Pleasantly quick, impressively stable, and with sharp steering, the ADX surprises with its driving behavior. It’s a 7.
Front-wheel drive is standard but we suggest paying the extra $2,000 for all-wheel drive that creates a more even weight distribution and sends up to 50% of torque to the rear axle for greater grip and stability, or it can disconnect while cruising to improve efficiency.
How fast is the Acura ADX?
Fast is not its forte, but the ADX makes up for it with alacrity. It uses the Integra’s 1.5-liter turbo-4 tuned here to make 190 hp and 179 lb-ft. In Sport mode, with the throttle more sensitive and the CVT allowing the engine to rev high, it’s capable of hitting 60 mph in about seven seconds, even after a mushy lift off the line. Mash the pedal and the overperforming engine nears 6,000 rpm before the CVT intervenes and enacts a fake gear shift.
Wheel-mounted paddle shifters add some play for the driver, as does an S setting on the gear lever, but even flicking a downshift into a turn may not keep it there through the turn. Same goes for uphill passing moves; it’s better to just drive in Individual mode or toggle it into Sport to extract the most predictable juice. It’s good juice, though, and with peak torque coming on at 1,700 rpm there’s plenty of pulp for passing moves in most every situation.
The suspension and steering serve the ADX well. Engineers offset the added height and weight—at 3,514 pounds with AWD, it’s relatively light for a crossover—over the Integra with larger stabilizer bars, increased spring rates, and overall more rigidity in the subframes. It can be pushed harder—and almost seems to want to be—than other $40,000 crossovers, and the firmed up steering feel in Sport mode complements this communication to the driver.
In Normal or Comfort mode, the artificial engine noise is canceled out with sound deadening frequencies and materials that allow engine noise in only when it’s floored. Then it relaxes into a quiet comfy cruiser that showcases its finest trait: its dual personality appeals to two different types of drivers, one who might complain of white knuckles and one who might prefer them.
