2010 Acura MDX

A vehicle the size of the Acura MDX is usually a little too large for my tastes, so why then have I asked the nice lady in the Honda PR department if it’s okay for me to keep it?

I guess it’s that some vehicles just make you feel good when you’re in the driver’s seat – and the MDX is one of them. It also drives smaller than its 4,867 mm overall length and 2,109 kg curb weight. I like that.

I also like the fact it’s built at Honda of Canada’s Alliston, Ont. assembly plant.

Freshened for 2010, this seven-passenger SUV gets Acura’s signature design front grille, new front and rear fascia and side sills, revised hood and taillights with bright LED lights and many new trim pieces. And the gorgeous 19-inch seven-spoke aluminum alloy wheels are part of my test vehicle’s Elite package.

Acura employs what it calls Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) which not only directs power to the wheel with the best traction in slick conditions, but also is programmed to turn the outside wheels a little faster to help you hug the curves.

A new 3.7-litre V6 makes 300 hp at 6,300 rpm and in testing by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada for the 2010 Canadian Car of the Year competition, the MDX raced from 0-100 km/h in 7.6 seconds – second quickest of the five vehicles in its category. It also registered an 80-120 km/h time of 5.7 seconds.

Surprisingly, for a vehicle in this price class, the all-new six-speed transmission is not the smoothest. Upshifts and downshifts seem to take a while, and are quite noticeable.

But you can use the paddle shifters, even in Drive.

Also surprisingly, in such an advanced vehicle, is the absence of keyless ignition.

Otherwise, the MDX Elite is packed with technology – all of it driver friendly – including heated and ventilated power front seats, rearview camera, rear DVD entertainment system, heated outside mirrors with reverse tiltdown, anti-lock brakes, tri-zone automatic climate control, 410-watt premium sound system with 15GB of hard disc storage, vehicle stability assist with traction control and a navigation system with bilingual voice recognition.

Although the cabin is relatively quiet (for a tall, boxy vehicle), with little wind noise, there is a fair amount of road noise from the Michelin Latitude tires.