Last year I spoke about each one of Acura’s lineup of cars and how Bluetooth was integrated into the driving experience. I also mentioned that the ZDX Crossover was my favorite of the bunch. What I didn’t dive into, however, is why I loved it, and which specific characteristics of it I love to the point of making it my benchmark when looking at other cross-overs in its class.

Read on, car lovers:

First Impressions:

When Acura confidently stated that this was the “boldest Acua ever made”, they weren’t lying; it’s simply gorgeous. The sharp-edged front and rounded-back make it look more like a sports car, than crossover SUV. When you sit in the drivers seat, it’s like laying down in the cockpit of a jet engine, rather than in a vehicle of any kind. Only real discrepancy is the headroom in the backseat, or lack thereof. Similar to sitting in the back of the Camaro, if you’re over 5’6″ it’s not the most comfortable situation to be in – remember: we are talking about a a crossover SUV, NOT a sports car, comfort should be one of the first features tackled. However, as stated by TAC “The ZDX is based on emotional appeal, not cold logic. Cold logic would look, and then say “less luggage space, less seating capacity, less towing ability and head for the MDX. Emotion says “this looks interesting, it’s different, I don’t need to carry five or six or seven people and mountains of stuff” and head for the ZDX.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Performance:

It’s the SUV that drives like a car. Packing a 3.7-litre V6, 300-hp engine, 6-speed automatic transmission, and of course cold-air induction, means the car roars on take-off and offers enough juice to keep the excitement going.

I found the shift-paddles behind the steering wheel to be a cool offering, but redundant; I rarely ever used them. The ZDX shifts gears seamlessly and really doesn’t need your input to get the job done right.

The Ride:

For a crossover of it’s look and size, the ZDX handles surprisingly well. It quite literally turns on a dime.  It offers a well-designed and engineered unibody structure, and fully-independent MacPherson strut/multilink suspension that all work together to make for a quiet luxury-class ride experience and fantastic handling. As for fuel economy, well, you get what you paid for in a V6. I realized 16 mpg city driving, and 23 mpg on the highway.

Overall:

I think it’s the design of the ZDX that really gets my attention, rather than the sheer car performance. I prefer the stability and strength that comes with driving an SUV; but I also like the size and usability of driving a smaller sedan – the ZDX appeases both aforementioned tastes, while staying beautiful and that’s precisely why I love it.

Learn more about the Acura ZDX, starting at just under $55k here

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