2008 Acura MDX Exterior Review [ 2007 ]

• Overall
• Performance
• Exterior
• Interior
• Safety
• Reliability
• Specs
• Photo Gallery

Exterior - What the Auto Press Says

While reviewers like the MDX's bolder look, several complain about its large grille, leaving the Acura in the bottom half of the luxury midsize SUV class for its exterior.

• "The Acura MDX's sculpted exterior is bold and rich looking, with a large pentagonal front grille and chiseled lines, including one that wraps uninterrupted all the way around the vehicle -- something you don't see often." -- Forbes
• "Our MDX is handsome, with an elegant dark cherry paint job. The sheetmetal looks crisper than the outgoing model's." -- AutoWeek
• "The MDX is every inch a contemporary crossover, with car, not truck, styling cues, and its bold lines and well-defined fenders give it a sporty look." -- The Auto Channel
• "Hot or not: Hot. The MDX is masculine yet svelte." -- U.S. News
• "By unanimous agreement, the grille on the Acura MDX Sport is ugly and needs to be redone." -- Washington Post
• "The X5 is not only taller but tougher and less refined looking than the MDX, while the MDX has an ugly (to my eye, at least) stylized grill and headlight assembly that looks like a leering grin. To me, the unattractive front grill is one of MDX's major negative factors." -- BusinessWeek
• "Now, when I say [the grille] looks like a shield, I mean it actually looks like a shield -- plate metal, the kind of thing you'd want in your hand if Visigoths attacked your shopping mall." -- Cars.com
• "Have a look at the nose of the MDX and you'll either think it looks high-tech or highly contrived." -- Edmunds
• "The formerly tasty grille has been turned into a metal-filled hole that looks like a battering ram..." -- New Car Test Drive