Queen of the Road

After owning the sporty BMW 328 for a little over a year, the boyfriend and I (OK, mostly just the boyfriend) decided that it was time for a change. A big change! That change was to come in the form of the Acura MDX. After having the car for about two months now, I feel confident in telling you what I like and what I don't like about it.

The Basics

First of all, I have to say that the MDX is a great value for what you get standard, which is just about everything: heated seats, A/C, CD player, power everything, sunroof, and driver-side power seat. All that for about $36K. Not bad!

The MDX has a V6 engine with 240 horsepower which is really noticeable when you're going up steep hills, as I often do since I live in San Francisco, or when traveling with cargo or lots of passengers. It even manages to get a ULEV (ultra low emissions vehicle) rating, so it's kinder to the environment than most SUVs. The MDX also has something called Variable Tourque Movement 4-wheel-drive (aka VTM-4). That means that most of the time the MDX is front-wheel drive, but if it anticipates wheel slippage it will automatically switch to all-wheel drive.

Our MDX has already made its first trip to Lake Tahoe and had no problems on a snow-covered road. At one point, it was parked on a snow-covered incline, which it had no problems getting off of while other vehicles were getting stuck.

I've never owned another SUV, but have driven those of friends and family: Ford Explorers, Chevrolet Suburbans, and others, and can say that the MDX rides like a dream, or at least like a car. While in other SUVs you can feel every bump in the road as you drive along, the MDX is comparable in comfort to our BMW.

While gas mileage isn't as good as it was in the days of our BMW, we get about 25 mpg on the highway and about 13 mpg around the city.

There's also room for seven passengers. It would help if two of them were very short, but it's doable with average-sized people for short trips.

Aesthetics and Fun Stuff

This is a really good looking SUV. It's sexy in a sort of "Queen (or King, as the case may be) of the road" kind of way. While I think it looks best in black, ours is silver and is a good second choice. And with the sunroof and tinted windows, you're bound to be in one of the most looked at vehicles on the road.

The MDX is huge! As I mentioned there is room for seven people in the vehicle. But what if you need to move stuff instead of friends? The last row of seats folds down into the floor to be completely undetectable. The back of the second row also folds, but doesn't disappear completely. This leaves plenty of room for hauling skis, snowboards, bikes, groceries, or just about anything else.

Thirsty? The MDX seems to have cup holders everywhere you look. I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, but a long road trip with no where to put your drink really sucks, and in the MDX, everybody has at least on cup holder. There's also plenty of small storage space throughout, like in the glove compartment, console, and on the doors. You can control the stereo with the touch of a button on the steering wheel, and your passengers will be happy to see that they have their own climate control in the back.

Extras

The Touring Package will run you about an extra $3K. With the touring package you get a 6 disc CD player, a roof rack, a cool little mechanism that causes your side mirrors to angle downward when you put the car in reverse which is great for parallel parking. Just for the record, we didn't get the touring package.

We did get the on-board navigational system which was an extra $2K. It's a great system which will give you directions to any address, or even find the closest store, restaurant, ATM, gas station, etc. It has tons of options which I could never give a complete description of here.

A Few Minor Flaws

Maybe there's something about building a car that I just don't understand, but can somebody tell me why the passenger seat is never automatic? This holds true in the MDX, and as I am the passenger nearly as often as I'm the driver, it kind of irks me.

There has been one occasion when the navigational system told me to do something I couldn't do. It told me to turn left onto a street where no left turn was allowed. It wasn't a big deal since I knew where I was and how to work around it, but I'm sure it will eventually happen again.

What? No option for a manual transmission? I had grown accustomed to driving a manual here in the city (ludicrous as it may sound) and I kind of enjoyed it. There's something about manually shifting gears that gives you a sense of power. There's no such power trip to be had in the MDX since your only option is an automatic transmission.

Overall

I love it! For the price, we got more than any other manufacturer could give. (A similarly loaded BMW X5 would have been about $10K more.) It's practical both in the city and especially on road trips. It's great for helping maintain an active lifestyle, and for getting the chores of the day to day routine done.