2010 Acura ZDX Quality Review

For all its crossover heritage, the 2010 Acura ZDX loses passenger and cargo room in its gene-pooling experiment. The leather-trimmed front seats are superbly supportive, but the backseats are difficult to access and lack the room to truck adults for more than crosstown drives.

The 2010 Acura ZDX offers seatbelts for five, but good luck trying to fit even four adults inside. Popular Mechanics says that "the ZDX's layout lends more space to the front passengers," while USA Today asserts that the "ZDX is meant not as a family vehicle," but rather "more for a couple with no kids at home." Popular Mechanics finds that "rear headroom and legroom are...limited," and Motor Trend lists other complaints with the backseats as "challenging ingress/egress" and generally "a cramped back seat." Jalopnik reports that, "as odd-looking as it is outside, it's actually an extremely pleasant car for two people to be inside," with "two" being the operative term. TheCarConnection.com's editors observe the ZDX's rear door openings are nearly vertical and not very wide, so passengers will have to fold their feet sideways to step in. Once those traveling companions are in, there's not much headroom for them, and the lack of knee room means front passengers must move forward a bit.

Along with its cramped rear quarters, the 2010 Acura ZDX offers somewhat compromised overall cargo space. Motor Trend points out that the trunk area "is stubbier and narrower [than an] Audi Q5's," but reviews read by TheCarConnection.com are quick to point out the ease with which that capacity can be expanded. Jalopnik states that the rear seats "seem built specifically to fold down, which they do, nice and flat, giving you plenty of room." USA Today calculates the seats-down cargo space at "55.8 cu. ft.," and Popular Mechanics is impressed with the "standard power liftgate" that makes accessing the space easier than ever. There is also "a hatch covering a compartment under that cargo space [that] rises on pneumatic struts," according to CNET reviewers.

On the test cars sampled by TheCarConnection.com, fit and finish seem superb, with a bit of wrinkling on the classy, handcrafted leather trim panels. Yet there's still lots going on in the ZDX cabin, with plenty of plastics, switches, and LCDs that defy the traditional meaning of luxury. CNET feels that the Acura ZDX provides "a level of luxury greater than previous models from the company," manifested in the "soft-touch leather armrest and door-grab surfaces," says Popular Mechanics. Car and Driver loves that the interior is "filled with high-quality touches-loop carpet, a strut-equipped cargo-bin lid, and leather that feels like it slid off a side of Wagyu beef." Jalopnik is also obsessed with the "high quality" leather that's "a tactile delight."

While driving the new 2010 Acura ZDX, you'll be able to admire the luxurious interior appointments without being distracted by outside noises, thanks to what Popular Mechanics calls Acura's "active noise cancellation that eliminates low frequency booms." Jalopnik also reports that the 2010 Acura ZDX "can give you isolation in spades."