 What is up you guys, welcome back to another way. If you are new to the channel, I am Goldpony at the new car truck SUV reviews on YouTube. And today we are in the brand new 2023 Acura MDX courtesy of Bobby Ray Hall Acura and McKennaxberg PA. For more information on their inventory, please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. And so today we are in the 2023 MDX because my mom owns one. She has owned one for quite a while now. It has been reliable for her. It has definitely lasted, I feel like she's had at least 10 years at this point. But anyways, not only that, Acura now offers two years or 24,000 miles of free complimentary maintenance with all their new vehicles as well. So you got that going for it. So ultimately in this video, we will be testing out and going over everything about this one from acceleration to braking, steering feel, ride quality, sound system, exhaust clip, all that fun stuff. So having said all of that, what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. And so there are several different trim levels for the 2023 MDX. You got the base setup starting at $49,550, technology for 54,250, A-spec for 59,950, advanced, which is the one we are in today, starting at 63,500, Type S for 67,850 and the Type S advanced for $73,200. And so there's first two trim levels come standard with front wheel drive. You can add all wheel drive if you wanted to that gets for $2,200. But all of the other trim levels after those first two come standard with all wheel drive. So you don't have to add any money to those. But anyways, as you can imagine with all of those trim levels, there are actually two different power plants available for the MDX. First one belonging to the non-Type S trim levels like we have today. That one is powered by a 3.5 liter naturally aspirated V6, putting out 290 horsepower at 6,200 RPM, 267 pound-feet of torque coming in at 4,700 RPM. Power sent to the front wheels are all wheels to retain speed automatic with paddle shifters, which as always we will be testing out here in a little bit zero to 60 time coming in at approximately 5.7 seconds. That is plenty respectable there with MPG numbers coming in at 19 in the city, 26 on the highway for the front wheel drive, 19 city, 25 then on the highway for the all wheel drive taking premium unleaded fuel. But so then there is that under engine configuration of course belonging to the type S trim level. That one is powered by a three liter turbocharged six cylinder putting out 355 horsepower at 5,500 RPM, 354 pound-feet of torque coming in at 1,400 RPM. Power sent to all four wheels to yet again 10 speed automatic with paddle shifters, zero to 60 times slightly quicker at 5.5 seconds. MPG numbers coming in at 17 in the city, 21 on the highway taking premium unleaded fuel. So before we do any kind of fun acceleration or paddle shifter test here in our MDX, I wanted to mention to you guys the drive modes. There's a big old circular dial located just in front of the shift buttons labeled dynamic mode. And that essentially allows you to toggle between all of the drive modes, including snow, comfort, normal sport and individual. And actually the type S is going to add a couple of those including sport plus and lift because you get an air suspension. But anyways, we'll get more into that in a little bit but just the things like the shift points with throttle response, steering sensitivity, all wheel drive system engagement and in the case of the type S, the ride height as well. And so like I said with the shift buttons there are shift buttons. It's not like a traditional shifter. So you actually press D for drive and it's for neutral R for reverse and P for park. So that's how that's going to work. But anyways, now that we've got all of that out of the way what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and find it straight away. Let's put the paddle shifters here to the test first. I'm going to put it in full manual shift mode. You do that, you just press the D slash S button and then hit the paddle shifters is going to tell you what gear you were in up on the digital gauges up here and the gauges are digital and we'll cover those as well. But anyways, let's go ahead and find this straight away. Let's put these things to the test and let's see how quickly they are going to react for us here. All right, so just put it in first gear here. We are at a standstill in three, two, one, yo, baby. Oh, it's shifted. All right, so not only will it shift for you if you let it get a little bit too high in the RPMs but there's a slight delay to the paddle shifters. And honestly, it's kind of what I expected for a, for an SUV, but oddly enough the RDX paddle shifters are actually kind of quick. So they're quicker than the MDX. So I kind of had hope, but yeah, there's a slight delay and it does shift for you. So that's unfortunate. Anyways, I'm just going to go ahead and press the D button again, give back full control to the MDX. And let's do a quick little acceleration with it is for driving mode. And let's see how quickly the MDX here can get us up to speed. All right, and three, two, one, giddy up. Yeah. It's actually quick. It's very quick. Yeah, buddy. You're not going to have any issues emerging onto the highway. What I love about naturally aspirated engines because everything is turbo charged these days. There is no turbo delay. There's no turbo lag. So it was an instant acceleration. So you're not going to have any issues emerging onto the highway. That was, that was a fun acceleration. I got it. Anyway, let me go ahead and get it back out of that sport driving mode. I'm actually going to put it in comfort here. But anyways, to go along with that acceleration is always braking is equally important as we come up to the stop sign here. That was plenty fine. Braking feels excellent. But anyways, up front, you're going to find 13.8 inch ventilated front discs and the back 13 inch solid rear discs. Again, braking feel is great. You actually get Brembo four piston front calipers with the Type S as well. And if you wanted that number, that 60 to zero number comes in at 118 feet, which is sports sedan good, baby. Because let me tell you, typically in SUVs you find 130's. My own personal Hyundai Santa Fe, my three row Santa Fe comes in at right around 130 feet. So 118, that is typically what you find in sports sedan. So that is a brilliant number. And like I said, braking feel is excellent. Kind of leans on the firmer side of things. Instantly brings you to a stop. So for safety reasons, I love the braking feel in the MDX. Anyways, then touching on suspension and handling up front, you're going to get a double wishbone type front suspension in the back independent multi-link rear suspension, front and rear stabilizer bars. But you know what else comes standard on this thing? To my surprise, an adaptive damping suspension. So a lot of times that'll be optional. So or upper trim levels will get it. But with the MDX, it comes standard. So essentially what that is, is it's going to monitor each shock absorber individually, not only adjusting to the road of perfection, it's giving you a smoother ride, but it's also going to tighten up the suspension during heavy cornering, really giving you the best of both worlds. So improving handling there as well. So for that reason, I love adaptive damping suspensions. And I feel like I've driven enough vehicles at this point you can noticeably tell the difference between one that has it and one that doesn't have it. So I love that that's going to give you that smoother ride. Actually like I mentioned to you at the beginning of this video, the Type S is going to give you an adaptive air suspension with auto leveling. Meaning when you get up to higher speeds, it's going to lower the suspension a little bit, giving you better air dynamics. But you also have the ability to raise and lower it yourself if you wanted to as well. So that is pretty dark hole. Anyways, as far as ride quality goes, it's been 100% perfectly fine. I'm a short little test drive here today. We got a little bit of a bump here. It's great, honestly. It's absorbing the road of perfection perfectly. And like I said, I did put it in that comfort driving mode right now. So again, ride quality has been perfectly fine. And actually, let me go ahead and put it back in sport real quick. Instantly noticeable heavier steering feel. I will say that because I wanted to test out the steering sensitivity there. It is a much weightier steering feel when you put it in that sport driving mode. And then when I take it back out, it does instantly loosen up. So honestly, I love the steering feel in the sport driving mode. And honestly, it's not bad in the comfort but it is a noticeable difference. I will say that. Anyways, the touching on cabin noise are going approximately 40 miles per hour right now. There is ever so slight bit of road noise. There's no wind noise whatsoever. So I'm a big fan of that. So acoustic laminated front windshield and front side glass is definitely going to contribute to that. You usually don't get the front side glass coming standard, but the windshield almost always a luxury vehicle. So for those reasons, it's a very serene cabin here in the MDX. I will say that touching on visibility. I got the third row up right now and there's third row headrest as well. So that is going to impede visibility slightly. If you don't have any third row passengers, you're either going to want to fold down those third row headrests or completely fold down the third row. And that's going to make visibility 100% on point. So you shouldn't have any issues there as long as there's third row headrests starting up because they do block a little bit of the view there. But I will also say though, rain sensing windshield wipers are going to come on the technology trim level and up. So if the MDX detects any kind of mist or rainfall, it's going to automatically turn on those windshield wipers for you. So that is pretty cool. And a head up display is going to come on the advanced trim levels, which is what I'm currently looking at even through my sunglasses. I can still actually see it, which isn't always the case, but that gives you your speed, speed limit and safety features projected up onto your windshield. So that's pretty darn cool as well. But that pretty much rounds out the performance segment of this review guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior of our brand new 2023 Acura MDX. All right, so here she is you guys, the new 2023 Acura MDX finished in majestic black pearl. Cool name for an exterior color, but let's go ahead and start with where this one is actually made. Taking a look at the VIN. First character is the number five, indicating that this one is built and assembled in America, made in America. It's specifically Ohio in case you were curious, but let's go ahead and start up front on this one. Type S badging of the front grille. If you go with the type S trim level, obviously we don't have that, but massive front grille with a massive Acura logo. Acura always makes their logo super large. So definitely can't mistake that for anything else. To the sides, July LED headlights with LED daytime running lights. Of course, a super bright illumination there. Automatic feature coming with that, along with automatic high beams. So if you have your high beams on a night and it senses a vehicle coming in the opposite direction, it's gonna automatically dim them back to low beams. Then when that vehicle is gone, it's gonna automatically bounce it back up the high beams. So nice little convenience feature there. And then LED fog lights coming with the A-Spect trim level and up. You guys can see that down below there, but also front air curtains to the sides there helping direct air around the wheel and tire combination. But very masculine, very aggressive looking front end. So I'm actually a huge fan of the looks. And I love this majestic black pearl color that we have here today too. It looks very darn good in black. But anyways, that pretty much rounds out the front end of the MDX. Let's now go ahead and make our way to the side. All right, so now since we are around to the side of this one, let's go ahead and start all the way to the top. You do have some aluminum roof rails finished in silver. Looking dang good up there. Chrome or gloss black windows surrounds dependent upon the trim level that you go with. We have, it's actually like a brushed chrome or a matte chrome if you will. But rear privacy glass does come standard. Take a look at the side mirrors. They are body colored power adjustable side mirrors that are heated with LED integrated turd signals. There is a reverse gear tilt down feature that comes standard as well. And the power folding feature that's gonna come on the technology package or trim level and up. So that's how that's gonna work. But do you like the chrome accent kind of found on the side doors there as well? That looks pretty darn good. Then making our way to the wheel configuration. 19 by 8.5 inch alloys coming for the base trim level. Then 20 by nine inch alloys coming for the technology A-spec in advance. That is what we are looking at right now. And actually like the design to them as well. Think it looks pretty darn good. And then 21 by 9.5 inch alloys. So they're getting larger and wider as well for the type S trim level. So that is for some added grip of course. But anyways, that pretty much rounds out the side profile. Let's now go ahead and make our way to the back. All right, so now since we are around to the back of the MDX all the way to the top you will find a body color shark fin antenna. Just below that rear spoiler with an integrated brake light. Just below that rear window wiper. You got some LED tail lights looking dang good for added illumination at night. I love the look of that. All the way to the bottom though check out these exhaust outlets. They are massive, at least the design to them. So I like them, but dual exhaust outlets with satin chrome tips. I did want to also mention if you were to go with the type S you're going to get quad chrome tips. So even more aggressive looking exhaust outlets. But anyways, I do believe you guys know what we have to do next is always here is that exhaust clip. All right, so now since we are around to the back of the MDX when it comes to opening that rear tailgate it is a power tailgate that does come standard for all trim levels. But for the advanced trim levels you're going to get a hands free power tailgate. So if your hands are full with groceries for kids or whatever just simply kick your foot underneath of that rear bumper it's going to automatically open up for you. But once opened up, yes the MDX is a three row SUV. So behind that third row it's going to come in at 16.3 cubic feet. If that was not enough space of course the rear seats do fall down behind the second row it's going to come in at 39.1 cubic feet with all rows folded 71.4 cubic feet. So not the most space out there not as much as a Honda pilot but it's a decent amount. So cargo lining can be found back there grocery bag hooks there's chrome plated tie down anchors there's a cargo cover available. There is some in-floor storage and actually a decent amount as well behind that third row. So that was pretty cool. That's going to add some storage maybe for an ice scraper or a tire inflator kit or something like that. So pretty much everything you possibly want in the cargo area at least but then making our way to the third row leg room surprisingly coming in at 29.1 inches. So I've seen that third row come in at worst that's why I put it that way. So I'll give this a shot for you guys for reference I'm an even six feet tall this is how much space I had in the third row at least. So not the most for an adult but I do actually think a kid should be able to fit back there. And cool thing is third row passengers not only get cup holders but they actually get USB charging ports for both sides as well which surprised me. My kids love to stay charged up so that is a big deal. So I like that. But anyways then making our way to the second row leg room coming in at 38.5 inches for reference again I'm an even six feet tall it's how much space I had back there. TriZoom climate control is going to come standard for all trim levels I want to mention that because the rear passengers then can set their own temperatures so that's pretty cool. As far as rear ventilation goes there is some for the second row passengers basically and that gets pushed to the third row but USB charging ports of course coming standard for all trim levels across the board also for their second row passengers so second and third row. 120 volt power outlet coming with the advanced and type S trim levels so if you wanted to charge up maybe a hair straightener or drill or something like that you can do that so that's pretty cool. Heated second row seats then coming for the advanced trim levels so we got those as well spoiling the rear passengers a little bit and then if you were to go with the technology trim level enough you're also going to get rear window sunshades which again we have so I always like that feature because whenever you get Chick-fil-A and your kids are eating in the back seat of the car sometimes you park in a parking lot to actually eat it and one of the kids always has the sun in their eyes so rear window sunshades are helpful for those kind of things but anyways they're making our way up to the front seats leather at finish is going to come with the base trim level Milano premium leather for the technology trim level and up you're going to get a leather suede combination for the A spec and type S trims 12 way power adjustable front seats with power lumbar does come standard 16 way power adjustable front seats with power thigh extensions and power side bolsters for the advanced trim level so I like that memory settings are actually going to come standard on every single trim level across the board for not just the driver but the passenger as well that's something Mercedes kind of pioneered I think and still very few manufacturers do that so I love that Acura is doing that here heated front seats coming standard for all trim levels across the board and then ventilated front seats for the A spec trim level and up but Acura always does a very good job with their seats lately mainly because they're vertical seams in them as opposed to horizontal seams which pretty much every other manufacturer does maybe with the exception of Lexus sometimes but still the vertical seams don't create any awkward pressure points that the horizontal seems typically do so for that reason seating was plenty comfortable for my six foot self so big fan of that but then take a look at the steering wheel it is tilt and telescoping it is actually power adjustable for all trim levels across the board that's pretty cool leather wrapped for all trims as well you will get a flat bottom steering wheel for the A spec and type S trim levels and then heated steering wheel is going to come with the advanced trim levels and I do have that on because super cold here in PA 22 degrees oh it went up cool it was 16 degrees earlier but anyways then make your way to the startup let me start by showing you guys the key here you got your Acura logo on the one side Acura spelled out on the side of the key and on the other side all of your buttons lock unlock the button to pop the rear tailgate and the engine hold button that's going to be a remote start which comes on the advanced and type S trim levels but it is all keyless entry with the push button start for all trim levels across the board so all I'm going to do here simply put my front of the brake and press that silver and red engine start button located just to the left of the air vents but so then once started up Acura did a dang good job at their gauge cluster here 12.3 inch digital gauge cluster does come standard for every single trim level across the board I gotta love that and the cool thing is when you actually change the drive modes it changes the color and kind of the readout of those gauges as well so if I put it in comfort it's going to kind of just give me this blue hue when I put it in normal it's going to give me a tachometer to the left speedometer to your right and a white hue if I put it in sport it's going to kind of make the tachometer front focus with a digital speedometer finished in a red hue so basically a bunch of different looks for each individual driving mode and that's what that sound is you guys are hearing in the background it's me changing the drive mode so I love that and of course you can control what is on that digital gauge cluster with the steering wheel mounts controls found on the right side of the steering wheel as well giving you things like your oil life we're at 100% right now so that's pretty cool I always like that tire pressure information how many miles you have left until you hit empty outside temperature the list goes on basically everything you possibly want on those digital gauges there so a very good job out here but then making our way to overall interior quality panoramic moon roof is going to come with all trim levels across the board gotta love that homelink controls are up to three different garage doors found just below that frameless rear view mirror also coming standard for all trim levels wireless phone charger coming standard for all trim levels tri-zoom climate control standard for all trim levels as well technology trim level and up is going to give you 27 colors of ambient lighting that's pretty cool that frameless rear view mirror I was mentioning that is also auto dimming so if somebody has their high beams on behind you that's going to take care of that for you brushed aluminum trim is going to come standard but there's open pour wood trim for the advanced trim levels that's what we have with us here today of course stainless steel pedals is going to come with the A-spec and type S trim levels and again overall interior quality is dang good I have only one constructive criticism when it comes to the interior quality is there is a heck of a lot of matte plastic just around the cup holders and the touchpad controller and the volume dial here I don't like matte black plastic they could have either finished in this and then gloss black like they did around the shift buttons or they could have put maybe a texturized plastic silver finish with the design to it maybe it still can be plastic but the matte plastic that's what's in budget cars and that should not be the case in the MDX but the rest of it though is phenomenal I like the wood trim I like the texturized matte wood trim I should say I like all the gloss black finishes like the contrast stitching I like the two tone color theme that we got going with the saddle brown leather and the black leather as well so everything else is great I only got that one constructive piece of criticism there but let's take a look at how much center or armrest space we have here a decent amount you got a USB charging port and 12 volt power outlet and actually some LED lighting in there as well which typically don't find so overall it's plenty fine for me but so to make our way to the infotainment screen now there is a 12.3 inch infotainment screen to match the 12.3 inch gauge cluster as well it is not touch screen it is a little too far of a reach to be touch screen quite honestly everything is controlled by using the touchpad controller and buttons located just behind the shift buttons there so Bluetooth and audio streaming does come standard wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay both of them are wireless that is usually not the case on I would say 90% of other vehicles right now so that's pretty cool factory navigation system coming with the technology trim level and up can adjust your climate control settings up there as well along with your radio information so let's get to the sound systems here so there are actually three different sound systems available for the MDX base setup is going to give you nine speakers technology trim is going to give you a 12 speaker ELS studio sound system and then for the A-spec trim level and up you're going to get a 16 speaker ELS studio sound system and ELS studio has been absolutely crushing it lately so what do you guys say I'm going to turn down the heat here let's go ahead and turn on the radio see what we got playing today and let's test out our 16 speaker ELS studio sound system that we have with us here today as I see a bald eagle fly by that is an incredible sound system kind of base with that thing clarity was 100% on point as well ELS studio just gets better and better honestly I think I still like it the best in the entire believe it or not and the RDX is really good with ELS as well so excellent sound system without a doubt but anyways lastly I wanted to mention you guys on that infotainment screen at least is when you do put the MDX in reverse you will find a rear view camera coming stated across the board and a surround view monitor with the advanced trim levels giving you that bird's eye view to the right there which is always is going to lead us into safety and so first let me start by saying IIHS top safety pick plus which is the very highest designation given by IIHS that pretty much does it all right there front side side current airbags driver and passenger knee airbags as well in the back you're going to have latch AKA lower anchors to tethers or children for the rear car seats rear child door locks tire pressure monitoring system but also coming standard for all trims across the board blind spot monitoring system with rear cross traffic alert collision mitigation braking system adaptive cruise control lane keep assist road departure mitigation system traffic jam assist traffic sign recognition forward collision warning and lane departure warning then as well so overall when it comes to my final thoughts here of the MDX great safety of course IIHS top safety pick plus good handling as well especially in that sport driving mode it really gives you a nice steering feel to this thing excellent sound system ELS studio I think is my new favorite sound system for all manufacturers out there so that is pretty darn good digital gauges look dang good as well I gotta say I like how they differ slightly depending upon the drive mode that you put it in and I also like that they kept the non type S trim levels as not turbocharged that they're naturally aspirated so naturally aspirated engines typically having longer shelf life so I guess you could say then other turbocharged counterpart so I like the reliability and like I said my mother's had hers for like a decade now so it's been perfectly fine so reliability is always important the only constructive criticism I can think of is I don't know if it's constructive criticism for the MDX specifically as it is just for Acura as a brand is they need to get a bigger SUV so even the Honda Pilot has what 87 cubic feet now of total cargo space whereas this thing is still right at around 71, 72 cubic feet they need something to compete at that particular size SUV here at least in the US and I think that's what they're missing so they either need to make the MDX a little bit bigger or they need to make another something DX ZDX or whatever you want to call it Acura just to give what most Americans are looking for I think which is just a lot more space in SUVs so anyways that's my constructive criticism let me know what you guys think in the new MDX in the comment section below feel free to follow me on social media if you want to see what's coming next on the channel before it gets to YouTube be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you're new car reviews that is what we do here on this channel after all do appreciate you guys watching more than you know and I will see you guys all in the next video Stay Gold!