehicles in recent months that I caught myself snapping arty shots of.

Curves and surfaces to behold

From-a-distance shots don't always do the design justice; there's a lot going on with surfaces on the ZDX, and while there aren't a lot of creases and character lines, it's a curvy beast—accentuated by glossy, convex-mirror-like black paint on the test vehicle. Which makes the sharp, angular look of its front and rear details clash a bit when you see them together with the organic, flowing middle of the vehicle. Again, sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes it's not.

The ZDX shares its underpinnings with the MDX crossover, yet that more carlike profile might even lead some to think it's related to the Honda Accord Crosstour. To compare the 2, the ZDX is a few inches shorter, lower and wider than the Crosstour. The other vehicle that the ZDX compares most to is the BMW X6; it's about exactly as long and wide, but several inches taller than the Acura. Squint a little bit at the ZDX, and you might be able to filter out the 'hidden' back door and see a coupe—that's the affect designers were attempting.

Mostly, we're pretty thrilled with the way the ZDX drives. Under the hood, there's the same 300-horsepower, 3.7-liter V-6 as in the MDX, paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission. You get steering-wheel paddle shifters. All is well with the way the ZDX steers and handles; for having MDX underpinnings, it's surprisingly sporty and composed, even when the road isn't.

Fun to drive fast, but busy ride

Ride quality, however, is the tradeoff; while the ZDX rides with sort of muted heft, the ride is still quite jiggly, even in the Comfort mode of the Integrated Dynamics System (IDS), which changes the steering calibration slightly and smoothes out the response of the active (magneto-rheological) damper system. Changing from comfort to sport didn't really affect ride quality that much, except over the largest heaves, such as speed bumps and in corners where the ZDX was really pushed to lean.

About the only other driving issue we dwelled on it that there's a little bit of a flat spot at moderate throttle; we couldn't tell if it was the engine or the transmission, but if you need just a little more power, going past that point invites drama and downshifting. But floor the gas from a standstill or pretty much anywhere, and the drivetrain is remarkably quick yet unobtrusive, with the transmission then shifting crisply but muted, right up at 6,700 rpm, and the SH-AWD system expertly finding traction without even a screech.

The ZDX gets an EPA-rated 16 mpg city, 23 highway—which isn't all that impressive, but if our driving experience was any indication, you're likely to see the upper end of that. We saw 19 mpg over a week and about 100 miles of short trips and around-town stop-and-go.

In our full review of the 2010 ZDX, editorial director Marty Padgett did a great job pointing out the obvious compromises of this vehicle, noting that it is "less practical than a real SUV," as well as "too tall to be a real coupe."

Try to fit more than two larger adults in the ZDX and you'll see what he means. While there's plenty of legroom, and a tall airy-ness to the cabin, front headroom was just barely adequate for this 6'-6" driver. In back, forget about trying to fit anyone approaching six feet tall; there's just not enough headroom, and the curvy shape makes the backseat a lot narrower than you might expect. The odd shape and short dimensions of the doors in back make getting in and out difficult, too. Visibility is tough, with huge blind spots, but straight back there's a smaller back window built into the hatch. It helps a little bit.

There are other alternatives, for those who like the idea of a hatch in back but need backseat room. BMW 5-Series GranTurismo gets some of the ZDX's fastback looks, yet the backseat in the GranTurismo is positively limo-like—an improvement over the 5-Series sedan or X5 and on par with the back of the 7-Series.

Shallow hatch is a compromise



Cargo space really isn't that bad in the ZDX. The cargo floor is surprisingly high, but you'll find a deep, additional storage area under the regular cargo floor at the back. But then again, be aware that nearly anything that you put back there will infringe on your rearview.

Yet with all the tradeoffs, the ZDX's 2 front perches offer top-notch luxury. Interior trims and materials (including soft leather with accented stitching) are remarkably good; the instrument panel has a stunning, wrap-around design that really does combine the utility (with all sorts of cubbies and bins) of a utility vehicle with the wrap-around cockpit feel of a coupe. The surround-sound system in the ZDX was bassy and rich yet clear at higher volumes, and it has DVD-Audio capability Bluetooth Audio streaming, as well as USB and aux inputs. We weren't as wowed by the navigation system, though we liked the display.

Ultimately, the ZDX is a limited-appeal vehicle. We can see urbanite antiquing types or gallery owners considering it; or empty nesters with a larger vehicle.

But for the majority of us, up close or from afar, perhaps the ZDX is best left just admired.

jhr3uva90

Looks like a fair review. Not every vehicle should be built to appeal to everyone, especially if it is based on a more mainstream vehicle.

TSX69

Acura ZDX: The Difficulty in Getting In & Other Fatal Flaws

If you're shopping the 2010 Acura ZDX, you already know it's a curvaceous companion to the bigger, more user-friendly MDX crossover. But exactly how much gets lost in translation from 7-seater to 4-seater?

This week, I've been driving the ZDX--and by coincidence, so has our senior editor Bengt Halvorson. And yet, pooling our 35 years of automotive experience, and a week with a ZDX, neither of us could answer some fundamental questions about the ZDX. As Bengt posed them, "Is this a good-looking vehicle? And does the whole package work?"

In our eyes, the ZDX's mission to be all things to all luxury buyers--swoopy, stylish, compact, expressive, and upscale--ends up being its downfall. Those keywords cause trouble. So much function lost to form, it's tough to find a single thing the ZDX does very well.

We've let our full review of the 2010 ZDX stand--with some more evidence here for you to weigh, complete with visuals:

Here's a detail that works well, when it's de-selected from the rest of the ZDX's body. That's a lovely cat's-eye of chrome banding, isn't it? The sacrifice for that roofline all comes in headroom, as the ZDX has much less vertical space than the MDX that shares its running gear. How much more? You need to step inside to find out.

I'm 6 feet tall, and am taller in torso and shorter of legs. Even so, I'm close to the barrel-shaped, middle-aged-male demographic Acura wants to hit--and I don't fit. Forcing myself into the ZDX's driver's seat, which is actually very well-shaped, I'm rubbing my head constantly against the headliner and the standard sunroof's mounting frame. Sitting without contact means I have to adopt the lean-back driving position you'd have seen me perfecting in high school in a Friendly's parking lot. This is not high school, this is not Friendly's, and this is not headroom in the traditional sense.

The fast, swoopy roofline kills rear-seat headroom, too. What's worse, it destroys visibility to the rear quarters. Lean over your right shoulder, and this is what blocks your view of the road behind--and the view of anything approaching your blind spots. The massive sunroof lets in amazing amounts of light, but we'd trade it in a moment for thinner pillars front and back.

To the rear view, the ZDX is a maze of cutlines. it doesn't matter that the mirror itself is large enough--the collection of pillars and frames leaves a spiderweb over your field of vision, making the standard-issue rearview camera your only defense against backup drama.

The shortened MDX chassis also means the rear doors on the ZDX are abbreviated. That narrow slot at the bottom is meant to allow your feet to get in--but even my 5'9" partner had difficulty slipping human-sized feet in easily, or sliding into the rear seat without complaints. The door cutouts are so tapered and narrow at the bottom, it really cuts into the ZDX's use as even an occasional 4-seater.

Summing up all those hard points is a shallow cargo area that forbids much tall cargo. A case of wine, flaps up, blocks out even more of the rear view not already eaten up by the rear seats. Only 2 cases deep, and you're already making dangerous contact with the rear glass. All those weekends you planned for antiquing in the ZDX? Maybe stamp collecting would interest you instead?

Both Bengt and I enjoy Acura's smooth-revving, powerful V-6 and the transmission's sweet shifts. I've even grown more of a fan of the interior theme, with its monolithic stack of black buttons and white LED lighting.

But loving the ZDX is something only a few small drivers with light accoutrements will be able to do. And that counts me out.

ZhenyaF

iTrader: (6)

I'm 5'11" and my head does not hit the moonroof

TSX69

2010 Acura ZDX: Jack-of-All-Trades but Master-of-None

Acura’s new ZDX is a car that tries to be a lot of things to a few people. Acura, Honda’s luxury line, calls the vehicle a “4-door sports coupe,” but even the automaker admits that this is a car not easily defined. “Segment bending,” is 1 term the company has thrown around for it.

In announcing the all-new car last year, Acura vice president of sales Jeff Conrad said: “The ZDX is like nothing you have ever seen before from Acura. It combines the best attributes of a coupe, a sedan and a sport utility – all wrapped in a beautifully sculpted package – that will attract an entirely new luxury customer.”

I’ll admit that this menacing vehicle is beautifully sculpted on the outside and within, but after test-driving it for a week on local roads, have to disagree about it having the “best attributes” of a coupe, sedan and SUV.

After my time in it, I felt the ZDX is more like a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. And it’s a jack with both some serious luxury cred as well as traits that make driving the vehicle anything but comfortable.

There’s no disputing that Acura is upping the luxury scale with this vehicle, which is the first car designed from start to finish in the automaker’s new studio in Torrance. The ZDX, whose starting price is just over $46,000, aims to take on the equally niche and luxurious BMW X6, and makes a very strong effort in doing so. The design itself comes from Acura’s first female designer, Michelle Christensen, and the car was developed and is manufactured entirely in North America, with final assembly taking place in Ontario, Canada.

The car features Acura’s first hand-stitched leather dashboard and door panels, and a center console that’s wide enough to be straddled by a grown man. I wouldn’t recommend trying that, though, because your head would surely bust through the panoramic moonroof that is standard on all ZDX vehicles.

That moonroof – of all things! – became one of my first points of contention with this car and, more generally, its interior as a whole.

The moonroof is actually integral to the ZDX’s design, and Acura says it is the longest glass roof in the industry. The problem my wife and I found on a particularly sunny drive, though, is that all that glass created too much light and heat in the cabin, with only fabric sunshades to keep them out vs. a traditional slider. Acura says the window tinting alone keeps out 80 percent of light and heat, but even with the shades pulled, we found both elements intruding in copious amounts.

Good thing we had dual-zone AC and cooled seats.

The cabin itself is an oxymoron of sorts. Because of this car’s width – 78.5 inches – there was no dearth of dimensional space between driver and passenger, yet because of its low-slung roofline, I came close to scraping my head on the roof.

Those beautiful exterior lines were also deceiving when it came to visibility from within. It’s a good thing this car was equipped with a blind-spot warning system; I dearly needed it. And it wasn’t just side visibility that was an issue. The ZDX is 1 of the most difficult cars I’ve tried to see out of, period.

For a while I thought it was just me. I’m not exactly a tall guy, so I invited a 6-foot-3 staffer to try sitting in the vehicle, and things only went from bad to worse for him. He had to lower the seat to avoid bumping his head on the ceiling, and in so doing worsened his view due to the ZDX’s tall beltline and swooping rear panels. Those rear curves also minimize cargo space, though I give the car props for its three hidden storage compartments and flat-folding rear seats.

When it came to driveability and roadholding, I’m happy to report better news. This urban bruiser actually has quite a supple ride.

My gussied-up 2010 ZDX Advance model (price tag: $56,905) came with the Integrated Dynamics System, which lets the driver choose between “comfort” and “sport” modes. Comfort provides a ride that feels just like it sounds, while the sport mode raises the shift points of the 6-speed auto transmission and firms up the suspension for added road feel.

Providing the oomph to move this big vehicle is a 300-horsepower, 3.7-liter VTEC V-6 engine that transmits power to the ZDX’s 4 wheels via its standard all-wheel-drive system.

That horsepower figure is quite respectable, but this isn’t exactly a race car. The ZDX, after all, weighs in at more than 4,400 pounds. In terms of acceleration, the V-6-equipped Acura TSX that I recently reviewed felt much faster.

As for fuel efficiency, the ZDX is EPA rated at 16 city/23 highway, and I averaged in the middle of those numbers in mixed driving.

Being a quasi-SUV, Acura says the ZDX is capable of “moderate off-highway use.” Think snowy roads in Aspen versus boulder bouncing in the desert.

And like the Accord Crosstour, another new “post-crossover” vehicle as I like to call these things, the ZDX is capable of light towing, in this case a maximum of 1,500 pounds. It should be noted, by the way, that Honda reps say the Crosstour and ZDX are totally different vehicles that do not share parts.

As for hauling passengers, Acura calls the ZDX a “2+Freedom.” Though it technically can carry 5 passengers, this is really meant for 2 people and their luggage or, if you must, 4 adults. If you have a brood of kids, this is not the vehicle for you.

And that brings us to the question: Who is this vehicle intended for? A niche audience for sure, which Acura acknowledges. My best guess is empty-nesters or young up-and-comers without children who want to portray an active lifestyle.

The ZDX can do much and offers several abilities not found in an SUV, sedan or coupe alone. Those abilities, however, come with costs and compromises.

That’s my take on the Acura ZDX. Also see Ms. Perception’s perspective of the car in her “Side Seat Driving” spot. How about you — What’s your take on the ZDX? Comment below. And can anyone guess where in O.C. I took that picture at top?

jhr3uva90

i hereby dub the ZDX the "DINK-mobile."

ZhenyaF

iTrader: (6)

I second that motion

jhr3uva90

I believe the ZDX is made for Dual Income, No Kids couples who live in urban areas. They basically want a hatchback car that is higher off the ground than a TL or RL. Basically, it is an RL hatchback, but higher.

TSX69

Long Term Update 2: 2010 Acura ZDX

Digital integration director Mike Floyd had visitors in town recently, and used the ZDX to pick up his sister- and brother-in-law, their 1-year-old daughter, and all their luggage from LAX and take them about 75 miles north to Ventura. There was some skepticism about fitting all those people and gear in the coupelike ZDX sport/ute. Upon seeing the Acura at the airport, they asked, "Are we going to fit into that?"

As Floyd explains, "Surprisingly, once the baby seat was affixed in the rear-mid-seat area, the ladies ducked into the back seats, and the luggage was tossed in the cargo area, everything fit okay." After everyone had been dropped off, he took the ZDX to run some errands, loading plenty of items in the back. He realized it's a decent vehicle to use when getting groceries, but it isn't suited for runs to The Home Depot. "Yes, I get it -- the ZDX is for empty nesters who want to look spaceship cool and enjoy extra utility."

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2010 Acura ZDX
Months/miles in service     5/9289
Avg econ/CO2     18.2 mpg/1.07 lb/mi
Unresolved problems     None
Maintenance cost     $92.30 (oil change/inspection/rotate tires)
Normal-wear cost     $0