New York: Acura ZDX aimed squarely at BMW X6

[Intrepidation]

After a few weeks of teasing, Acura has finally revealed the ZDX, its new four-door, luxury crossover "coupe" that is clearly aimed at the similarly proportioned BMW X6. The ZDX wears the now familiar shield grille and sharp styling that has spread across the entire Acura lineup. To further emphasize the crossover's coupiness, Acura designers have hid the rear door handles in the base of the C-pillar. The ZDX rides tall on 20-inch, 9-spoke wheels and also glints under the lights thanks to a number of chrome trim pieces including a pair of shiny dual exhausts out back. Inside you'll find typical Acura luxury with high quality materials arranged in a high-tech package that includes a new multi-view rear camera system with both a wide angle and top down view. The production ZDX will be V6-powered and kept in line by Acura's superb Super Handling All-Wheel Drive system.

Feel free to poke around the ZDX in our high-res gallery below. It's the best expression yet of Acura's new design language, which has taken some getting used to on its current lineup of sedans. This segment-busting crossover should arrive in dealerships by the fall of 2009, according to Acura.

Check out our high-res gallery of live and official shots below, as well as Acura's official press release after the jump.

[Intrepidation]

I like the interior..

...and that's it.

[regfootball]

'teasing' usually means the end result is something awesome. i.e. teasing for sex etc. to use the word teasing and show us this is wrong, totally wrong.

[FAPTurbo]

Holy hideous front end, Batman!

[Intrepidation]

'teasing' usually means the end result is something awesome. i.e. teasing for sex etc. to use the word teasing and show us this is wrong, totally wrong.

Holy hideous front end, Batman!

Funny thing is the front end looks relatively decent when compared to how hideous the side profile with it's massive overhang looks.

[mustang84]

ZDX? Sounds like an 80's trim level.

[SoCalCTS]

This is the car that AMC would be designing if it still existed.

[CSpec]

Acura's front ends have been absolutely awful lately. The rest of it is OK, if a bit odd. The interior looks the same as the MDX.

[Robert Hall]

Some FCX Clarity design cues in the rear....in profile, looks sort of like a TL with a Prius greenhouse grafted on...wierd.

But, as a Honda/Acura product, it will likely drive nicely, be well put together, high quality and reliable, and sell in respectable numbers.

Edited April 8, 2009 by moltar

[Teh Ricer Civic!]

Great interior. Weird Exterior.

Come up with some real names Acura!

[siegen]

I am hoping the exterior looks a little better in production form, and in a different color. But I don't think it's that bad of an exterior, just a bit awkward. What is impressive is the interior. Leather-wrapped interior, fully panoramic glass roof, which extends the entire cabin to the back hatch (hatch is fully glass). Comes with a lot of high end features that aren't on other Acuras. This is clearly Acura shooting for "Tier One". It's such an odd duck vehicle though. The front overhang is significant.

[pow]

Looks good to me. I think "progressive activity sedans", like the BMW concept revealed last month, could find a niche. Some don't want the bulkiness of an SUV, but they want more interior space than a sedan.

[siegen]

My version of the ZDX:

[Satty]

Well thats.....got 4 wheels? Thats about the most positive thing I can say. Then again, this is a segment (4-door, SUV coupe?) that I really dont understand.

[balthazar]

Aaaaaaannnnd honda continues to wander aimlessly in the Styling Wasteland...

[cire]

Hideous and ridiculous: Not a good combo.

[Intrepidation]

Funny thing is at NEIAS the Acura reps told Sixty8 and myself that they weren't trying to be like BMW. We all know that's a load of crap, but this is an X6 wannabe if I ever saw one...only it makes the X6 actually look pleasant by comparison.

[K.C.]

Like the X6, I think this is an answer to a question no one is asking.

As for the looks, you can take a pig, put lipstick on it, even call it Matilda, but it's still just a pig.

[turbo200]

there's no appeal in this two vehicle segment right now. why didn't they go for a more sedan-like solution with a heavy sloping fastback? like the mazda 6 and opel insignia. this makes no sense to me, and neither does x6.

Edited April 9, 2009 by turbo200

[Robert Hall]

Maybe someone will do a 3dr hatchback or an actual 2dr coupe in this coupe/crossover segment...I really liked the Audi Steppenwolf concept from a few years ago.

An AWD CTS coupe w/ the current SRX stance, ride height, big tires, etc would be cool.

Edited April 9, 2009 by moltar

[MyerShift]

My God they have some retarded cars nowadays.

Either buy a hatch, SUV, wagon, or a coupe. None of this niche bull$h!. There are limits.

[regfootball]

mazda6 hatch was a nice car.

ok everyone repeat after me,

LEGEND

INTEGRA

NSX

LEGEND

INTEGRA

NSX

[regfootball]

CHECKING BACK, did that clear the brain of these horrible pictures?

[regfootball]

ohmi, the damage to the cerebral cortex is too great. we must sacrifice YO head in the meat slicer grille!!!!!!!!!

[regfootball]

is smoking crack an epidemic in Japan, or at least within the confines of the area surrounding the Honda engineering and design offices?

[siegen]

Honestly, after seeing the show pics, this car has potential. I bet it will look better in person in production form, as most all cars do. I think the color of the concept is pretty bad. Concepts generally look bad anyway (need I say more?).

And it is plenty practical. It combines SUV, Coupe, and Sedan elements. Imagine someone shopping for a TL; however they want something a little shorter and with coupe styling, but they don't want to sacrifice any cargo space or the practicality of 4-doors. Here ya go.

Reg, this was most likely designed entirely in Acura's design studio in California, mostly by beer-bellied Americans. I'm sure Dave Marek had his hand in it too.

[G. David Felt]

Funny thing is the front end looks relatively decent when compared to how hideous the side profile with it's massive overhang looks.

Totally agree with DF, the overhangs are terrible, but this whole auto is just another ugly bland auto from Acura. Will give em cudo's for a few nice touches on the interior but that is about it.

[G. David Felt]

is smoking crack an epidemic in Japan, or at least within the confines of the area surrounding the Honda engineering and design offices?

Nope just too much of the Anime going on in these engineers. I swear they are all trying to live in a real PowerBall Z world.

[regfootball]

Honestly, after seeing the show pics, this car has potential. I bet it will look better in person in production form, as most all cars do. I think the color of the concept is pretty bad. Concepts generally look bad anyway (need I say more?).

And it is plenty practical. It combines SUV, Coupe, and Sedan elements. Imagine someone shopping for a TL; however they want something a little shorter and with coupe styling, but they don't want to sacrifice any cargo space or the practicality of 4-doors. Here ya go.

Reg, this was most likely designed entirely in Acura's design studio in California, mostly by beer-bellied Americans. I'm sure Dave Marek had his hand in it too.

we already know they are substance influenced in CA

[Robert Hall]

Nope just too much of the Anime going on in these engineers. I swear they are all trying to live in a real PowerBall Z world.

Probably a bunch of skinny twentysomething Americans at Honda's US design studio that play a lot of video games and watch anime, read comic books, drink energy drinks, and Twitter from their iPhones all the time...

[G. David Felt]

Probably a bunch of skinny twentysomething Americans at Honda's US design studio that play a lot of video games and watch anime, read comic books, drink energy drinks, and Twitter from their iPhones all the time...

+1

[siegen]

I don't think this vehicle is aimed "squarely" at the X6. It is a similar vehicle, but is much more coupe/sedan-influenced than the X6. It is nearly 5 inches shorter. It also seats 5 instead of 4.

Contrary to what I said earlier, the roof of the cabin is not entirely glass. Instead, it has two large moon roofs. Not sure if they both open or not.

[Intrepidation]

Of course it doesn't quite compete with teh X6...the X6 is at least well proportioned and RWD.

This...ugh.

Just but an MDX if you want an Acura people mover.

[Intrepidation]

Quick things I hate about this car. The front doors have a normal door handle but the rears are hidden somewhere. Hide both or hide neither. I hate the how the character lines don't connect. they could, but they don't. The fdront one just disappears into the middle of no where while the rear one cuts down low into the front door.

I strongly dislike most design where the character line dips so low. The front door handle is mounted on the line and looks too low.

The Genesis Coupe does this, but actually manages to pull it off and look good.

Another thing I dislike about the character line is that it's too busy. Both lines round themselves out over the wheel arches, but the rear one looks especially bad...because it tries out straighten back out too abruptly before running into the back of the car.

The design of the side of this thing is just so bad.

[Justin Bimmer]

It looks like they turned a "Hot Wheels" car into actual size.

[siegen]

The more I look at it the more I like it. Can't wait to see the production version. I haven't warmed up to the plenum though.

[§carlet §wordfish]

Now this I really like. I think the styling is just fantastic- there's nothing I don't like in that area. In fact I find it much better looking than the X6; the shapes are sharper and better defined, the lines are more taut and it looks far more lean and athletic than the bloated X6.

In fact it's really just barely a crossover. Lower it a few inches and it's a fastback sedan. I think it's great.

[ShadowDog]

I'll be really nice to it when I say that it could use some massaging... deep-tissue, bone altering massaging.

Lovely interior, I agree there.

If it is looking to go up against the X6, that can't be too hard. The BMW is far from appealing to me. Oh hell, I'll just admit I think it's just nasty.

[ocnblu]

A copy of the X6, which is a ridiculously useless vehicle. Which makes this thing even more ridiculously useless.

[siegen]

A copy of the X6, which is a ridiculously useless vehicle. Which makes this thing even more ridiculously useless.

The ZDX and X6 share a similar roofline but are different vehicles. The ZDX should have much higher appeal than the X6, since it will likely be less expensive and seats 5. It is also 5 inches shorter and is more of a 4-door coupe, while the X6 is still a tallish SUV.

[Robert Hall]

Speaking of fastback sedans, a CTS 4dr fastback could be really cool..picture the CTS sedan but with the C-pillar of the coupe.

[Intrepidation]

The ZDX and X6 share a similar roofline but are different vehicles. The ZDX should have much higher appeal than the X6, since it will likely be less expensive and seats 5. It is also 5 inches shorter and is more of a 4-door coupe, while the X6 is still a tallish SUV.

Or lower appeal, since it is even uglier than the X6, and Acura's own MDX is better looking and probably more practical.

[Blake Noble]

I hate this crossover and everything it stands for.

[siegen]

Or lower appeal, since it is even uglier than the X6, and Acura's own MDX is better looking and probably more practical.

The MDX will be less expensive by a few thousand at least, and will be more practical. The ZDX is supposed to be priced between the MDX and RL. The ZDX isn't about practicality though, it is about luxury and image. Performance should be higher than the MDX, and the interior will be much nicer. High end luxury content should be better as well. It also has Acura's first 6-speed automatic, although I imagine the 6-speed will spread through the Acura lineup very quickly.

Go look at the production model when it comes out, I bet you'll like it a heck of a lot more than these concept pictures. Most Hondas/Acuras are that way; they look a lot better in person. The only exception I can think of is the 4th gen TL (current), which I still don't like all that much even though I've seen it in person a lot.

People complained about the 2nd and 3rd generation TL's when they came out, which are now seen as two of Acura's best designs. People generally dislike any new model, it seems like. Maybe that's the way automotive design is heading. This ZDX rubbed me the wrong way too when I first saw it.

[Robert Hall]

I wonder if any of the domestic makers will jump into this market...Ford has a ton of CUVs and SUVs now, maybe an Edge variant with a Mustang-like roofline.. Or some variant of the MKT..

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Anybody remember the Chevy Borrego concept?

Boy, was GM spot on for this trend?!?! Too bad theey weren't smart enough to actually execute the plan.

BTW, that thing (the Acura) looks half-assed and hideous to me.

[ZL-1]

Anybody remember the Chevy Borrego concept?

Boy, was GM spot on for this trend?!?! Too bad theey weren't smart enough to actually execute the plan.

Of course! GM is an expert in throwing away good ideas. SAAB had the 9-3X as a part of the 9-3 plan years before the Audi A6 Allroad, but GM didn't give SAAB the go ahead to build it until now...

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Of course! GM is an expert in throwing away good ideas. SAAB had the 9-3X as a part of the 9-3 plan years before the Audi A6 Allroad, but GM didn't give SAAB the go ahead to build it until now...

Oh yeah!!!

I had completely forgotten about the Saab 9-X and 9-3X concepts! Some of my favorites...

I REALLY wish GM would've given Saab a production 9-3X, it was SO right on so many levels.

[Camino LS6]

I'm beginning to wonder if Acura will survive this recession.

[siegen]

I'm beginning to wonder if Acura will survive this recession.

No reason why it wouldn't. At this point Acuras are still glorified Hondas, which is where Acura has always been and how it got its foothold in America. It also makes Acura very profitable for Honda. Had Acura pumped out the RWD platforms, V8s and other goodies, and then hit this recession, I would be a lot more concerned about its viability and profitability.