Upgrades boost appeal of luxurious Acura MDX

A menu of Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews can be seen on the Business page of The Sacramento Bee’s website – www.sacbee.com/news/business/article4005306.html

Sacramento, California – The 2017 Acura MDX rolls into the current model year as a seriously reworked sport-utility vehicle.  It’s something to feel good as the young year moves into February.

The new look is a big step up, and the fabulous, lengthy list of standard features is sure to turn the head of many a prospective buyer.

The sweetly sculpted “diamond pentagon” grille looks like something you would see on a horsepower-laden sports car, and your eyes are immediately drawn to it. The jewel eye LED headlights also add flash to the restyled front end.

The MDX looks low and aerodynamic in profile – even riding on 20-inch alloy wheels – and the sport-ute certainly cut through the air in a quiet, sure-footed way. 

My tester was the AWD Advance version, with power coming from a 3.5-liter V-6 engine with a max horsepower rating of 290.  Accelerations were sufficiently strong and smoothly handled through a nine-speed automatic gearbox.

I disabled the idle/stop feature, however, because it was just too clunky getting back to business after a full stop.  I also found the visual “BRAKE” warning displayed in the dash to be overly sensitive.

Otherwise, the MDX was easy to handle, with just the right amount of firmness in the steering wheel and a surprising agility in tight spots.

A blizzard of electronic safety and technology features watched and guarded my every move.  I’d recommend a thorough reading of the owner’s manual, because the perks are numerous and sometimes difficult to master.

The tester had some traditional features for which I was grateful during a recent cold snap.  The remote engine start was particularly helpful, allowing me to step into a warm cabin and get right to driving with hard frost melted off the front and rear glass.

Fuel mileage was OK for this segment, at 19 miles per gallon in the city and 26 mpg on the highway.

This MDX is a genuine luxury liner, with the tester starting at $56,400.  Given all the standard bells and whistles on my ride, I’d say the price was on point.

The current-generation MDX earned a top-level, five-star safety rating from the federal government.

With all the improvements and technology stuffed into this MDX, I would think that buyers would want to hang onto it for 10 years, minimum.  So, if you’ve been wanting to reward yourself with a state-of-the-art luxury SUV, the MDX should be at the top of your test drive list.