As Acura approaches its twenty-fifth year of existence, it finds itself looking up at a glass ceiling. The brand has grown well beyond its "Honda plus" roots, and yet it still trails competitors such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Lexus in both sales and prestige.
This quandary puts quite a bit of import behind Acura's latest effort, the ZDX. At face value, it's merely another take on the coupe/crossover concept that BMW pioneered with the X6. But it's also the first production vehicle styled completely by Acura's Torrance, California, design studio, and it is blessed with the brand's most sumptuous interior to date. Most shocking, the ZDX tosses Honda's near-religious devotion to practicality to the wind, providing less utility than the MDX it's based on yet costing several thousand dollars more. No doubt, this is a brave new world for Acura.
To learn more about where the brand is headed-not to mention treat our backsides to some of the most supple leather seats we've ever experienced-we ordered a ZDX for a yearlong test. In addition to the standard 300-hp V-6, Super-Handling All-Wheel-Drive, and dual moonroofs, we added the Advance package, which comes with magnetorheological dampers, navigation, and that butter-soft premium leather. Early on, we're impressed with the ZDX's sport-sedan performance but are baffled by its combination of SUV height and coupelike interior space. Time will tell if the ZDX portends a new beginning for Acura or a dead end.
The Specs
Price: $56,855
Engine: 3.7L V-6
Power: 300 hp
Torque: 270 lb-ft
.jpg)