2025 Acura ADX First Look: Acura’s Cute New $35,000 Luxury SUV
Acura’s take on the Honda HR-V aims to bridge the gap between the sporty Integra hatchback and the RDX SUV.
Buoyed by the success of the Integra, Acura is expanding the lower end of its lineup with a new subcompact luxury crossover. The new 2025 Acura ADX becomes the baby bookend of Acura’s luxury SUV lineup, joining the compact RDX and midsize three-row MDX as its luxury subcompact SUV offering. Promising to offer up high levels of style, luxury, and practicality, Acura hopes this Integra-sized and roughly $35,000 offering will help it continue to attract new buyers to the brand.
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Meet the ADX
The 2025 ADX is new to the Acura lineup, but it’s not entirely new to our roads. Riding on a platform shared with the Integra/Honda Civic and Honda HR-V subcompact SUV, the new ADX blends elements of the former with the latter.
Its 104.5-inch wheelbase is identical to that of the HR-V, while its 185.8-inch length matches the Integra, with flared SUV-like fender arches responsible for the half-inch width increase (to 72.5-inches) versus the Acura hatchback. A minor ride-height difference and an HR-V-like profile with a two-box design accounts for the 7.9-inch height difference between the new ADX and the Integra. Those specs make the ADX similar in length to the more expensive RDX, but it’s about two inches shorter and narrower.
Under the hood the ADX thankfully takes a page from the Integra instead of the HR-V, the latter of which we’ve previously described as “painfully slow,” thanks to an underpowered 158-hp 2.0-liter I-4 engine. The ADX instead gets the Integra’s 1.5-liter turbocharged I-4 with a CVT and either front- or optional all-wheel drive. Acura isn’t talking power output at this point, but we think the ADX will most likely match the Integra’s 200-hp and 192 lb-ft of torque. The 2025 Acura ADX likely won’t be quick—the Integra, for instance, scoots to 60 mph in 7.6 seconds—but that amount of grunt should make the ADX perfectly pleasant to drive.
The New Acura ADX Inside and Out
Visually, the 2025 Acura ADX shrinks the RDX formula into an HR-V-sized package. Its styling largely looks sporty and premium, save for the near non-existent dash-to-axle ratio and raked rear glass that betray its HR-V underpinnings.
It’s a similar story inside, with the ADX largely cribbing the HR-V’s layout and design. The biggest differences here are the replacement of the Honda’s shift buttons for a proper shift lever, the addition of an Integra-like panel on the passenger side of the center console to help the interior feel more driver-focused, and higher-quality interior materials. The new ADX also sports a more interesting color mix than the limited options available for the HR-V, including a red and black combo, and an Acura-first “orchid” blue and white.
Acura promises that the ADX’s three trims are well-equipped. The base ADX comes standard with a 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster, 9-inch infotainment display with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, heated seats, and a full suite of active safety tech. The mid-level 2025 Acura ADX A-Spec adds sporty-looking trim inside and out, a panoramic sunroof, ventilated power front seats, rear seat USB-C ports, and a handful of other extras. The top-trim ADX A-Spec with Advance Package adds an individual drive mode, parking sensors, 360-degree cameras, remote start, and a heated steering wheel. It replaces the stock eight-speaker sound system with a 15-speaker Bang & Olufsen-branded setup.
How Much Will the 2025 Acura ADX Cost? When Does It Go on Sale?
We expect the 2025 Acura ADX will be priced on top of the Integra and follow its pricing structure. The base ADX should start at around $35,000, the ADX A-Spec around $37,000, and the ADX A-Spec with Advance Package at $40,000. This leaves Acura some breathing room between the Integra at $34,195, the ADX, and the updated-for-2025 RDX, which starts at $46,050. Final pricing for the 2025 Acura ADX will be settled closer to its early 2025 launch. Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see if Acura can expand on the Integra’s initial success with its new subcompact luxury SUV.
I generally like writing—especially when it’s about cars—but I hate writing about myself. So instead of blathering on about where I was born (New York City, in case you were wondering) or what type of cars I like (all of ’em, as long as it has a certain sense of soul or purpose), I’ll answer the one question I probably get most, right after what’s your favorite car (see above): How’d you get that job? Luck. Well, mostly. Hard work, too. Lots of it. I sort of fell into my major of journalism/mass communication at St. Bonaventure University and generally liked it a lot. In order to complete my degree senior year, we had to spend our last two semesters on some sort of project. Seeing as I loved cars and already spent a good portion of my time reading about cars on sites such as Motor Trend, I opted to create a car blog. I started a Tumblr, came up with a car-related name (The Stig’s American Cousin), signed up for media access on a bunch of manufacturer’s websites, and started writing. I did everything from cover new trim levels to reviewing my friends’ cars. I even wrote a really bad April Fool’s Day post about the next Subaru Impreza WRX being Toyota-Corolla-based. It was fun, and because it was fun, it never felt like work. Sometime after my blog had gotten off the ground, I noticed that Motor Trend was hiring for what’s now our Daily News Team. I sent in my résumé and a link to my blog. I got the job, and two weeks after graduation I made the move from New York to California. I’ve been happily plugging away at a keyboard—and driving some seriously awesome hardware—ever since.
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