Gadgetory

LED headlights adaptive cruise control a lane-keeping assistance system super handling all-wheel drive a widescreen HDMI rear seat entertainment system actor throws a lot of tech into its MDX SUV and for the 2016 model year we have a 9 speed automatic transmission and an idle stop feature for fuel saving there's a lot of things I like about the 2016 MDX and some things I definitely don't the MDX is acura 7 passenger premium SUV but to my eye it prints a little bit smaller it looks more like a lexus RX or a BMW x5 with five passenger suvs the third row is actually not that hard to get into even for adults although you will need to be a little bit flexible now let me get this out of the way right from the start I really hate this infotainment interface I've got a button and dials here they just control this upper LCD plus I've got a touchscreen in the middle these control some of the same functions but in a completely different format it's very confusing and for navigation the maps are stored on a hard drive so they refresh quickly plus I've got live traffic here that's pretty good one thing I don't have though is any sort of real online destination search and that's something or Acura is a little bit behind the times of course I've got a hands-free Bluetooth phone system and four audio sources I've got quite a few here satellite radio I've got a DVD Drive I've got a hard drive in the dashboard where I can store music I've got USB ports iPod support and Bluetooth audio and Pandora got my iPhone paired to the car I can actually browse its music library using the Bluetooth interface that's not something you see on a lot of cars so that's pretty convenient fully Wireless music library browsing for the sound system we've got the Els premium audio system that's by music producer Elliot shiner with hardware by Panasonic 12 speakers two in the ceiling actually that sounds pretty good I like the sound of the system for the transmission you don't see a shifter on the console here you see the set of buttons that's like inaccurate our LX model this controls the 9 speed automatic transmission got Park reverse neutral Plus this bride's sport button I hit it once I go into Drive I hit it again I go into sport mode plus I have paddles on the steering wheel here and these let me shift manually now under the hood of this MDX we get a 3.5 liter v6 engine that's got direct injection 290 horsepower 267 pound feet of torque it does cylinder deactivation so that knocks out three of the cylinders if you're just cruising down the highway they'll save you some fuel it also has this idle stop feature so in the city or when you stopped at a stoplight you also cut off the engine that'll save you some gas there - it should get low twenties average fuel economy it's not bad for a 7 passenger SUV I've got it in Drive right now set this button labeled IDs stands for integrated dynamic system it's a really light action on the steering wheel fairly normal throttle input if I bring it to sport mode that sharpens the throttle input and makes the wheel a little heavier to turn I like how the system works and I can actually leave this in sport all day I'd be pretty comfortable to drive now one thing I really like about the MDX is the super handling all-wheel drive system this system can put 90 percent of its torque to the front wheels that get you your best fuel economy just for the highway crews or it can push 70 percent of before to the rear wheels an actor does a really good job of sound deadening in the Caviar's I'm not hearing a lot of engine noise I'm not hearing a lot of road noise this is really a comfortable ride and I think that's where the MDX excels I've got the advanced package here too and that brings with some driver assistance systems I've got blind spot moderating that lights up I've also got adaptive cruise control so I can just set my speed and the car will automatically slow down for slower traffic ahead it's got Lane Keeping Assist I'll actually move the steering wheel to keep me in the center of my Lane pretty impressive okay let's price out our 2016 acura mdx base price for a front-wheel drive model is forty three thousand seven hundred eighty five dollars that's with destination add two thousand dollars for the super handling all-wheel drive system now we have the top dog model here with advanced package technology package entertainment package this goes for 58,000 even I like that this holds seven passengers I obviously do not like the infotainment interface here it does check off all the boxes for driver assistance features that's good I like the super handling all-wheel drive system for performance I like the suspension for comfort it doesn't really hit a good compromise at both is it a luxury car performance car not really sure you