If "travels well" is one of your key criteria for a new car, few vehicles are more comfortable or inspire more confidence on the open road than the 2017 Acura MDX Hybrid.
Acura's first-ever hybrid SUV started rolling into showrooms last month. Refined, powerful and spacious, the MDX hybrid comes with many a desirable option in Acura's parts bin, including state-of-the-art safety technology.
The combination of a 3.0-liter V6 gas engine and a three-motor hybrid drive system results in a punchy 321 horsepower-31 more than the gas-only, 3.5-L V6 model. It runs easily with Texas' breakneck, 80-mph Interstate traffic while getting close to 27 mpg, a 45 percent increase over a conventionally powered MDX.
The best part of the hybrid MDX is that it starts at $51,960. That's a mere $1,500 more than a similarly equipped gas-only model.
On a jaunt to Austin, a liberal oasis increasingly hemmed in by this thing called Texas, we found the hybrid MDX to be a perfect road-trip companion, quiet enough not to distract from our favorite Spotify play lists running through a kickin' sound system, and perfectly amenable to side trips and stops for stacks. Not once did it say, "Are we there yet?"
Light on its feet
The MDX feels big, but drives small. Weighing in at a hair less than 4,500 pounds, it has the heft to feel authoritative, but clever chassis and suspension engineering, in concert with a host of technological enhancements, make it feel spry, lithe, and easy to steer away from trouble.
That starts with Acura's innovative Sport Hybrid Super Handling-All Wheel Drive system, a technology first offered in the RLX Sport Hybrid and, more recently, the NSX supercar.
The system operates independently of the gasoline engine. Two rear-mounted electric motors dynamically apportion both positive and negative torque directly to the rear wheels. This system provides for dynamic, immediate and always-on torque vectoring, a system used to improve cornering control. It can, for example, send more torque to an outside rear wheel to push the vehicle into a corner and create a yaw movement, causing the vehicle to lean into the turn, which counters body roll away from it.
You can go faster, or just enjoy the sense of control.
The MDX Sport Hybrid doesn't rely on engine torque, so the electric motors can create a larger torque difference between the left and right rear wheels, even during small throttle applications, at low engine speeds or when decelerating. This magnifies the handling benefits of across a much wider range of driving conditions.
A seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, with paddle shifters, provides a tight series of gear ratios, as well as lovely exhaust notes through acceleration.
Handling and throttle response can be enhanced through a four-mode selector that engages with nine different dynamic systems within the vehicle, including its electric motors, throttle, steering, transmission and active dampers, to provide the driver with a range of selectable performance characteristics.
Sport mode can make for some surprisingly nimble handling on back roads. On the open road, the comfort mode provides just that: a car that can eat up the miles. On our return trip, we stopped for fuel and Kolaches in West, and then drove straight through with nary a back pain, nor sign of fatigue.
Safety first
All 2017 Acura models come standard with AcuraWatch, a suite of safety and driver-assistive technologies: collision mitigation braking system, lane departure warning, forward collision warning, lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control with low-speed follow and road departure mitigation.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says these technologies reduce fatalities and injury accidents by a third. That alone is reason enough to make sure your next car has them. I think they instill joy back into driving because one can set and forget the adaptive cruise control. The car will stay a safe distance from the car ahead. It is perhaps the best way to avoid road rage on I-35. The car decides when to speed up, and when to slow down.
All Acura models also come equipped with a multi-angle rearview camera, and the top grade adds blind spot information, front and rear parking sensors, rear cross traffic monitor and new auto high beam. The National Highway Traffic Administration gave the MDX a five-star safety rating, the best possible.
American built
Designed in Acura's Design Studio in Torrance, Calif., the MDX is assembled at the company's plant in Lincoln, Ala.
The MDX comes with a six-year, 70,000-mile powertrain warranty and a four-year, 50,000-mile limited vehicle warranty.
Our test vehicle came with the Advance Package, which included a surround-view camera system, sports seats with perforated leather seating, ventilated front seats, second-row captain's chairs, heated steering wheel, wood trim, roof rails, rear sunshades and LED fog lamps.
With delivery, the sticker came to $59,675, making the MDX Hybrid and Lexus RX Hybrid the value leaders in a highly competitive segment. U.S. News and World Report named the MDX the best Luxury Three-Row SUV for the Money.