- The Acura ZDX Kind S is a Motor Authority Finest Automobile To Purchase 2025 finalist
- The ZDX is properly managed and nice to drive, although its design is divisiveÂ
- At $75,850 in Kind S kind it prices a fairly penny
Our expertise with Normal Motor’s midsize EV crossovers has been a great one. We favored the Cadillac Lyriq a lot that it was an actual contender for the Motor Authority Finest Automobile to Purchase 2023 award. The Acura ZDX shares the Lyriq’s platform and Ultium battery and EV element set, and it provides a extra highly effective Kind S mannequin that the Lyriq lacks. It was solely pure to decide on the ZDX as a Motor Authority 2025 Finest Automobile To Purchase finalist.
A GM in Acura clothes, the ZDX boasts a 102-kwh battery pack that delivers as much as 313 miles of vary. That falls to a nonetheless adequate 278 miles within the Kind S, and it might probably cost at as much as 190 kw, which will add 77 miles in about 10 minutes and a 10-80% cost in 42 minutes on a 350-kw fast-charger.
The ZDX begins with the rear-wheel-drive A-Spec mannequin that makes 358 hp and 324 lb-ft of torque. An all-wheel-drive A-Spec provides a entrance motor and ups the output to 490 hp and 437 lb-ft. The The finalist right here is the Kind S, which additionally will get a dual-motor powertrain, however right here it makes 499 hp and 544 lb-ft. That motivates this 6,052-pound SUV from 0-60 mph in lower than 5 seconds. The facility is clear from behind the wheel, with loads of gusto at any pace and plenty in reserve for freeway passing.
The ZDX Kind S does not make way more energy than the A-Spec, however its multi-link entrance and rear suspensions are additionally tuned in another way. It upgrades to an ordinary air suspension with adaptive dampers and bigger and stiffer entrance and rear sway bars. It additionally has a faster steering ratio at 15.9:1 as a substitute of 18.2:1, and its brakes are larger with 15.3-inch entrance rotors as a substitute of 12.6-inch rotors. Lastly, it rides on bigger wheels and tires, with a set of 275/40R22s changing 265/50R20s. Acura additionally provides summer season efficiency tires for the Kind S solely.Â
Even with its sport-tuned suspension, the ZDX Kind S rides comfortably on the road. It additionally has some first rate strikes regardless of its three-ton curb weight. The steering is mild however direct and pretty fast, and the ZDX does not lean an excessive amount of in corners. It is properly managed and nice to drive.
The ZDX is sized very like the three-row MDX, but it surely has simply two rows of seats. Its 121.8-inch wheelbase is about eight inches longer than the MDX’s, and that offers it a really snug rear seat with plenty of legroom. It is also extensive sufficient to suit three throughout within the again higher than most SUVs. It has a excessive stage of match and end, too, and it will get customary Apple CarPlay and Android Auto that the Lyriq and associated Chevy Blazer EV lack.
Acura costs the ZDX Kind S from $75,850, and it is eligible for the $7,500 federal tax rebate. That is a fairly penny, but it surely’s additionally properly geared up with an 11.0-inch digital instrument cluster, an 11.3-inch touchscreen, a wi-fi system charger, 16-way power-adjustable entrance seats which are heated and cooled, Milano leather-based upholstery, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, and a panoramic sunroof. It additionally will get plenty of customary security tools, together with entrance and rear automated emergency braking, adaptive cruise management, energetic lane management, blind-spot screens, a driver-attention monitor, entrance and rear parking sensors, automated parking, and a surround-view digicam system. GM’s Tremendous Cruise is even out there as an choice.
Will prepared energy, good vary, nice dynamics, and a cushty inside be sufficient for the Acura ZDX to be named Motor Authority Finest Automobile To Purchase 2025 over a sporty Porsche EV SUV, a pair of electrical off-roaders, an EV scorching hatch, and a fast and comfy gas-powered German cruiser? Verify again on Jan. 6 after we reveal the winner, together with the champs from our sister websites, The Automobile Connection and Inexperienced Automobile Studies.
