The 2022 Acura MDX we bought last fall is our third one. We previously owned a Silver 2004 and a dark red / burgundy 2008. We sold the first one after about 75,000 miles because I wanted a new car. After very carefully testing nearly all of the best SUVs sold in 2008 including Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Toyota, Honda, Buick, and Cadillac we thought the MDX was the best car for us. We finally sold the 2008 to my oldest daughter last Fall with 105,000 miles on it. The car was almost trouble free the whole time we had it. When I got this new one I did not pay all that much attention to both of the test drives I took. I probably should have as the 2022 is quite a bit different than the other two. The new Acura is larger than the first two. It has basically the same motor. But it is much more adjustable in that you can drive it as soft riding, medium, or stiff depending on how you adjust it. And you can custom set the ride and drive modes.
As standard our car came with snow, comfort, regular, and sport settings. I have used comfort, regular, and sport. In comfort you get a luxury soft ride, steering is easy, transmission shifts easy. Sport is quite different with the gears held a little keeping the revs up a bit, ride is stiffer, and the overall effect is the car accelerates faster sooner and goes around corners better. The transmission is a ten speed and there are two settings for it, drive & sport. To get the most effect out of the overall sport setting put the transmission in sport too. You end up with a dramatically different car than when in comfort mode. In the middle you have regular which is in the middle of the comfort and sport.
There is also a snow setting that comes standard. I have not used that yet as there has been no snow where I have had the car. If you push the button and hold it in the middle of the settings adjuster you get custom settings. There you can set the car as you want it and also change the default for how you want the car to auto reset to when you turn it off and restart.
Overall in my opinion this model of the MDX is not as light on it’s feet as the 2008 version. The 2008 was always a refreshing ride as Acura seemed to find a middle ground that gave you a really good drivers car but not too harsh. The latest one is bigger and I don’t think it invites you to drive as fast as the older one. But that is mostly the “feel” I get and not in the actual ability to handle twisty roads and accelerate. The 2022 has double wishbone suspension all the way around and it goes around corners quite well. And the current motor with the transmission set in sport motivates this MDX relatively fast but with slightly less finesse than the older smaller model.
The materials used in this car, fit and finish, and assembly are all very first class as were the two previous MDXs. Acura makes a high quality product. But the 2022 interior to me looks much nicer than the first two. I love the latest panoramic sunroof with motorized sun shade. The Type A that we bought has a special look inside that to me comes off very well. I think it has a modern, sporty, outdoors look and the materials look and feel like they will last a long time.
I personally like the controls. Other reviewers have complained about the buttons instead of a regular stick for the transmission. After the first day I came to like the new Acura system better. Other reviewers also have complained about the touch pad system to access the infotainment, radio, sat radio, Apple Car Play (and Android Auto), I like it. Same as the buttons for the transmission I got used to the touch pad quickly and like the way it is right at hand and you don’t have to reach up to a touch screen. The other advantage of this is you almost always have a clean screen with no fingerprints on it. The wireless phone pad is great and works well consistently, far better than our Model Y Tesla. The audio system is excellent with radio, sat radio, or Apple Car Play. The sound quality seems excellent to me.
There are lots of controls, but seem to be quick to learn, and easy to use. This car has a voice system you can access with the touch of a button. And if you hold the voice button longer you automatically get Apple Siri. This car has a very effective adaptive cruise control. It also comes with a lane keeping setting which if you are driving on the freeway keeps you in your lane fairly well. In a very thoughtful addition there is a special single volume and off-on knob right where your hand naturally falls on the center console. There is a control for audio on the left side of the steering wheel. This car comes standard with rain sensing wipers. The memory system for the seats is great. It comes with Sat radio. There are gear change controls on the steering wheel. You can remove the center rear seat (2nd row of seats). This car comes with a third row of seats. The instrument cluster in front of you is easy to read and also you can adjust it. This car has excellent cup holders, center console cubby, glove box that opens without using the screens.
So what don’t I like about this car after driving it for six months. For me personally it would be nice if it was a little smaller. I would have also preferred the options of hybrid and/or electric drive. After having a Tesla model Y for a year I like electric motors quite a bit. I prefer them to gas or diesel if the range is 350+ miles and you can access a lot of chargers.
Over all this car includes a lot of standard features or features that came with packages I ordered. And as I have come to expect with a Honda or Acura product it is made quite well. But cars a very individual products and you need to look and drive an MDX carefully to see if it will work for you.
Bob Nuttmann 