X
CNET logo Why You Can Trust CNET

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement

2014 Acura MDX SH-AWD Advance review: This SUV is one small step for self-driving cars

With its advanced Lane Keeping Assist system, the 2014 Acura MDX practically drives itself, but you'll still need to keep a hand on the wheel, you know, just in case.

Antuan Goodwin Reviews Editor / Cars
Antuan Goodwin gained his automotive knowledge the old fashioned way, by turning wrenches in a driveway and picking up speeding tickets. From drivetrain tech and electrification to car audio installs and cabin tech, if it's on wheels, Antuan is knowledgeable.
Expertise Reviewing cars and car technology since 2008 focusing on electrification, driver assistance and infotainment Credentials
  • North American Car, Truck and SUV of the Year (NACTOY) Awards Juror
Antuan Goodwin
12 min read

As much as we'd like for every car that we review to be as exciting as the Jaguar F-Type that recently graced the Car Tech garage, the reality is that most of the time I'm driving regular sedans and dull SUVs. So, while there was a lot to look forward to with the 2014 Acura MDX's arrival -- it's handsome new design, jewel-like full LED headlamps, and the promise of updated tech, for example -- the reality was that I was fully prepared to be just a bit bored this week.

7.0

2014 Acura MDX SH-AWD Advance

The Good

We enjoyed the <b>2014 Acura MDX SH-AWD's</b> sporty steering, planted handling, and grippy all-wheel-drive system. Variable displacement V-6 engine boasts a good balance of performance and efficiency. Driver assistance systems, while taking some getting used to, boost vehicle safety.

The Bad

Acura forces Advanced buyers into choosing its rear entertainment option with its packaging. Voice command system is far more laborious than competing models. And the two-screen infotainment system is more complex.

The Bottom Line

Turn off 2014 Acura MDX SH-AWD Advance's advanced and off-putting driver aid systems and you're left with a competent and sporty, high-tech SUV.

And then I hit the road, curiously tapped the button for the Lane Keeping Assist system, and was met with one of the weirdest drives of my life.

Advanced, awkward, awesome
The MDX's midtier Technology package adds a number of passive driver aid technologies, such as a blind-spot-monitoring system, a forward collision warning system, and a lane departure warning system. Each of these systems will chide you with visual and audible alerts, letting you know that there's potential danger -- such as merging into a lane that's currently occupied or drifting out of your current lane because of inattentiveness -- but they don't actively intervene in any way.

However, the MDX's top-tier option package and trim level, the MDX Advance, adds active intervention abilities to the passive driver aid features of the Technology package. Forward collision alert becomes a Collision Mitigation Braking System that can automatically engage the brakes to slow the vehicle before an imminent collision, reducing the force and severity of the impact. Cruise control becomes Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with a low-speed follow feature that allows it to maintain a safe following distance with the leading vehicle all the way down to a complete stop and resume its speed when the lead vehicle moves. The standard rearview camera gets front and rear parking proximity sensors.

We've seen a number of these technologies before, but things get interesting when the lane departure warning becomes a Lane Keeping Assist, arguably the weirdest feature in the MDX's bag of tricks.

By processing the road ahead of the vehicle with a forward-facing camera, Lane Keeping Assist is able to discern the lane marker lines and calculate where the MDX is between them. It then is able to nudge the vehicle left or right to keep it centered in the lane. However, where other lane-keeping systems that we've tested only keep you from leaving your lane and pull this trick off with biased braking, Acura's system works to keep you centered in the lane before you get out of bounds and influences the vehicle's direction through electronic power steering. The weird bit is that you can feel all of this happening as you hold the wheel.

To get an idea of what driving with Lane Keeping Assist activated feels like right now, grab a friend and hop in your car. Once under way, have your friend put two fingers on top of the steering wheel and tell him to help you steer in tandem. Now, he's only got two fingers on the wheel and you've got two hands at 3 and 9, so you can easily overpower him and retain control of the vehicle. You'll both be looking at the same road and working toward the same goal of keeping the car from careening off of the road, so you'll stay fairly centered in your lane. However, your inputs will be just slightly out of sync. You'll be able to feel his tiny corrections, sometimes working with you and sometimes against. This is what Lane Keeping Assist feels like, and it's very off-putting at first.

2014 MDX Acura
With the aid of cameras, the MDX can keep itself centered within its lane. Josh Miller/CNET

My initial reaction to Lane Keeping Assist was revulsion. I was very vocal to the other Car Tech editors about disliking the feeling that the car was fighting me to stay in the lane. However, I forced myself to drive for hours with the Assist engaged -- completing the entirety of my 120-mile loop of the San Francisco Bay Area -- and found that, after a while, I got used to it. And I noticed a few things.

First, the system didn't seem to be able to make large corrections, such as following a bend in the road or it's assistance wasn't strong enough to push far enough past my hands' neutral position to affect a large turn. It's only got enough freedom to keep you centered in the lane. I also noticed that if you let go of the steering wheel while Lane Keeping Assist is active, you can actually see the wheel move as it makes small corrections to keep the car straight for a few moments. However, once the system realizes that you're not helping, it will flash a Steering Input Required warning before deactivating assistance. Presumably, this is to keep drivers from engaging the system and taking a nap while the MDX drives from San Francisco to LA. The car can't quite drive itself, despite the fact that sometimes it feels like it wants to.

Lane Keeping Assist is a small, but awesome, step toward the self-driving car that automakers have been promising us. Though, at the end of the day, I'd rather do the driving by myself and unassisted, but I'm a bit of a control freak like that.

Engine and economy
Disable the electronic assists and you'll find that the MDX's electronic power steering is not bad at all. In fact, I was very impressed. The level of assist can be adjusted on the fly by the driver with a button on the center console labeled IDS or Integrated Dynamics System.

Tapping this button toggles between Sport, Normal, and Comfort modes. I found that, when in its Sport setting, the steering had a nice weight to it that was pleasing, with a good level of resistance to my inputs. Road feeling through the fingertips was next to nil, but I enjoyed the responsiveness. Sport was the mode that I preferred, but drivers who like effortless steering can toggle to the Normal or Comfort modes for a progressively lighter feeling.

Engine bay
Somewhere beneath the plastic shrouding is a new V-6 engine that's sometimes an I-3. Josh Miller/CNET

Lift the Acura's hood and use your imagination to see beyond the sea of plastic covers and you'll find a 290-hp, 3.5-liter V-6 engine. Torque is stated at 267 pound-feet thanks to a combination of direct injection, Acura/Honda's i-VTEC variable valve timing, and lift control. This engine is down a bit in displacement and down a just few ponies, but it's also up where efficiency is concerned. Thanks to a technology called VCM or Variable Cylinder Management, the MDX's V-6 is able to shut down some of its cylinders, effectively becoming an I-3, for increased fuel economy during passages where the full capabilities of its engine aren't needed, such as when cruising on a flat highway.

Fuel economy is estimated by the EPA at 20 city, 28 highway, and 23 combined. I managed to maintain about 25 mpg during my highway-heavy test period.

The engine is transversely mounted -- hinting at its front-wheel driven roots -- and is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission that features normal, sport, and manual "SportShift" modes. Sport mode actually adds a bit of engagement to the drive, holding the revs higher in the range before shifting to better access available power. However, the manual shift mode, controlled by steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters, isn't particularly sporty thanks to a noticeable lag between slapping a paddle and the resulting shift.

Rear wheels
SH-AWD can shift as much as 70 percent of torque to the outside rear wheel to aid in cornering. Josh Miller/CNET

The MDX's platform may be a front-driver, but our example was equipped with Acura's optional Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system, which can send as much as 70 percent of available torque to the rear wheels when extra grip is needed or as little as 10 percent when cruising. The "Super Handling" portion of SH-AWD comes into play when cornering when rear axle torque vectoring can shuffle torque between the two rear wheels, sending power to the outside rear wheel to help rotate the vehicle when accelerating out of a corner. You can watch all of this torque shifting and shuffling between the four wheels on an LCD in the MDX's instrument cluster.

The IDS button that tweaks the power steering also adjusts the SH-AWD's programming when equipped. So, selecting IDS Sport not only firms up the steering, but it also lets the all-wheel-drive system be more aggressive in sending power to the outside wheels when cornering. Drivers can also set the IDS Sport mode to automatically engage the transmission's Sport mode or opt to control the two systems separately.

Twice the screens, twice as good?
Even without all of its packages and options, this is an SUV that covers its tech bases with a list of standard infotainment and audio features that are punctuated by the standard USB connectivity with iPod integration and Bluetooth hands-free calling with audio streaming that we like to see. Staples such as AM/FM radio, Sirius XM satellite radio, CD playback, and a Pandora and Aha radio app controls flesh out the list of standard audio sources. The dashboard tech is controlled via a combination of steering-wheel controls and an odd dual-screen dashboard interface.

Acura MDX dashboard
You'll find two screens in the MDX's dashboard with two different control schemes. Josh Miller/CNET

The two screens stack one above the other on the MDX's center stack. The lower screen, the On-Demand Multi-Use Display (ODMD), is touch sensitive and is used to display and control the audio playback, source selection, and to command the climate control system. As a nice touch, every tap to the ODMD's screen is confirmed with a bit of haptic vibration.

The upper display is slightly larger, is not touch sensitive, and is controlled by physical control knob at the base of the center stack to choose between commanding the hands-free calling system, navigation (if equipped), audio sources, and vehicle settings. If you're looking at audio sources on the lower display and request control with the top display, the lower display will automatically change to display climate controls, so it's not necessarily possible to redundantly display your music info twice, but that doesn't change the fact that you must now wrangle two screens, and a control knob.

Fortunately, the learning curve is pretty shallow and I can see what Acura/Honda is trying to do here. The ODMD only shows a simplified interface, essentially replacing what would be a large bank of buttons in the center of the dashboard with a reconfigurable bank of virtual buttons that are more relevant to the driver's needs and are larger and easier to hit while driving. Meanwhile, the top screen is free to do standard infotainment tasks. It's not a particularly pretty or elegant solution, though your tastes may vary, but the system had grown on my by the end of my testing. I liked that I didn't have to leave the map screen while navigating to see what song was currently playing over Bluetooth or to quickly pop into a different audio source.

Our MDX was equipped with the top-tier Advanced package, which rolls in all of the dashboard and safety enhancements of Acura's midtier Technology package. This includes the hard-disk-based navigation system, which features traffic data and cleverly ties into the climate control system, automatically adjusting the temperature to compensate for the sun's position relative to the vehicle. I've said before that Acura's infotainment system's interface looks unattractive and rather dated, but I was pleased to see that at least the quality of the maps have greatly improved with this generation. Lines representing streets were smoother, text more legible, and animation smoother. It's nowhere near as eye-pleasing as those of BMW and Audi's current infotainment options, but any improvement over the jagged lines of the old system is still good.

Voice command is also added to the mix with the Technology package, giving the driver the ability to choose a song from a connected USB device, such as an iPod, with the touch of a button and a few spoken commands. Navigation destinations can also be input via voice, but after attempting to do this a few times, I just gave up and used the manual input methods. The voice address input simply puts too many prompts between the driver and navigation, requiring pauses for city, street name, street number, etc. The system also rarely understood me on the first attempt and required my clarification almost every step of the way. Competitors' superior voice input systems will let drivers input complete addresses in one go and are considerably less frustrating.

Back on the positive side of the Technology package, it also updates the MDX with the ELS Studio Premium Audio System, a 10-speaker surround system upgrade to the standard 8-speaker rig. Drivers around the cabin are upgraded and a subwoofer and center fill are added to the mix; the resulting audio sounds quite good. Opt for the Entertainment package and that speaker count grows to 11 or 12 speakers, but we'll discuss this more shortly.

Along with better sound, the ELS system also adds HD Radio to the list of digital audio sources.

Rear-seat entertainment
The MDX is available with not one, but two possibilities where rear-seat entertainment systems are concerned, which is odd in a time where a pair of iPads or Nexus 7s is probably a much more cost effective option for entertaining kids in the back seat. However, the Acura DVD Rear Entertainment System has a few tricks up its sleeve to differentiate itself from other flip-down DVD players.

Folding down from the cabin's ceiling is a 9-inch full VGA screen that can receive DVD video from the infotainment system in the dashboard. The driver can exercise control over this system or the rear passengers can with a wireless IR remote. Audio can be played through a pair of included IR headphones or through the surround-sound audio system, which gains an additional center channel speaker in its ceiling, bringing the total speaker count to 11.

On the back of the center console, rear passengers will find an RCA video input and a 110-volt AC power outlet for plugging in an external video source. Meanwhile, the outboard seats on the second row gain heating elements to match the front. The center seat and the third-row passengers still must make due with cool buns.

Rear monitor
The Advance package's rear monitor can display two video sources at the same time or one really wide source. Josh Miller/CNET

Drivers who have opted for the Advance package will find their Entertainment package upgraded as well. Out comes the 9-inch screen and in goes a 16.2-inch ultrawide screen that can display wide-screen content natively or can be split to display two different sources side-by-side. The system also gains yet another center ceiling speaker, bumping the total count up to 12 drivers, and gains a digital HDMI input alongside the analog RCA.

With HDMI and 110V power, I was able to plug my Xbox 360 into the Acura's flip-down system to play a few quick rounds of Forza Horizon and a bit of Grand Theft Auto 5, which would be interesting on a road trip, but for around-town driving, I still think that tossing a tablet to the kids in the back would be a less clunky, more cost effective option. But that doesn't really matter because Acura's packaging pretty much forces you to take the Entertainment package if you want the Advanced package.

2014 Acura MDX
In spite of a rocky start, I enjoyed my time with the MDX. Josh Miller/CNET

Pricing and packaging
Pricing the 2014 Acura MDX is fairly simple because all of the options are bundled into just a few trim levels. The MDX starts at $42,290 and adding the Technology package knocks that price up to $46,565. The next steps are up to the $48,565 Technology and Entertainment package bundle, and then up to the $54,505 MDX Advance. Acura's SH-AWD system is pretty much the only other option, adding $2,000 to each of those trim levels, which means that our fully loaded 2014 Acura MDX SH-AWD Advance rolls off of the lot at an MSRP of $57,400, which includes a destination charge of $895.

At that price, the angular MDX stands eye-to-eye with the curvaceous Infiniti QX60 (formerly the JX35) with similar power, performance, dashboard, and safety tech. The Infiniti's infotainment system is just a bit easier to live with, giving it a slight edge over the Acura where Car Tech's scoring is decided, but the Acura felt more planted around a bend with better steering feel. And where the Acura will jiggle your steering wheel with its Lane Keeping Assist, the Infiniti's EcoPedal with Intelligent Brake Assist will push back against your foot with the gas pedal. I'm not sure which type of haptic feedback is weirder.

Tech specs
Model 2014 Acura MDX
Trim Advance with Entertainment package
Powertrain 3.5L V-6 with direct injection and Variable Cylinder Management, 6-speed automatic transmission, SH-AWD
EPA fuel economy 20 city, 28 highway and 23 combined mpg
Observed fuel economy 25.5 mpg
Navigation Optional Acura HDD navigation with traffic and voice command
Bluetooth phone support Standard with voice command
Disc player Single-slot CD/DVD
MP3 player support Standard analog 3.5mm auxiliary input, USB connection with iPod control, Bluetooth audio streaming
Other digital audio SiriusXM satellite radio, optional HD Radio, 15GB HDD storage, Pandora and Aha app control
Audio system Optional 12-speaker ELS Surround system (with Advance and Entertainment packages)
Driver aids Standard: Rearview camera
Technology package: Blind-spot monitoring, lane departure warning, forward collision warning
Advance package: Lane keeping assist, forward collision mitigation, front/rear proximity sensors, adaptive cruise control
Base price $42,290
Price as tested $57,400
7.0

2014 Acura MDX SH-AWD Advance

Score Breakdown

Performance 7Features 8Design 7Media 6