Acura tweaks MDX

Apparently Acura hasn't heard the old saying, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it."

Honestly, there was nothing wrong with the MDX. In fact, it's one of the company's best-selling models. However, after three seasons on the market, here we are, wondering what all the fuss is about.

From it's introduction for the 2007 model year, the MDX has been positioned as a serious driver's machine that delivers as much enjoyment when wheeling about twisty back-country two-lanes as it is does when tackling boulder-strewn, mud-bog cart paths or churning through midwinter snow drifts.

Our last test drive showed the vehicle's competency in both extremes, aided by an advanced all-wheel-drive system that is the heart of this multipurpose luxury-ute.

In fact, Honda's up-market division thinks so highly of its popular "soft-roader" that it has spun off a sportier hatchback variant, called the ZDX, that recently joined the lineup. How's that for flattery?

For the 2010 model year, the MDX was brought back into the shop for visual tweaking and massaging of the mechanicals. The most noticeable change is a new and much-improved nose piece. Acura's signature boat-prow grille design just doesn't work on every model in the fleet, but the revised version for the 2010 MDX can arguably be considered attractive. Add to that a pair of complementing chrome-ringed air intake vents and the vehicle's transformation is indeed impressive. Brighter LED taillights are now employed, the lower bumper area has been spruced up and reshaped twin stainless-steel exhaust finishers provide a bolder look.

But the work here is much more than skin deep. There's a more rigid platform, a stiffened rear suspension and retuned (for improved "feel") power steering. A thicker leather-wrapped steering wheel, new gauges and more simplified center-stack controls head the list of interior upgrades.

The MDX runs with a "new" 300-horsepower 3.7-liter V-6 that, on the surface, seems unchanged from the 2009 model year. However, Acura explains that it qualifies as new since the cylinder block is now more rigid and many of the internal components (crankshaft, rods, pistons, etc.) have been strengthened or updated. As a result, the MDX's engine produces its peak power at 6,300 rpm (previously 6,000), while the engine's 270 pound-feet torque rating is achieved at 4,500 rpm, instead of 275 pound-feet at 5,000 rpm.

An all-new six-speed automatic transmission with paddle-shift control replaces the outgoing five-speed unit and does its part to help increase both city and highway fuel economy by one mpg to 16 and 21, respectively.

Carrying over is a virtual treasure trove of standard content that has made the MDX -- and the entire Acura line for that matter -- the envy of its competitors. The highlights include trizone climate control, power moonroof, leather seats (heated and power adjustable in front), reclining second-row seat and a remote-controlled power liftgate.

A 253-watt eight-speaker audio system is also standard, but can be upgraded to a 410-watt 10-speaker unit that's part of the optional Technology Package that bundles perforated leather seats, rearview camera and voice-recognition navigation.

Among the other packaged extra-cost features are auto-leveling headlights, adaptive cruise control that maintains a safe distance from the vehicle ahead, active damping that continuously adjusts the shocks according to road conditions and a blind-spot alert that warns when vehicles on either side are about to overtake the MDX.

Acura helped popularize crash-avoidance technology and its available Collision Avoidance Mitigation System applies the brakes should it sense the MDX driver is about to smack into a slower-moving vehicle.

At a starting price of about $43,000, the MDX is neither the most or the least expensive seven-passenger sport-ute in its class, but it's certainly one well-equipped, genuinely fun-loving and now thoroughly updated multitaskers you can buy.