When a new model of car or truck is launched, manufacturers work hard to generate excitement.
Silk sheets come sliding off polished sheetmetal, the turntable spins, and the spokesperson booms into their headset while flashes flicker: New! Improved! Efficiency! Power! Features! Style!
The magazine covers fill with perfectly-composed PR shots, the press lauds the new champion - out with the old, in with the new.
But they're still actually selling the current model, and the new one won't be along 'til the end of the year at least. Hey! I'm still a new car! There's nothing wrong with me! This must be what Prince Charles feels like.
So it is with Acura's strong-selling MDX, whose replacement already bowed at the New York Auto Show.
It's going to be lighter, and more fuel efficient. It's going to have interesting all-LED headlights and a suite of new Acura technologies.
It all sounds great. Here's why you should buy the old one instead.
Design
In its highest-spec Elite trim, the MDX comes equipped with a rather handsome-looking set of machine-faced 19" alloy wheels.
These fill out the flared wheel arches nicely, and give a modicum of street-cred to a conservative-yet-handsome exterior. Viewed in side-profile, the MDX is very sharp looking - probably the best application of Acura's angular styling. From the back, it's a bit anonymous, but still handsome. From the front?
Um.
There's no getting past it, that is one beaky-looking grille treatment. It resembles a parrot you've just told a funny joke to.
However, smirking avians aside, the MDX is the sort of vehicle that's stood the test of time in the design department. This is pretty typical for cars built by parent company Honda, but not always true for Acura.
I liked the looks of the MDX more and more as the week wore on - but couldn't shake the impression that I should perhaps offer it a cracker.
Environment
As a direct result of the MDX's big, boxy demeanour, interior space is excellent. There are bigger machines on the market, but not many offer such a sensible layout.
While the third-row is kids-only, adult second row passengers have plenty of room to stretch out. Picking someone up at the airport?
Flopping down the third-row rumble seats reveals a broad swathe of luggage-swallowing space; folding all the seats gives you enough area to fit an Integra Type-R.
Up front, drivers will find the usual Acura quality to fit and finish, and an interior layout that hasn't quite aged as well as the exterior. There are a lot of buttons, requiring taking your eyes off the road. But buttons don't break like fancy touchscreens do.
And while a few demerits must be given for the relative age of the MDX's interior styling, most of those points are won back by the simple fact that all this stuff will still be working when the car is in the hands of its third owner.
It also feels sturdy enough to put up with having a three-year-old scramble over the seats in muddy shoes and then spill apple juice directly into the CD-changer.
Performance
Among the various luxury marques, Acura is notable for not ever making a V8 engine. This doubtless hurt sales of their flagship RL sedan over the years, but driving something like an MDX reveals why they don't bother.
Despite a curb weight of over 2000kg, the big Acura's 300hp 3.7L V6 is smooth and powerful, and does a good job of getting things moving. Sounds pretty good too, not that you'd notice unless you put the windows down, given all that sound-deadening.
Mated to a six-speed automatic transmission that's sturdier and more reliable than early Acura transmissions, the MDX gets off the line quickly when it needs to, and then is happy to pad along through traffic at a sensible pace. Because of its squared-off, big-box feel, sightlines are very good - especially for the crossover segment.
The back tailgate bears the acronym SH-AWD. This is Acura's shorthand for the wonderfully-Japanesey "Super-Handling All-Wheel-Drive." Super-handling! Who wouldn't want that?
