{"id":3781,"date":"2017-03-01T10:09:27","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T17:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rickdebruhl.com\/?p=3781"},"modified":"2017-03-01T17:11:17","modified_gmt":"2017-03-02T00:11:17","slug":"car-review-2017-acura-mdx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carcentrick.com\/?p=3781","title":{"rendered":"Car Review: 2017 Acura MDX"},"content":{"rendered":"

If I get a nose job will you love me more?<\/p>\n

\"2017
2017 Acura MDX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Apparently that\u2019s what the folks at Acura were pondering when they were looking at styling options for the 2017 MDX. For years Acura used a signature grille that had a heavy beak-looking piece of brightwork. It has actually been getting smaller in recent years and for 2017 the beak disappeared completely. In its place is something significantly more traditional. I can only assume that focus groups somewhere decided that while the grille was distinctive, it wasn\u2019t attractive. No sense in having a signature look if folks don\u2019t like it. Personally, I like the new look (not that I was included in the focus group).<\/p>\n

Oh, and don\u2019t think you older MDX owners will be able to buy a new look insert. The grill has a different shape to go with the new styling.<\/p>\n

\"2017
Not Much Change Past the Nose<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I know that\u2019s a lot to say about a nose job, but frankly, it\u2019s the biggest change from last year\u2019s model. And that\u2019s not a bad thing. The Acura MDX is a solid choice in the upscale world of three row SUVs. Its 3.5 liter V6 delivers 290 horsepower which is perfect for a vehicle this size. Oh sure, more would always be nice, but this engine won\u2019t leave you feeling underwhelmed when you pull away from the light. Mated to a 9-speed transmission it gives the MDX a nice smooth run up to freeway speeds. \u00a0You can expect 19 MPG in town and 26 mpg on the highway with a combined total of 22 MPG.<\/p>\n

\"2016
290 Horsepower is Just Right<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MDX no longer has a traditional stick for changing gears, but I can\u2019t say I\u2019m thrilled with the replacement. It just requires too much thinking to go from park to drive to reverse. Unlike Chryslers which have a small hockey puck-looking device that you simply twist from one gear to the next, the MDX has a park button, a lever for going backwards and different buttons for drive and neutral. Don\u2019t get me wrong, it\u2019s not brain surgery and I\u2019m sure owners will get used to the system. It just seems more complicated than it needs to be.<\/p>\n

\"2017
Interior is Upscale, but not Flashy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The interior is nice, but it\u2019s not an all-out luxury car. The seats are comfortable, both front and rear. The third row isn\u2019t huge, but that\u2019s fairly normal for similar SUVs. If you want a third row that will truly be comfortable for an adult, you\u2019d better go for a full-sized SUV. One nice touch is that the second row seat can slide forward just a bit so the folks way in the back can get a little more leg room.<\/p>\n

\"2017
Slightly Over complicated Gear Selector<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Acura display interface and controls are so-so. They work OK, but like the gear selector, they require too many steps to get where you\u2019re going. I\u2019m really hoping that the Acura engineers kick it up a notch in the next generation.<\/p>\n

Is it enough to avoid the MDX? Hardly. In fact, for full disclosure, we own a 2014 edition which is very similar (minus the nose job). It\u2019s my wife\u2019s daily driver and she absolutely loves it.<\/p>\n

Base price for the 2017 MDX is $44,050. My test car which was an all-wheel drive model equipped with the Advanced option package came in at $57,340. Compare it to cars higher up the luxury food chain and it\u2019s a pretty solid deal.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s recap. Solid three row SUV with a few minor flaws gets a nose job. Works for me.<\/p>\n<\/fb:like><\/fb:like><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If I get a nose job will you love me more? Apparently that\u2019s what the folks at Acura were pondering when they were \n [...]<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newcarsinformation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p27JFw-YZ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/carcentrick.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/2017-Acura-MDX.jpg?fit=2040%2C1360&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carcentrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carcentrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carcentrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carcentrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carcentrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3781"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/carcentrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3810,"href":"https:\/\/carcentrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3781\/revisions\/3810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carcentrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carcentrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carcentrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carcentrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}