2010 Acura ZDX hits right notes despite styling compromises

NEW YORK -- Automakers say they are hearing this message from some important (well-heeled) shoppers: Give us the SUV's high seating position with such a nice view and handy cargo space and the foul-weather and bad-road capability that comes with all-wheel drive and ample ground clearance. But change the look, either to the mainstream appeal of a tailored sedan or the excitement of a sports coupe.

Replies so far include Toyota's Venza in the mainstream category and BMW's X6 in the coupe genre.

Come December, Honda's Acura luxury brand joins the fray with the 2010 ZDX.

Penned three years ago by Michelle Christensen — then 25, fresh out of design school and newly hired by Honda — ZDX's style is distinguished by a tucked and tailored roof covered in black glass panels and by rear-wheel bulges that would be striking even if the roof's taper did not accentuate them. It's three-dimensional drama. ZDX looks far less exciting in photos than on the road.

It's all but unique for a rookie designer to have sketches embraced by a car company and rendered almost literally.

ZDX is an Acura MDX crossover SUV underneath, though that's hard to believe because of the differences in looks, interiors and personalities. Same wheelbase and track width, similar suspension but retuned for ZDX, same engine. Transmission, developed for the ZDX, is shared, too, beginning with the 2010 MDX.

Acura views ZDX as a niche product: 6,000 sales the first year, maybe 10,000 in a hot year. Only way to make money on so few is such hardware sharing.

A morning in city traffic here, then a rural romp on parkways and lanes to the north, plus 250 hot-shoe highway miles back home to Virginia and a few more miles through suburban duty in two preproduction ZDXs left a crisp impression:

If you are willing to accept the compromises that come with the coupe styling — and coupes are all about style — ZDX is one terrific piece of work.

Acura says ZDX is meant not as a family vehicle, though it seats four or five adults. It's more for a couple with no kids at home and craving something exciting to see and drive. Able when necessary to tote back-seaters in relative comfort, but the front-seaters get the emphasis.