2014 Acura MDX AWD Long-Term Road Test

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2014 Acura MDX AWD Long-Term Road Test

Our 2014 Acura MDX has three different suspension settings, but only one of them works in all situations.

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ampim

I'm not familiar with the specifics of MDX's suspension (get Dan to to a walk around), but I'm pretty sure you couldn't get the same "normal setting" feeling from a passive suspension. Most active suspensions can recognize and adapt to body motions such as roll. When you're cruising down the highway, it might go in to its softest setting to give you good isolation, however if you were to take it through a slalom, it might firm up temporarily to give better body motion control. That's something that a passive suspension can't do.

duck87

I must be losing it, but on the Acura website the IDS seems to change only throttle calibration and steering heft, not the suspension. There's no mention of adjustable suspension (that was on the older model I believe?). Adjustable suspension rarely works well because customers actually expect to feel something when they press the sports button- because of this, OEMs overcompensate on stiffening the dampers. There's often no dynamic benefit either.