2010 Acura ZDX hits right notes despite styling compromises

By James R. Healey, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — Automakers say they are hearing this message from some important (well-heeled) shoppers: Give us the SUV's high seating position with such a nice view and handy cargo space and the foul-weather and bad-road capability that comes with all-wheel drive and ample ground clearance. But change the look, either to the mainstream appeal of a tailored sedan or the excitement of a sports coupe.

Replies so far include Toyota's Venza in the mainstream category and BMW's X6 in the coupe genre.

Come December, Honda's Acura luxury brand joins the fray with the 2010 ZDX.
PHOTOS/AUDIO: Acura ZDX with Healey's comments

Penned three years ago by Michelle Christensen — then 25, fresh out of design school and newly hired by Honda — ZDX's style is distinguished by a tucked and tailored roof covered in black glass panels and by rear-wheel bulges that would be striking even if the roof's taper did not accentuate them. It's three-dimensional drama. ZDX looks far less exciting in photos than on the road.

It's all but unique for a rookie designer to have sketches embraced by a car company and rendered almost literally.

ZDX is an Acura MDX crossover SUV underneath, though that's hard to believe because of the differences in looks, interiors and personalities. Same wheelbase and track width, similar suspension but retuned for ZDX, same engine. Transmission, developed for the ZDX, is shared, too, beginning with the 2010 MDX.

Acura views ZDX as a niche product: 6,000 sales the first year, maybe 10,000 in a hot year. Only way to make money on so few is such hardware sharing.

A morning in city traffic here, then a rural romp on parkways and lanes to the north, plus 250 hot-shoe highway miles back home to Virginia and a few more miles through suburban duty in two preproduction ZDXs left a crisp impression:

If you are willing to accept the compromises that come with the coupe styling — and coupes are all about style — ZDX is one terrific piece of work.

Acura says ZDX is meant not as a family vehicle, though it seats four or five adults. It's more for a couple with no kids at home and craving something exciting to see and drive. Able when necessary to tote back-seaters in relative comfort, but the front-seaters get the emphasis.

Compromises (as you'd find in any coupe, which typically is a two-door car with sleek styling):
•Awkward rear entry. There are back doors, but the low roofline means you'll duck and tuck like a suspect going into the back seat of a squad car.
Once in, leg and knee room are far better than suggested by the 31 inches of rear leg space in the specifications. That's due mainly to sculpting of the backs of the front seats. The curving roof, though, skirts the skull closely.
•Poor rear visibility. Fat rear roof pillars and a horizontal crossbar partway down the tailgate's glass panel mean you'll need the rear-view camera and the blind-spot warning system.
•Imperfect cargo space. To carry four golf bags, for instance, you remove side panels from the cargo area and put them under the cargo floor.

On the other hand, ZDX is:
•Exotic. That roofline, especially seen from above. And covering the roof in black glass, attached to a metal frame, is daring. On a black ZDX, the monochrome look is delectable.
A skylight covers both front and rear seats and includes a sliding sunroof over the front. The dashboard, including challenging convex surfaces, is covered in premium leather (inspired by leathered walls at the St. Regis hotel in San Francisco).
•Erotic. Dangerously close to a Cialis ad, Acura says ZDX is for couples who might like a weekend getaway to, uh, reconnect. Goes pretty much anywhere they'd like, any time they wish, Acura says.
The wide rear fenders are supposed to suggest wide, sexy shoulders, the automaker says, illustrating with a photo of a woman's shoulders graced only by narrow straps.
•Exciting. The 3.7-liter V-6 romps quickly up the rev range, catches a shrieking second wind between 4,000 and 5,000 rpm and the new-for-ZDX six-speed automatic snaps up to the next gear so quickly your senses almost don't notice.

The high-end model, Advance, has an adjustable suspension. The driver chooses "sport" for feisty moves or "comfort" when the road's a beast. Each setting automatically adjusts within a range. The test car with that system was a dream. Comfort was smooth, not sloppy; sport was firm, not harsh.

The less-than-handy configuration imposed by the dramatic style could be a turnoff, but those who can make allowances might find ZDX irresistible.

About the 2010 Acura ZDX
•What? Sleek, four-door, five-passenger, crossover SUV aimed at coupe lovers who don't need family-style passenger room but want the stance, capabilities of an SUV. To be marketed as a car but classed by the government as a truck.
•When? Mid-December.
•Where? Built at Alliston, Ontario.
•How much? Not set yet, but between the $41,000 MDX and $47,000 RL.
•What's the hardware? Acura MDX SUV chassis, retuned; 3.7-liter V-6 rated 300 horsepower at 6,300 rpm, 270 pounds-feet of torque at 4,500 rpm; new six-speed automatic; standard SH-AWD (Acura-speak for its performance-oriented "super-handling all-wheel drive); driver-selectable suspension (optional).

Rear camera with selectable views (normal, fish-eye, straight down); side-curtain air bags with separate chambers that inflate near the roof in the event of a rollover.

•How big? Midsize SUV outside, compact car inside. ZDX is 192.4 inches long, 78.5 in. wide, 62.8 in. tall on a 108.3-in. wheelbase. Passenger space is 91.2 cubic feet. Cargo space, 26.2 cu. ft. behind rear seat, 55.8 cu. ft. when the seat's folded.
Tows 1,500 lbs., weighs 4,424 lbs. to 4,462 lbs., depending on model.

•How thirsty? Rated 16 miles per gallon in town, 22 mpg on the highway, 18 mpg in combined city/highway driving.

Trip computers in the preproduction test vehicles showed 18.8 mpg and 19.8 mpg in two legs of brisk driving on rural parkways, 22 mpg in high-speed interstate highway driving, 14.2 mpg in spirited suburban use.

Burns premium, holds 21.7 gallons.

•Overall: Entertaining, exciting if judged (as Acura intends) as an all-weather, all-road sports sedan rather than as a family-oriented SUV.

Source;
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/reviews/healey/2009-09-24-2010-acura-zdx_N.htm