Overview Acura mdx 2016

The 2016 version of Acura’s bestselling model may look the same as last year’s, but there’s a lot going on behind that chiseled visage. For starters, the MDX crossover gets a new ZF nine-speed automatic transmission. Adding three more cogs creates a wider ratio spread than in the previous model’s six-speed, ostensibly helping to keep the MDX’s 290-hp 3.5-liter V-6 in the more efficient parts of its power and torque bands. Not that last year’s 290-hp/six-speed combo was a laggard, but Acura, like all automakers, is looking to improve the EPA estimates of its vehicles however it can. And apparently, Honda’s luxury arm is more comfortable offering a nine-speed than a continuously variable automatic.

First is a superlow creeper gear. The MDX storms out of the hole from rest using a 20.4:1 overall ratio (first-gear ratio times final-drive ratio, not counting help from the torque converter) and sprints to 60 mph in 5.9 seconds, half a second quicker than the 2014 model we tested with the six-speed automatic. It then continues on to a 95-mph quarter-mile trap speed in 14.6 seconds, three-tenths more rapid than the 2014. You’re into second gear before you can finish saying “Acura.” Wide-open-throttle shifts are torque-clipped and quick. Of course, having more gears doesn’t necessarily mean the transmission quickly finds the right gear—as sometimes when tipping in with part throttle at 20 to 35 mph it will lug in a too-tall gear for a while. But mostly, there’s a whole lot of shiftin’ going on..