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Acura ZDX

You know things are bad when sales of any non-supercar measure in the hundreds. Acura's ZDX, a coupe on stilts that's missing all the utility of the MDX it is based on, measured 775 sales in 2012.



While the auto press is far from perfect at foresight (remember: our tribe lauded the Aztek concept), the ZDX was drubbed on its debut in 2009/10. This was a hanging curve ball, though. To start with, Acura made the car look slick, but the sloping roof ate into the second-row doorway. The ZDX also doesn't have the MDX's third row, and ZDX buyers miss about 30 percent of the usable cargo space they'd otherwise find on an MDX. By the way, you paid about six grand more for so much less.



While the ZDX weighs about 175 pounds less than the MDX and handles reasonably well for a big crossover. It doesn't encourage sporty driving, but here there's a tradeoff: It's a very smooth riding rig, more so than some German crossovers with pretenses of aggression. Likewise, the 3.7-liter V-6 is excellent, smooth to rev, powerful, and silken. It's something Acura doesn't get enough praise for, but its engines tend to be a brand hallmark.



However, you can get all of that goodness in an MDX, an excellent luxo-family car that didn't need fixing. That, apparently, is the conclusion Acura has come to as well, finally killing the ZDX this year.



