2008 Acura MDX

Pros: Amazing handling, wet, dry, snow. Good acceleration . Best, I paid 38K. for an MDX! (Base Model) Safe! Keeps value.

Cons: Gas mileage. Have to fight the wife to drive it.

Summary: I have the base MDX and it has all of the SHAWD stuff minus the trick shock absorbers. Base comes with leather, moonroof, third seat, 300 hp engine. Great sound system, second seat climate controls, etc. etc.

Would love the voice controlled nav and other tech toys (Hey I am posting this on CNET) but I am cheap. The base XM / CD / Radio / sound system is as good as I could want. Love pairing my phone, but that is pretty much in any car anymore. How about a power adaptor.

Going around corners that should cause all sorts of drama in an SUV is effortless. The SHAWD is, well, super handling. A car site said it not only handled good for an SUV, it handles good for a car -- I agree. The acceleration (and the great sound that comes when all those valves in the engine kick in at 4000 rpm) is brisk to say the least. The cost is that the 11.2 to 1 compression ratio does demand premium fuel and is not a Prius. But there is a reason why Acura sponsors the F1 races. Honda does seem to have the science of making great passenger car engines fine tuned.

They seemed to have designed the interior for me -- everything I need from sunglasses to drink holders and storage is right where I need it to be. The two driver modes where everything from seat and mirror positions to radio stations and steering wheel position cranks up when I put the key near the car is welcome. You can't imagine how nice it is with my habit of straight arm driving not getting into a car wth the seat pushed so far forward one could get injured by the steering wheel sliding in. But my wife, who drives 100 miles a day to work does wimper when she has to drive the "Pocket Rocket" Handa 6 coupe. And if there is snow or rain predicted for the next century, it's her car! Frankly I don't mind because the safety features are exactly what you would expect from a high tech, modern vehicle. Just for kicks, try to floor the silly thing on slick roads -- You have to work to get it not to save your butt and go just where you want it to be,

This is our second MDX -- and the 2008 is a big step up from the 2005 which I thought at the time was insanely great. A fan, yeah, but it's worth it. Now if there was a Ferrari SUV for say $50K, I might have to modify my opinion.