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The production car does look alright, but come on Acura, the illuminated grill reminds me of the beak age more than anything else. Where is that nice illuminated flying diamond grill on Precision EV?
Food for thought. Many questioned why Honda went with GM, but GM Ultium platform as much EV as software (Ultifi). I find it interesting that Honda has Ultifi as a reference, they are stepping up their in-house SW capacity, and then there is the futuristic Sony-Honda collaboration.
Does anyone know what time we should be expecting to see the new ZDX? Is it in the morning or afternoon?
I tried finding out at which event Acura will show the car, but got no response.
I am guessing the usual - a press release tomorrow, walkthrough videos either from studio or at Monterey, then probably The Quail booth like Precision EV last year.
Now we know the interior money all went into the audio system... the only positive thing to me is I guessed the air suspension right. This is so underwhelming, and I am sure Acura itself want to move on to e:architecture as soon as possible. The BEV3 platform is simply too conservative and limit what Acura can do on the design side. The other day I checked out Lyriq and came away underwhelmed because the design lacks emotion and dynamics.
To put salt on the wound, GM just announced Lyriq would have $7.5k lease credit.
I like the exterior more than the Lyriq, but what would scare me away from this entirely is how support for this will work. I can already forsee that any warranty issues is going to result in the owner getting passed around back and forth because the car is for all intents and purposes a GM product built by GM. I can't imagine Acura service centers will have the proper tools or trained staff to debug and work on the car.
I’m just glad to see the return of the touch screen.
Hopefully this makes its way down to the MMC TLX soon.
It's interesting that the infotainment system looks very similar to what you find on Honda products. Don't get me wrong, I greatly prefer the Honda infotainment systems vs the Acura systems, but I'm a bit surprised it's not a reskinned version of the GM system. Honestly, I would prefer if it had the GM system; I just don't trust Japanese software to be high quality.
Now we know the interior money all went into the audio system... the only positive thing to me is I guessed the air suspension right. This is so underwhelming, and I am sure Acura itself want to move on to e:architecture as soon as possible. The BEV3 platform is simply too conservative and limit what Acura can do on the design side. The other day I checked out Lyriq and came away underwhelmed because the design lacks emotion and dynamics.
To put salt on the wound, GM just announced Lyriq would have $7.5k lease credit.
On the bright side, with this interior people will stop calling this is a reskinned Lyriq.
On the down side, people are going to start calling this is a reskinned Blazer EV...
You could tell me the interior is from the new Pilot and I'd believe you.
On the bright side, with this interior people will stop calling this is a reskinned Lyriq.
On the down side, people are going to start calling this is a reskinned Blazer EV...
You could tell me the interior is from the new Pilot and I'd believe you.
My disappointment comes from seeing daily the steady improvements Acura has made in recent years. They are supposed to hold or go up, not fall all the way back to the economy floor. With this half-hearted effort, I rather go down and get the mainstream brands/Tesla, or go up and get iX/Polestar 3.
My disappointment comes from seeing daily the steady improvements Acura has made in recent years. They are supposed to hold or go up, not fall all the way back to the economy floor. With this half-hearted effort, I rather go down and get the mainstream brands/Tesla, or go up and get iX/Polestar 3.
Don't forget the Prologue. The interior looks eerily similar to that.
Exterior is nice. Nicer than the GM version. The interior is... meh but I do like they are pivoting to touch screens. Hopefully the RDX gets a touch screen on its next refresh.
I am glad you like it, once I saw the interior I moved on.
i loved the exterior and I am with you interior is plain and simple. But sometimes it’s better simple than complicated and not user friendly. This will be easy to use and very practical.
The Integra and all the current tablet Acuras all use Android Automotive, so all seem to be essentially the same platform with lots of development overlap.
Honda with Google is in the Accord, so there is sales volume there to stabilize the ZDX software for whatever differences they apply. I actually suspect there is minimal technical difference, "with Google" is only on the Touring Accord so I presume Google mandated a minimum screensize or cpu spec for their apps, requiring the Touring buy up. It is all Android, can't be that technically hard.
MDX and RDX MMR already have a large screen and seem to have a good CPU, so my guess is that Google mandates touchscreens on all "with Google" models. This signals a good chance that this year's TLX MMR and next year's MDX MMR could add touchscreens and "with Google" capabilities. There is also an odd delay in announcing the 2024 RDX too, maybe they do an offcycle tech refresh and add touch too for 2024, the complaints in reviews are never-ending amd I'm sure Acura leadership is trying as hard as they can to shut them down. Probably waiting for the backlog of 2023 TLX/RDX models to run out because a touch announcement on those models will crater 2023 sales.
The Integra and all the current tablet Acuras all use Android Automotive, so all seem to be essentially the same platform with lots of development overlap.
Honda with Google is in the Accord, so there is sales volume there for whatever differences they apply. I actually suspect there is minimal technical difference, "with Google" is only on the Touring Accord so I presume Google mandated a minimum screensize or cpu spec, requiring the Touring buy up.
MDX and RDX MMR already have a large screen and seem to have a good CPU, so my guess is that Google mandates touchscreens on all "with Google" models. This signals a good chance that this year's TLX MMR and next year's MDX MMR could add touchscreens and "with Google" capabilities. There is also an odd delay in announcing the 2024 RDX too, maybe they do an offcycle tech refresh and add touch too for 2024, the complaints in reviews are never-ending amd I'm sure Acura leadership is trying as hard as they can to shut them down. Probably waiting for the backlog of 2023 TLX/RDX models to run out because a touch announcement on those models will crater 2023 sales.
Assuming you are talking about "Android Automotive" and not Android Auto (which competes w/Apple CarPlay), RDX, TLX and MDX are not on Android Automotive (wish they were). They're using an in-house OS based on Android.
Android Automotive is far more standardized than what's in the RDX, TLX and MDX right now.
I agree it is heavily forked, but I'm sure I saw "Android Automotive" in the about screen on my wife's 22 RDX. Will double check next time I'm in the car. Probably.not pure enough to qualify for wikipedia, but certainly close enough to share lots of development coding across models.
Looking closer at the ZDX center stack, there is an unnecessary amount of empty space near the diagonal cupholders. I could easily see this being the gas center stack for the TLX 24 MMR, assuming the shift buttons sit next to vertical cupholders. Makes sense for a plain storage space to replace the unreliable Acura wireless charger pad, and a vertical (hopefully more reliable) wireless slot charger to replace the truetouch pad.
I like the exterior more than the Lyriq, but what would scare me away from this entirely is how support for this will work. I can already forsee that any warranty issues is going to result in the owner getting passed around back and forth because the car is for all intents and purposes a GM product built by GM. I can't imagine Acura service centers will have the proper tools or trained staff to debug and work on the car.
Honda eArchitecture is based on the same LG chem platform that Ultium is based on, so it won't be too different from what Acura techs will be eventually getting used to.
At worse they will have at least one specially trained tech per dealership for ZDX like they do/did for the 2nd gen NSX. (I always get the same tech working powertrain on my MDX hybrid, wonder if it is their NSX tech).
I agree it is heavily forked, but I'm sure I saw "Android Automotive" in the about screen on my wife's 22 RDX. Will double check next time I'm in the car. Probably.not pure enough to qualify for wikipedia, but certainly close enough to share lots of development coding across models.
22 RDX says Android 8.1.0, not Android Automotive. So not the same platform, but probably still some opportunity for shared development.
Just as I was wondering why Acura launched ZDX at Monterey Car Week so low-key without any 3rd party photos/videos, Acura unveiled the star of the show - a preview of future NSX concept!
I figured they would announce this. Hopefully replays of the live Carmel Valley Ranch event hit youtube soon.
This looks like the clay model easter egg on the nightstand next to the Precision EV reveal last year. I am on track to be an empty nester around when the 3rd gen NSX hits CPO, so have already been reserving a spot for this in my mid-life-crisis financial plan.
Edmunds has their Carmel Valley ZDX first look posted. They add a few tidbits I hadn't seen before from their rear seat portion of the video: 5'8" fits with an inch or two to spare, pano roof, rear heated seats, rear independent climate zone and rear controls.
Also looks like the presentation was an evening event so hope someone will post a live reveal replay of the new NSX concept, a night reveal should be cool.
Just watched a quick video that was posted by Ikeda and the ZDX looks so good. I strongly believe in person, it will look even better. Acura got the design right! No gimmicks and simple but functional interior and not
typical EV exterior 🚀
Just makes me aware of how important will be continued maintenance of my existing ZDX. If I have to give up the convenience of internal combustion, it will require something more impressive. Few likely realize the speed of lithium battery deterioration (and resulting range reduction), especially if flogged regularly. Any reduction in routine maintenance expense will likely balance out with battery replacement cost. And, until CO2 production of power plants and battery manufacture process is significantly reduced, EVs will have minor ecological impact.
I agree, ran the numbers on the ZDX as a replacement for my RDX PMC and it didn't make financial sense due to depreciation on my RDX.
But if I were already in the market for a new 2-row SUV, and already had another gas roadtrip car in the household, the ZDX would be a clear choice over an RDX. Touchscreen and fuel savings at a similar after-credit price as an RDX. Plus supercruise, self parallel parking, 500hp, Brembo brakes, and Air suspension, all at a typical Acura type-S markup (after credit) to today's RDX.
As a primary car the RDX would still win as chargers just aren't ready in the US yet. Really the best primary Acura family car remains a CPO Hybrid MDX.
Ecologically I agree, battery impact vs gas impact is a wash. To me EVs are one huge marketing push by rare earth owners (one huge one in particular)
This is so refreshing to read! Johnny is a well established auto journalist (I am sure most people know him here) and also very tough when it comes to give credit. The guy sees and drives from A to Z! Keep saying and will say it again! Well done and bravo Acura! Future is bright!
08-03-2023, 08:53 AM
