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April 3, 2008 http://www.thecarconnection.com/fullreview/acura_mdx_2001

  Marc K. Stengel
EditorMarc K. Stengel

"Heck if I know," I said when the wife asked what the "MDX" name on Acura's wildly popular new sport-utility vehicle meant. "It's an SUV. I guess it's supposed to sound macho, durable, extreme—you know, rugged enough for all you carpooling moms."

Even before the Acura MDX washed up on my shore for a test drive, I'd already fielded a number of calls and e-mails asking me what I thought about American Honda's SUV-come-lately. Not that my opinion mattered much. At least two of my interrogators marched off and bought the MDX before I'd even set fanny in the driver's seat.

Truth be told, I've been up to my transfer case in SUVs lately—an occupational hazard in an automobile market where SUV popularity shows no signs of imminent wane. "So what else is new?" is about the only curiosity I could muster upon first spying the MDX in my drive. There it sat, chrome-trimmed, all angles and bulges like a body builder, smiling through its broad-grinning grille like a socialite posing for the newspaper living section. I drove it around a little. It drove fine. I ran some errands. It did fine with the errands. It's a sport-utility vehicle, for crying out loud—a pricey, nearly-$40-grand SUV at that. It had better drive fine and do errands.

Talk about timing. This was the weekend when I was scheduled to meet with my father at my grandmother's flat to winnow and lift and separate the remnant horde of 93 years' worth of accumulation that she would no longer need in a new, smaller apartment. "Hope you've got a truck," my dad warned.

2001 Acura MDX 1Enlarge Photo "Heck if I know," I said when the wife asked what the "MDX" name on Acura's wildly popular new sport-utility vehicle meant. "It's an SUV. I guess it's supposed to sound macho, durable, extreme—you know, rugged enough for all you carpooling moms." Even before the Acura MDX washed up on my shore for a test drive, I'd already fielded a number of calls and e-mails asking me what I thought about American Honda's SUV-come-lately. Not that my opinion mattered much. At least two of my interrogators marched off and bought the MDX before I'd even set fanny in the driver's seat. Truth be told, I've been up to my transfer case in SUVs lately—an occupational hazard in an automobile market where SUV popularity shows no signs of imminent wane. "So what else is new?" is about the only curiosity I could muster upon first spying the MDX in my drive. There it sat, chrome-trimmed, all angles and bulges like a body builder, smiling through its broad-grinning grille like a socialite posing for the newspaper living section. I drove it around a little. It drove fine. I ran some errands. It did fine with the errands. It's a sport-utility vehicle, for crying out loud—a pricey, nearly-$40-grand SUV at that. It had better drive fine and do errands. Talk about timing. This was the weekend when I was scheduled to meet with my father at my grandmother's flat to winnow and lift and separate the remnant horde of 93 years' worth of accumulation that she would no longer need in a new, smaller apartment. "Hope you've got a truck," my dad warned. "Heck if I know," I said when the wife asked what the "MDX" name on Acura's wildly popular new sport-utility vehicle meant. "It's an SUV. I guess it's supposed to sound macho, durable, extreme—you know, rugged enough for all you carpooling moms." Even before the Acura MDX washed up ...