2011 Acura ZDX: Gorgeous, But Still Pricey And Perplexing

By Bengt Halvorson

Bengt Halvorson

Deputy Editor BIO

Bengt Halvorson is Deputy Editor of High Gear Media's portfolio of car sites, overseeing the production of reviews, evaluating vehicles firsthand... More

LATEST ARTICLE
Nissan Rogue Vs. Honda CR-V: Compare Cars
For small families, the vehicle of choice is no longer the minivan or the SUV; it's the compact... Read More

• #2LEADERBOARD RANK
• 2656ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
• 108COMMENTS POSTED

10 1,659 views Dec 21, 2010

Follow Bengt

Add to circle

2011 Acura ZDX

Why the hesitation? It's probably because sales have been glacially slow for the 2010 ZDX and it's arguably become very expensive showroom furniture this past year. Year-to-date through November, total ZDX sales for the 2010 calendar year barely ticked past 3,000 vehicles. And a recent check with the pricing-intelligence site TrueCar.com found that Acura dealers are unloading the ZDX at a ten-grand discount, typically.

So any price hike for the ZDX, no matter how trivial, is a bit surprising.

Prices on the 2011 Acura ZDX are up by a modest $150 across the board. The price of the base ZDX stands at $45,645, or $50,145 with the Technology Package or $56,195 with the Advance Package.

As several of our editors have reported, the ZDX is one of the more perplexing (and perhaps frustrating) packages in recent years. It's drop-dead gorgeous from some angles, yet it lacks practicality in some very basic ways, like adequate headroom or a cargo area that can take paper shopping sacks without obscuring visibility even more. All while the roofline itself is a little too tall, by some tastes, to be called a coupe. Even getting into the back seat is much harder than you'd expect due to the odd cutlines.

Price is likely part of the trouble, too. The ZDX from the start was priced a little too high for its target market—which we would think are younger stylistas: urban gallery owners, clothiers, and the like, as well as a few ad execs and creative directors.

Based on the ZDX's not-so-hot reception in its first year of sales, some had suspected that Acura would make some packaging changes to the ZDX in its second year. However, the ZDX carries into 2011 with the same three trim levels: ZDX, ZDX with Technology Package, and ZDX with Advance Package.

With the Tech Package, the ZDX gets an ELS Surround auto system; 15 gigabytes of hard-drive storage; dual-zone climate control; a navigation system with voice recognition, real-time traffic, and live rerouting; real-time weather info; and a multi-view rearview camera. As we've found in several drives of the ZDX, you'll need that rearview camera as outward visibility from this curvaceous vehicle is challenging at best.

The Advance Package ZDX gets additional safety measures—a blind spot information system (BLIS) and collision mitigation braking—plus an adaptive cruise control system, the Integrated Dynamic System (IDS) active damper system), heated and ventilated front seats, and upgraded perforated leather upholstery, among other extras.

[Acura]