Acura Shows Off ZDX

The on sale date for the Acura ZDX crossover (find and put exact) is drawing near, and Acura has decided to unveil the production vehicle to us all. Since it's the initial announcement, it's without the full gamut of press shots, pricing information and the like. Acura will want to drag out that stuff until a bit closer to the launch. It's all about press coverage!

When the ZDX Concept debuted, it was viewed to be very close to the production version inside and out. It was one of those thinly guised "concepts" that really aren't concepts at all. In addition, we had more than that to go on - spy photos have caught the car and shown it to be extremely similar to the concept that presaged it.

Let's just say it could have been a huge disaster if things didn't translate properly - especially knowing Acura and it's ability to produce them (Current TL, anyone?). So it's not a disaster. There's a bit of akwardness to it but that was apparent in the original concept as well - nothing to do with the translation from concept to production.

Acura calls it a "4-door sports coupe." Hmm, Acura is going all BMW on us! The ZDX joins the realm of identity confused vehicles like the X6 and 5-Series GT.

The ZDX gets a good engine, the same 300-hp 3.7-liter V6 that does duty in the RL and TL, mated to a six speed transmission (a first for Acura) and the Super Handling-All Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) all standard fare. Impressive specifications to be sure!

It most definitely looks different - it will get people's attention. Acura plans this to be a big, volume model for them (like the RX is for Lexus) but I think in order to do that it's going to need some  aggressive pricing. With low pricing, I could see it working just because I think some people will think it's cool.

But, what's up with those gaping panel gaps? Did quality just go down the drain? They really stick out. Acura needs to make sure they are much tighter when the ZDX crossover starts rolling off the line.