2017 Acura MDX First Drive: Is There Anything You’d Like To Know?

More than 15 years after it was introduced, the Acura MDX has become a byword for plush family haulers.

This was obviously helped, however, by plush SUVs becoming the new family haulers. But the MDX certainly gets the packaging right. Still, it’s been updated for 2017 to keep pace with more luxurious rivals, and so Acura can start carving out more of an identity for itself.

We’ve been driving the revised 2017 Acura MDX Advance. A hybrid version comes in spring. Here are some initial thoughts.

Now, smile
Acura listened and de-beaked one of its cars. But in place of the silver-colored shield is an enormous Acura badge, like full-size American truck-sized. It’s… interesting, like an oversized smile.

Nicer pilot’s chair
Materials are certainly improved for 2017 and this top Advance trim gets wood that actually looks like wood. It may just be keeping pace, but it’s a welcome improvement in an interior that still has to deal with Acura’s two-screened controls.

Six isn’t enough
Newly available are second-row captain’s chairs with a center console. If you ever carry five people, this is going to irritate you. And the individual chairs aren’t particularly comfortable.

Soft, but understandable
Somewhere is a Honda V6 that wants to sing out, but the 3.5-liter engine and 9-speed automatic kind of waft around unless you sport-up the drive mode. But don’t do that because the MDX is already one of the most composed big SUVs out there.

Upward and onward
It’s now more than $57,000 in this almost-loaded Advance trim (a rear-entertainment system is still offered), which buys nice stuff like a Volvo XC90. And I’m not totally convinced it’s that much nicer than a $47,000 Honda Pilot. But make no mistake, the MDX still appears to be an SUV you need to put on your list if you like carrying lots of people comfortably.

What are your questions about the 2017 MDX? Sound off in the comments.

Photos: Zac Estrada/Carscoops