2010 Acura ZDX
The ZDX is one gorgeous automobile. Whether you wan to call it a car, a crossover, or a luxury sports coupe, it’s really easy on the eyes. The ZDX has a few, unique distinctions: it was the first vehicle to be completely designed at Acura’s Southern California design studio. Also, it was engineered in Ohio, making the ZDX the most American made Acura.
Even though the ZDX is a 5-passenger vehicle, the emphasis was clearly geared more towards the driver and the front passenger. The front seating area had tons of room. Plenty of room to move around freely. The back seating area felt cramped to me – headroom wise. While I had no trouble getting my bicycle to fit, the human comfort component was lacking a bit. I felt like maybe the sloping of the roof contributed to feeling as though the rear-seating ceiling was really low.
Pros:
- High commanding view high like an SUV
- Seriously comfortable seats
- Excellent handling ability
- Really fun to drive
- Roomy interior
- A place for everything and everything in its place
- Massive panoramic glass moonroof
- Gorgeous styling
Cons:
- Back seats aren’t really geared for tall people
- Manual and automatic shifting from 1st to 2nd was sluggish (that could just be a tuning issue)
- I felt like the rear-view mirrors could have been a *bit* larger.
Fuel Economy:
Advertised: 16 mpg in the city, and 23 mpg highway (19 mpg combined)
Actual: 19.6 mpg (had I driven more highway miles, it would have been better. The city driving really pulls the mileage down, down, down).
Driving Impressions:
The ZDX is an impressive ride. Even though it sits up higher like an SUV, the seating is low to the car floor, giving the distinct impression of sitting in a sports car. And it handles almost exactly like a sports car. Once you slip it into “sport” mode and drive with the paddle shifters (which are really nice in this car), you feel just like you’re in a hot little sports car. It was a blast to drive! The turning radius was pretty tight, given the size of the car. While it doesn’t have the turning radius of a true sports car, it’s better than a lot of cars, SUVs and crossover vehicles.
Even with the transmission in automatic mode, you can utilize the paddle shifters to drop the gear a bit when climbing, passing someone, or just getting yourself slowed a bit approaching a tight corner, traffic light or stopped traffic. The ZDX was zippy and fun in either manual (sport) or automatic mode.
The panoramic moonroof is simply stunning. It seems like nearly the entire top of the car is glass. While it isn’t the same as driving a convertible, it seems to be about as close as you can get to driving one — without the sunburn and bad hair.
Build:
Not a peep out of the ZDX which would indicate anything other than quality construction. Doors closed easily and felt solid, not heavy. Manually opening and closing the rear hatch required minimal effort and the power liftgate was a welcome luxury when your hands/arms are wrapped around multiple packages.
Everything on the interior was like “buttah” and slid open easily and then closed back in place nicely. Solid, quality construction is evident throughout the cabin. Interior and exterior door handles were easy to grasp and well-placed. As far as the exterior, I felt like every section of the ZDX was perfectly blended into the next piece, for a flawless, and sexy line. With the door handle for the rear doors positioned above the door, the flow of the rear beltline is smooth and uninterrupted.
The good:
Very unique in that you feel like you’re climbing into an SUV (tall!), but when you sit down, you’d swear you’re in a sports car. The seats are low to the floor once you’re inside the car, so it really does feel like you’re sitting in a sports car! And the seats are really, really comfortable! Sitting in the driver’s seat, felt like sitting in your favorite chair at home, only way nicer leather!
LOVE the push-button ignition controls and proximity keys. Nice to not have to insert a key into the ignition, unless you really want to, or fumble for your keys when you approach the car to get in.
Everything in the interior area of the vehicle blended and matched perfectly. Compartments and cubbyholes all over the place, but none of them stood out as unsightly. I wasn’t sure if I’d like the two-tone leather interior, but it really grew on me. The coloring was nice and offset the vehicle color perfectly.
The bad:
The back seats. While they were comfortable to sit in, I felt like my head was really close to touching the ceiling (it wasn’t). I’m not tall by any stretch of the imagination (5′6″), so if I felt cramped back there, anyone taller might feel more uncomfortable just trying to fit back there, or get in. I also nearly hit my head exiting the back seat. Had I been in a hurry, I’d have slammed the side of my head pretty good. One guess though: if you did it once, you’d probably not do it again. But given that, it’s safe to say that the back seat would be strictly for small adults or kids (or a bike).
Performance:
With its 300 hp 3.7 liter SOHC 24-Valve VTEC V6 engine, it was tough to keep the ZDX at (or near) the speed limit. Pretty impressive performance for an AWD vehicle! Although, I shouldn’t be surprised, after testing the Acura TL SH-AWD car in 2009 – the ZDX was similarly impressive.
It was really fun to drive using the Sequential Sport Shift (manual mode) and paddle shifters! But even in automatic, the ZDX performed extremely well, accelerating more than adequately when asked to do so.
Handling:
ZDX handling characteristics were impressive. While the ZDX is tall like an SUV, it never felt cumbersome, off-kilter or overweight. It handled like a very sporty car, which included the excellent turning radius and solid feel rounding a tight corner at speed. I even had a really positive experience parallel parking it in front of my building the first night. In the dark and rain, no less!
Styling:
In a single word: HOT.
The ZDX is clearly one of the hottest, and best-designed cars to come out in 2010. From front to back, it’s one long, graceful arc. The outside rear door handles are integrated into the panel above the rear door and just aft of the rear door glass such that they’re scarcely noticeable. Not a piece of this car detracts from its beauty. Don’t believe me? Go drive one. People stopped and stared at the ZDX as I drove by.
Not only does the ZDX look good, it looks like it could pounce on you and kick your butt. It looks READY. Ready to go fast. Ready to go for a long drive. Ready to go drive in the mountains. Ready to show you that it’s not your average SUV, crossover, or even luxury car. Ready to take your breath away.
Value:
Being a luxury class vehicle, the ZDX is not really economically priced. The model we tested came in at around $50,000. But for that money, you get a seriously nice vehicle. Almost all of the standard and additional options are listed below, for quite the impressive array of features.
Safety features included: Driver and front-passenger dual-stage airbags, drivers and passenger side-impact airbags, side curtain airbags with rollover sensor, vehicle-stability assist, ABS, electronic brake distribution, 3-point seat belts (front ones with automatic tensioning), active front head restraints, tire pressure monitoring system, side-impact door beams, daytime running lights and the LATCH system for child seats.
The tested vehicle had the tech package which adds $4,500 over the base trim. The Technology Package includes the following standard features: XM® Satellite Radio, MP3/auxillary jack, USB Audio Interface, Radio Data System, Bluetooth® Audio, Driver Recognition Memory System, Driver’s 10-way Power Seat, Front Passenger 8-way Power Seat, Heated Front Seats, Homelink System, Bluetooth® HandsFreeLink, Front Auto Up/Down Windows, Acura Personalized Settings, Auto-dimming Rear-view Mirror, Power Tailgate, Panoramic Glass Roof with Sunshades, 19″ x 8.5″ Alloy Wheels, P255/50 R19 All-Season Tires, Xenon HID Headlights, Fog Lights and Heated Power Door Mirrors with Turn Indicators.
Acura Navigation system with voice recognition and multi-view rear camera, AcuraLink Communication system with real-time traffic and weather, sport seats with perforated premium leather trim, Acura ELS surround-sound system with 10 speakers and AM/FM/DVD-A, CD, DTS, Dolby ProLogic II, Hard Disk Drive, push-button ignition, GPS linked, dual-zone auto climate control with air-filtration system, and the Keyless Access System with Security System.
Conclusion:
If having a head-turning, sporty, fun, luxury performance-oriented crossover is your cup of tea, get one! I had a heck of a good time driving it, and it served my needs rather well. I haven’t driven a car that turned so many heads in quite some time, and it was really entertaining to see how folks reacted to it.
Who should buy it?
The ZDX will cover you for pretty much every scenario, except a family greater than 2 adults and 3 small kids! It was almost too pretty to put my dog in and I’d be hard-pressed to put a dirty mountain bike in it without completely covering the interior with a sheet of plastic, but it was a great, all-around car. The ZDX drove great, hauled all my stuff around, and I even felt comfortable hiding my laptop in the secret compartment in the back while I was out bike riding (the word is out now!). It drives nice in the city, on the highway and with its awesome AWD, the Acura ZDX can carve up a mountain road better than Iron Chef Morimoto preparing a sushi dinner for six.
Source: http://reviews.carreview.com/
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