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LED headlights, adaptive cruise control, a lane keeping assistance system, super handling all wheel drive, a wide screen HDMI rear seat entertainment system.
Acura throws a lot of tech into it's MDX SUV, and for the 2016 model year we have a nine speed automatic transmissions and an idle stop feature for fuel saving.
There's a lot of things I like about the 2015 MDX and some things I definitely don't.
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The MDX is Acura's seven passenger premium SUV.
But to my eye, it's presents a little bit smaller.
It looks more like a Lexus RS or a BMW X-5, both five passenger SUVs.
The third row is actually not that hard to get into, even for adults, although you will need to be a little bit flexible.
Now let me get this out of the way right from the start.
I really hate this infotainment interface.
I've got a button and dials here.
These control the upper LCD.
Plus I've got a touchscreen in the middle.
These control some of the same functions but in a completely different format.
It's very confusing.
And for navigation, the maps are stored on a hard drive so they refresh quickly, plus I've got live traffic here.
That's pretty good.
One thing I don't have though is any sort of real online destination search and that's something where Acura is a little bit behind the times.
Of course I I've got a hands free, Bluetooth phone system.
And for audio sources, I've got quite a few here, satellite radio, I've got a DVD drive, I've got a hard drive in the dashboard where I can store music.
I've got USB ports, Ipod supports.
and bluetooth audio and Pandora.
I've got my iPhone paired to the car.
I can actually browse its music library using the bluetooth interface.
That's not something you see on a lot of cars so that's pretty convenient.
It's completely wireless Music library browsing.
For the sound system, we've got the ELS premium audio system backed by music producer Elliot Shiner with hardware by Panasonic.
12 speakers, two in the ceiling actually, that sounds pretty good.
I like the sound of this system.
For the transmission, you don't see a shifter on the console here, you see a set of buttons.
That's like in Acura's RLX model.
This controls the nine-speed automatic Transmission.
You got park, reverse, neutral.
Plus there's a drive sport button.
I hit it once I go into drive, I hit it again I go into sport mode.
Plus I have paddles on the steering wheel here, and these let me shift manually.
Now under the hood of this MDX we've got a 3.5 leter V6 engine.
That's got direct injection, 290 horsepower, 267 pound feet of torque.
It does cylinder deactivation, so that knocks out three of the cylinders if your cruising down the highway.
So that'll save you some fuel and also has an idle stop feature so when, in the city or when you stop at a stop light it will also cut off the engine.
That'll save you some gas there too.
It should get low 20s average fuel economy.
It's not bad for a seven passenger SUV.
I've got it in drive right now.
The seventh button labels IDS stands for Integrated Dynamic Systems put really light action on the steering wheel, it's really normal throttle input.
If I bring it to sport mode, that sharpens the throttle input and makes the wheel a little heavier to turn.
Turn.
I like how the system works, and I can actually leave this in Sport all day, it'd be pretty comfortable to drive.
Now one thing I really like about the MDX is the super handling all-wheel drive system.
This system can put 90% of its torque to the front wheels, that gets you your best fuel economy just for the highway cruise.
Or it can push 70% of the torque to the rear wheels And Acura does a really good job of sound deadening in the cab here.
I'm not hearing a lot of engine noise, I'm not hearing a lot of road noise.
This is really a comfortable ride and I think that's where the MBX excels.
I've got the advanced package here too and that brings in driver assistance systems.
I've got blind spot monitoring that lights up.
I've also got adaptive cruise control so I can just set my speed and the car will automatically slow down for slower traffic ahead.
It's got lane keeping assist.
It will actually move the steering wheel to keep me in the center of my lane.
Pretty impressive.
OK, let's price out our 2016 Acura MDX.
Base price for our front wheel drive model is forty three thousand and seven hundred and eighty five dollars.
That's with destination.
Add two thousand dollars for the super handling all wheel drive system.
Now we have the top dog model here with advanced package, technology package, entertainment package This goes for 58,000 even.
I like that this holds 7 passengers.
I absolutely do not like entertainment interface here.
It does check off all the boxes for driver assistance features.
That's good.
I like the super handling all wheel drive system for performance.
I like the suspension for comfort but doesn't really hit a good compromise at both.
Is it a luxury car, performance car Not really sure.
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