S for Sport: 2025 Acura MDX Type S

Think of Acura’s MDX as the Victorinox Swiss Army Knife of SUVs. Here’s a three-row family-hauler that’s practical, stylish, beautifully engineered, and as adept at multi-tasking as Bear Grylls in an Amazonian rain forest.

But what separates this capable Acura from the plentitude of other mid-size, luxury sport-utes on the market is that lovely, three-letter word: Fun.

Show it a twisty blacktop, preferably peppered with a few roundabouts and pinch-tight freeway on-ramps, and the MDX is more fun than Larry the Cable Guy on Comedy Central.

Yes, you can get a regular, front-drive MDX with a 290-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 under that mile-long hood. Pricing for that starts at around $52,000.

But why would you when you can opt for the MDX Type S Advance with a whippersnapper, twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 packing 355 galloping horseys? Yes, this flagship MDX will set you back a non-trivial $75,850—or roughly $7,000 over an equally equipped non-turbo 3.5 A-Spec—but to me it’s worth every extra penny.

What also comes standard with the Type S is a quite-brilliant piece of automotive tech that goes by the name SH-AWD. As in Super Handling All-Wheel Drive.

What this too-clever, torque-vectoring system does is direct up to 70 percent of the engine’s 354 torques to the rear wheels.

Then throw in adaptive air suspension, steering that’s as precise as Sandra Oh’s scalpel in Grey’s Anatomy, and no fewer than seven driving modes (Sport+ is a blast), and this mighty Acura carves curves like a full-bodied Miata.

And the performance and handling feature list goes on. And on. Everything from a swift-shifting 10-speed automatic with paddle shifters, huge Brembo front stoppers, and 21-inch, super-grippy rubberware at each corner.

Aluminum pedal to the metal and this latest Type S will slingshot off the line and hit 60 miles per hour in a brisk 5.5 seconds. And boy does that V6 sound sweet at the needle hits the 6,200-rpm red line and the active exhaust goes full throaty.

Yet, to me, the beauty of the Acura is its dual Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality. For those times when you choose not to drive it like you stole it, it can morph into the smooth-riding, whisper-quiet luxury cruiser that it is.

The only not-so-impressive features include disappointing fuel economy (think: 19 miles per gallon combined) and a fairly jittery ride in anything other than the softest Comfort mode.

This current-style, fourth-generation MDX has been around since 2022, but for 2025 Acura gave it a facelift to keep its appeal high.

Unless you drove the previous-generation model, you probably won’t know about the universally hated touchpad interface on the center console that drove most owners nuts. For ’25 it’s thankfully been jettisoned in favor of a conventional 12.3-inch touchscreen on the dash top.

To freshen the already easy-on-the-eye exterior, this new Type S gets a slightly meaner-looking front end with lots of glossy-black mesh intakes and slimmer, multi-faceted LED lights, cool-looking new 21-inch rims, and a quartet of big-bore exhausts at the rear.

Climb aboard and the classy design continues. I love the body-hugging front sports seats and chunky, padded-leather wheel, plus lots of physical buttons in the center stack. That said, the teeny push-‘n-pull button gearshift is still irritating.

Second row riders enjoy stretch-out legroom and terrific seat adjustment, with a wide center armrest that makes the seats feel like captain’s chairs. Yes, there’s a third row, but it’s there only for kids or taking agile friends on short trips to dinner.

As a cargo carrier, the MDX does a fine job, swallowing an impressive 71.4 cubic feet of stuff with second and third rows folded, and 39 cubic feet behind the second row. There are U-Haul storage units with less.

All this adds up to a truly impressive offering that’s a blast to drive and a solid alternative to fancy rivals like BMW’s X5, Lexus’ RX, Audi’s Q7, Mercedes’ GLE, and the Genesis GV80.