Car & Driver Review:

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Third Place
Acura MDX

Add 20 horsepower to an already hauntingly appealing package, and the MDX, now at 260 hp, remains a contender, even in the face of big-time hitters from Lexus and Volkswagen. We have favored this Acura in other SUV evaluations, and this newest iteration is no exception.

THE VERDICT
Acura MDX

Highs: Broad-based performance with no noticeable flaws.

Lows: Suddenly a quart low in the luxury department.

The Verdict: One of our favorites gets some serious competition.

Honda's aged commitment to "keep it simple" is expressed in spades with this Acura. While others in this class demanded manual shifting of their automatics to run quickly in the Ohio hills, the MDX was perfectly content to whistle through the tight stuff with its five-speed stuck in drive. Steering was precise, the brakes unfailingly predictable (if long to stop, at 200 feet from 70 mph), and the suspension remained supple and levelheaded at all times. In raw numbers, the MDX is a third- or fourth-place finisher in the categories that count.

Off-road behavior was again a no-brainer, with the Acura chugging through the wilderness with aplomb, although it too lacks a low range, hill-descent control, an adjustable load-leveling suspension, and a center differential. Add to that its modest 3500-pound towing capacity, and you have a light-duty all-wheel-driver best suited for basic seven-passenger highway operation.
Despite the overall approval registered by our test crew with the Acura's performance, reservations were expressed about the rather elemental interior accommodations as compared with the Lexus and the Volkswagen, both of which offered more comfort and amenities with equal or better performance. But at $41,000, the second least expensive of the bunch, and offering dazzling handling and lightness of touch, the Acura MDX remains a major player in the upscale-SUV world.

Third place is hardly a defeat in this elite collection, and one can only puzzle as to how long it will take Honda to respond to the new challenges being posed by Lexus, VW, and Porsche in a contest for top-dog sport-utility vehicle.