2024 Acura ZDX Type S Review: Balancing Act
The verdict: Acura’s first production EV has quite a bit in common with the Honda Prologue — and it’s not just the shared platform. Like the balance of performance and comfort in the all-new Acura ZDX Type S, there’s a clear balance of things we like about it and things we don’t.
Versus the competition: The ZDX Type S is related to the Cadillac Lyriq and is a natural competitor to that along with the Genesis GV60, Lexus RZ and far cheaper Tesla Model Y. For the most part, the top-level ZDX cuts right down the center, offering more range and quicker DC fast charging than some, but not all.
Like most rides under Acura’s Type S sub-brand, the 2024 ZDX Type S is best approached with managed expectations. Statements from Acura like “the most powerful Acura SUV ever” and an optional high-performance wheel-and-tire package would have you believe this is a habanero-hot performance electric vehicle with the forthcoming Porsche Macan Turbo between its calipers.
Not so. A day spent scrubbin’ the ZDX Type S’ sticky Continental tires through the lush wilderness surrounding Santa Barbara, Calif., revealed that this is an all-electric SUV that’s positioned exactly as it should be even if it won’t snatch too many prospective buyers away from the new Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. Look to existing Type S versions of the gas-powered MDX and TLX to clear any static; these are balanced performance trims, cutting the comfort and performance difference between a base BMW and a ballistic M-division product.
So goes the ZDX Type S. Exactly 499 horsepower — not 500 — and 544 pounds-feet of torque is more than enough zap to fold on-ramps and launch loose paper and phones from the console tray into backseat orbit. For most customers, this invisible G-force on demand will be sufficient enough to impress the nephews and nieces — and get you in a heap of trouble with either the law or your lifespan. It is not for someone seeking the breath-snatching warp of a top Tesla or Porsche Taycan — which, again, is perfectly fine.
This is our first drive of the ZDX, but you’ll notice I’m only chatting about the Type S. That’s all Acura had on hand at the vehicle’s launch event, leaving us to wait for our first taste of both the single-motor rear-wheel-drive and dual-motor all-wheel-drive A-Spec versions. (Cars.com pays for its own travel and lodging when attending such manufacturer-sponsored events.) I’m looking forward to driving these models, as the Type S is a rather niche product, even if it mostly adheres to its intended purpose.
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The ZDX’s Origins
Let’s back up a second. Like the new-for-2024 Honda Prologue, the ZDX is the fruit of a now-dead $5 billion technical partnership between GM and Honda that offered the Japanese automaker a temporary EV bridge as it readies its ground-up, in-house electric efforts that are aimed for primetime in a few years. Whereas the Honda is built on the bones of the Chevrolet Blazer EV, the Acura is born of the Blazer’s more expensive platform mate, the Cadillac Lyriq.
Makes total sense, right? The everyman Chevy becomes the everyman Honda, while the high-falutin’ Caddy morphs into one of the most expensive Acuras in production, competing with the MDX Type S for maximum bank-balance destruction. However, the resulting projects feel like the sum of neither brand, with the Honda offering little of the brand’s signature charm and the ZDX Type S not quite presenting as ritzy as its $75,000 price tag would suggest.
It’s an incongruous comparison, but you need to look to the gas-only MDX Type S to see the discrepancy. That’s a very well-equipped three-row crossover with some genuinely luxe touches, like massaging front seats and extended leather upholstery, along with identifiable brand language and positioning. Meanwhile, the two-row ZDX Type S feels like a step down from the bigger MDX in both equipment and presentation even if the actual differences of the former are nearly inconsequential.
Cabin Commentary
Still, it’s hardly a gulag inside. Acura draped as much Milano leather as it saw fit over the ZDX’s interior surfaces, especially the sporty seats with complementary microsuede inserts of the Type S. Stitching on said hides is both tight and prominent, as are the clear attempts to carve some of Acura’s design language into Caddy’s keystone. It’s only when you investigate with scrutiny that you’ll find some cross-brand pollination; the switches, OnStar system and even the key are unabashedly GM — but can you blame Acura? It would cost millions to develop ZDX-specific hardware for what would amount to near-zero return, and GM’s toggles are nearly a match for Acura’s own jewelry.
It’s the ZDX’s tech that’s going to draw the most eyes (and, potentially, deposits). An 11-inch hi-res driver display works in concert with the 11.3-inch center infotainment touchscreen that, in addition to running Google Built-In, packs wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity — two big reasons why you might skip over the Blazer EV. However, the happy inclusion of GM’s trick Super Cruise hands-free driving system is the ZDX’s killer app: In the hands-free driving arena, Super Cruise is generally the one to get, especially if you dig alarmingly aggressive automatic lane changes and GPS-based environmental intelligence.
And while you’re (hopefully not) zoning out behind the Super Cruisin’ steering wheel, the ZDX’s standard 18-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system elevates the experience, as does the Type S-specific adaptive air suspension, whose pliability ranges from pillowy to firmish depending on the drive mode. It also changes height depending on the selected vibe, dropping 0.6 inch when put into Sport, though separate suspension controls allow the driver to select the desired height on demand.
On the Road
Since I carved a path primarily through rural highways and country roads, I left Snow mode alone and bounced between Normal and Sport depending on the view out the windshield. The 6,052-pound Type S was never going to get within a country mile of the vivacious Integra Type S, but the electric crossover brute-forces its way through tighter stuff with enough capability and pace to impress its intended buyer.
I’d say the big yellow six-piston Brembo front brakes are more for projected confidence than utility, but they’re as viscerally effective as you’d imagine, especially when smearing the optional EV-focused Continental performance tires over SoCal tarmac. Body composure is well managed regardless of drive and suspension setting, though the line between stiffest and softest blurred enough that I often forgot I was in either setting over broken pavement; it was only when I hucked the ZDX down a tighter pass that I truly noticed the difference in body motions.
Steering in the Type S is of particular note. I take no umbrage with how artificial and digital it is — feelsome steering has to be near the bottom of importance for any crossover, even a Type S — but I was annoyed at the turn to turn at lower speeds, particularly when maneuvering a crowded parking lot. The Prologue demonstrated the same low-speed lethargy, leading me to believe this is one of the non-negotiables of the GM platform.
More welcome is the seemingly carryover tuning of the Prologue’s regenerative braking system, which offers a choice of three modes: Normal, High or Off. As in the Honda, the balance between regenerative and physical brakes in the ZDX is excellent and easily modulable, with only a hint of touchiness betraying the system. I found myself rolling most often in Normal mode, filling in gaps with the wheel-mounted regen paddle — a combo that happily gamified my drive during more monotonous portions.
Since I had little incentive to preserve even a single spark of the SUV’s 278-mile Acura-estimated driving range, I regularly explored the full breadth of its 544 pounds-feet of torque to an antisocial degree. Routinely leaving our hapless camera car for dead, my Double Apex Blue test car emerged from on-ramps like a crossbow bolt, rapidly breaching well above standard highway pace. Though in this age of intergalactic triple- and quad-motor EV railguns, a hard launch in the Type S is neither shocking nor mind-bending; Acura has yet to put an official figure on it, but my derriere dyno pegs the 0-60 mph hustle in the low four-second range.
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I failed to fully drain the battery, and while I didn’t have the need to charge, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention what I would’ve experienced at the plug. DC fast charging at up to 190 kilowatts is supported, and the Type S can add up to 72 miles of range in 10 minutes, according to Acura. The 102-kilowatt-hour battery can be fast-charged from 20% to 80% in 42 minutes. The hi-po Type S is the “thirstiest” of the family, with the single-motor RWD A-Spec variant returning 313 miles of range and up to 81 miles in 10 minutes of DC fast charging. Pick the dual-motor A-Spec version and range drops only slightly to 304 miles, while up to 79 miles can be added back in 10 minutes of fast charging.
Is it Worth the Money?
We arrive at the end of all of this with the same question faced by the Prologue: Is this worth the undeniably heavy price tag? Here’s an odd answer, especially after my initial moaning: Without having driven the base ZDX A-Spec, the loaded-out $75,000 ZDX Type S makes more sense in my eyes than a maxed-out Prologue Elite does at around $60,000. It’s not that either is a markedly better package than the other, but if you’re going to spend a chunk of cash on an EV, you might be better off cross-shopping the Prologue against its cheaper competitors than skimping on the better equipped, quicker and more powerful ZDX Type S.
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