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Hyundai Santa Cruz, Kona N and Elantra Hybrid | Autoblog Podcast #691

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by West Coast Editor, James Riswick. They've been driving a lot of new cars, including the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz pickup, 2022 Hyundai Kona N, 2021 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid, 2021 Acura TLX Type S and 2022 Hyundai Genesis G70. Lamborghini revealed a modern interpretation of the Countach, for better or worse. Finally, they heelp a listener replace a 2013 Ford Edge in this week's "Spend My Money" segment. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #691 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving: 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz 2022 Hyundai Kona N 2021 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid 2021 Acura TLX Type S 2022 Hyundai Genesis G70 Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 revealed Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related Video:

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.

Acura ILX headed for Civic-like early upgrades

The not-yet-ready-for-primetime 2012 Honda Civic saw it quickly returned to sender for refurbishment, now the Acura ILX is headed in the same direction in its very first year. Automotive News reports that the small, Civic-based sedan from Honda's luxury brand isn't meeting sales expectations, with an annualized rate of 22,000 to 24,000 sales instead of the 30,000 the company is after. More telling is that the ILX "is being outsold by the Buick Verano, Volkswagen CC and Audi A4," and, except for two months since it launched, it has also been outdone by the Acura TSX it is meant to replace.
Part of the cause has been the 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine: its 150 horsepower to motivate a sedan that can weigh up to 2,970 pounds doesn't offer the kind of performance or value experience that buyers in the segment respond to. Another big issue is that the top-level 2.4-liter engine is only offered with a six-speed manual even though most buyers of the highest trim don't really want to shift their own gears. Lastly, the ILX might not put enough space between it and its frugal underpinnings - our first drive review pegged it as "the world's nicest Honda Civic."
An automatic transmission is on the way for the 2.4-liter, but it isn't clear when. And while Honda admits that the 2.0-liter is underpowered and Automotive News says it's on the way out, the company hasn't yet said how that situation will be corrected.