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2025 Acura MDX Type S First Drive Review: Loss of a deal breaker is a game changer

MALIBU, Calif. – One of two things usually happens when testing a three-row SUV on a twisting mountain road. First, I wonder why I thought doing so was a good idea in the first place. Or, I end up saying, “Well, I guess that wasnÂ’t so bad.” Neither happened with the 2025 Acura MDX Type S, a three-row SUV that somehow feels perfectly happy and at home on the sort of roads that make competitors feel like elephants in a horse race. Placed into Sport or Sport+ modes, the latter of which is exclusive to the Type S, the air suspension lowers 15 mm, and the adaptive dampers tighten to the extent that body motions are just about as level as you could get without making the ride chattering. If anything, certain choppier bits of pavement made the suspensionÂ’s reduction of suppression and rebound too jostling and queasy, but selecting a softer ride setting in the Individual drive mode option corrected that. The steering displayed a spot-on amount of extra heft in the Sport modes, being pleasantly firm on center and through initial turn-in, but seeming to loosen ever-so-slightly up in slower, tighter corners and hairpins. ItÂ’s pleasurable driving the MDX Type S, but not a workout. The real star, as has been the case for nearly two decades of sporting Acuras, is the Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive system, now in its fourth generation. This torque-vectoring system can send up to 70% of available power to the rear axle, and then 100% of that to the outside rear wheel while turning. The result canÂ’t be missed. Brake hard with the fat Brembo brakes (they measure 14.3 inches up front and benefit from an electric servo that effectively makes them adaptive to the amount of effort applied to the pedal), turn in with the beautifully contoured sport steering wheel, feel the front end bite, and the rear end not only comes around, but does so with authority. Thanks to the more aggressive power distribution in Sport and Sport+, thereÂ’s even a whiff of oversteer at a few moments. Tremendous. “Makes it shrink around you” is a tired cliche, but it applies here. The MDX feels about 700 pounds lighter than its 4,776-pound curb weight would suggest. The engine is actually the least impressive element of the Type S, a 3.0-liter V6 with a single twin-scroll turbo good for 355 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque.

Honda slowing US production due to ports dispute

The labor dispute that idled 29 ports on the West Coast last the weekend, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, CA, is about to make its effects felt on the showroom floor, according to Reuters. Honda, Toyota and Subaru have been trying to work around the labor disagreement, cutting overtime and airlifting parts to factories, but Honda says parts shortages at plants in Indiana, Ohio and Ontario, Canada, are now severe enough to impede production. The lack of transmissions and some electronic components will slow output of the Honda Accord, Civic, and CR-V – as well as unnamed Acuras. The three affected factories will rework their production schedules from Feb. 16-23. The ports have reopened this week, and US Labor Secretary Tom Perez has flown to San Francisco to mediate a new agreement between the 20,000 dockworkers represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the terminals and shipping companies. Talks have been going on for almost nine months and the issues aren't settled; meanwhile, the West Coast ports that handle half the nation's maritime cargo and 70 percent of cargo from Asia are putting all kinds of industries on the ropes, and it's estimated to cost the economy $2 billion a day. Related Video: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images Government/Legal Plants/Manufacturing UAW/Unions Acura Honda Crossover Sedan

2016 Acura MDX gets 9-speed transmission, added refinement

It's a car we barely think about until Acura announces it's done something to it, but the MDX is rather popular with those questing for a crossover. For 2016 the third-generation, luxury three-row people-carrier gets a slightly higher MSRP, but better standard equipment and options to go with it. The big change is that the nine-speed automatic transmission with tighter ratios and faster gear shifts, as well as its push-button gear selector, has finally migrated from the top-dog RL sedan. So too the upgraded twin-clutch Super Handling All-Wheel Drive, paired here with the unchanged 290-horsepower, 3.5-liter six-cylinder. We thought adding three more cogs was supposed to make for better fuel economy, but in some cases the EPA ratings on the 2016 MDX have gone down by one mile per gallon. The base 2015 MDX is rated at 20 city, 28 highway, 23 combined; the 2016 is rated 19 city, 27 highway, 22 combined. Add SH-AWD on the 2015 and you're looking at 18 city, 27 highway, 21 combined; on the 2016 that's 18 city, 26 highway, 21 combined. If you add idle-stop to those models you restore the city and combined ratings, but still lose that extra mile on the highway. On the options list is a group of safety and driver assistance features grouped under the AcuraWatch rubric. You can add the whole kit for $1,500 to the base model, but some of its features like Lane Keep Assist and Forward Collision Warning, which you can also option on the 2015 model, are added with the Technology Package. The full suite, which includes model-firsts like Road Departure Mitigation and Rear Cross Traffic Monitor, is standard once you step up to the Advance Package. Other tech treats get baked into all trims, like the easy entry/exit driver's seat slides back 1.4 inches when you're getting in and out, the TPMS fill assist that sounds a beep when you've inflated the tires to the correct pressure, Siri Eyes Free voice recognition and a frameless rearview mirror. The price to get in on all this is $42,865, a a $1,100 bump over the 2015 model, but that's not a blanket increase across the lineup: the MDX with the Technology Package, for instance, has only gone up $250. The upper limit comes with the MDX SH-AWD with idle stop and the Advance, Entertainment & AcuraWatch Plus Packages for $57,080, a $100 increase over the top-of-the-line 2015 trim. The press release below has plenty of details.