2026 Acura MDX Type S

The midsize Acura MDX is an excellent value, bundling three spacious rows of seating with a generous suite of standard comfort and safety tech features at a price that undercuts many of its competitors. An update last year addressed perhaps the most grating of our few complaints, ditching the mousepad-based infotainment system with an easy-to-use touchscreen and making an already great SUV even better.

Size-wise, the MDX faces off against midsize luxury SUV best-sellers like the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE. But its standard three-row seating puts it in a niche crowd against vehicles like the Audi Q7, Volvo XC90 and the recently introduced Lexus TX, all of which — along with the BMW and the Mercedes — are more expensive. Read our Expert Rating below to see how the MDX stands out and where it could stand to improve.

Most MDXs are powered by Acura's faithful 3.5-liter V6, but the Type S packs a turbocharged 3.0-liter that boosts output to 355 horsepower and 354 lb-ft of torque, gains of 65 hp and 87 lb-ft. The rest of the Type S is reworked to keep up with the greater pace the turbocharged-six can muster. An active exhaust adds aural excitement, while the Type S rides on an adaptive height-adjustable air suspension with retuned anti-roll bars for increased agility, and 21-inch wheels wearing wider rubber hide Brembo brakes up front.

We had an MDX in our One-Year Road Test fleet for a year when the current generation was new in 2022. Acura addressed our chief complaint from that evaluation — the unintuitive infotainment interface — with an update last year. To find out more about what it's like to live with the fourth-generation MDX for 20,000 miles, read our One-Year Road Test.