Three-tier crossover SUVs dot the landscape of America as minivans did a generation ago. Many of these seven- and eight-seat crossovers are good – but which of the best efforts is really the best?
We drive the 2022 Acura MDX, and found a lot to admire in its smooth appearance, well-organized handling and high level of standard safety equipment. The funny thing is that we said the same things about our Best car to buy 2020 and our Best Family Car to Buy 2021, the Kia Telluride.
Just between us, between the two – which is better?
2022 Acura MDX
2022 Acura MDX
2022 Acura MDX
2022 Acura MDX
Both apply some sensual filters on what is essentially a form of family wagon. Telluride is crafted with slightly rounded angles and corners, a tribute to American SUVs rather than South Korea’s own trend-setting appearance. We can’t help thinking about the GMC with Telluride’s stand-shaped lights and its rectangular features , but there is a warmth and sophistication in your cabin and in the synthesis of lines that escapes even GM’s stylish truck outfit. The MDX? It is clearly standardized on the basis of European sports cars, from the wide angle grille and graceful texture to its undulating fenders and the upkick on its rear roof pillars. Inside, it is elevated by a broad gesture, a finishing strip that ripples around the cabin in discreet wood tones or matte aluminum finish.
2021 Kia Telluride
2021 Kia Telluride
2021 Kia Telluride
2021 Kia Telluride
Acura is better at adjusting the suspension and its 10-speed automatic bolts at more potential than Telluride’s 8-speed car. The MDX V-6 can hum at higher speeds (and the added engine noise doesn’t help much), but it is the more flexible of the two power sets. It is also combined with a much more refined suspension, with springs and shock absorbers that face small bumps and absorb large ones; Telluride tries to smother them all, with any luck. It doesn’t even feel like driving a mid-range sports sedan, but the twin-turbo V-6 MDX Type S in the future could change our minds.
2022 Acura MDX
The MDX wraps front seat passengers in multi-adjustable buckets with deeper sculptures than Telluride’s, and its second row row seat has a removable section that switches to six-passenger mode, with a useful aisle for the small rear seat. The Kia configuration is more conventional, but also more spacious, with adult space even in the third row.
2021 Kia Telluride
In both, all passengers have the benefit of standard automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and blind spot monitors. Acura charges $ 47,925 for a basic leather-free MDX, with an average warranty of 4 years / 50,000 miles and an infotainment system that does not accept touch input; it is a remote touchpad or voice commands. Kia’s touch screens are wide and lush, its warranty is one year and 10,000 miles more, and its price thousands lower than the MDX, even in its more expensive Telluride SX finish.
We will not smell and say that we really cannot choose. We can, at least for now. Telluride is substantially cheaper, rivals Acura in technology, has better information and entertainment, more space in the third row and, finally, a higher CBT rating, with MDX at 7.0 and Telluride at 7.5 out of 10. (Read more about how we evaluate cars.) But the 2022 MDX has not yet been tested in collisions – and if all goes well, it will be extremely close between the two.