2025 Acura MDX Type S First Drive: No More Touchpad? We Ain’t Mad
Can ditching its annoying user interface transform the MDX experience for the better?
The 2025 Acura MDX sees a few changes relative to last year’s model, almost all of which focus on the luxury three-row SUV’s interior and technology interface. The biggest change? Acura has finally axed the MDX’s True Touchpad controller for the central display screen, which worked kind of like a remote touchpad; imagine controlling your iPhone’s screen using a separate touch-sensitive screen, and you’re close. Having now driven the refreshed MDX in its sportier Type S guise on a mixed route of highway and twisty back roads in Southern California, has losing the True Touchpad (and the other changes) succeeded in upgrading the MDX’s driving experience over the previous model? Mostly.
0:00 / 0:00
True Touchpad Is Truly Gone
It’s no secret that we were not fans of Acura’s True Touchpad, which was pushed by the automaker as an innovative and intuitive way to navigate the previous MDX’s user interface. It was neither of those things. Touchpads certainly weren’t new at the advent of Acura’s iteration of the concept, and although the system sounded intuitive on paper (touching, say, the lower right corner of the pad triggered similar activation on the dashboard screen), it didn’t work very well in practice (in a moving vehicle). We weren’t the only ones who thought this, either—customers were vocal about the touchpad, too, and Acura wisely listened to their feedback when deciding to do away with the True Touchpad for the 2025 model year.
The touchpad and its non-touch display have been replaced with a 12.3-inch touchscreen display, which has been moved 4 inches closer to the driver for an easier reach. No more guessing where your touch inputs are being registered, because you literally touch those on-screen buttons directly. The screen itself is sharp and easy to see, even in morning and midday sun. The interface is somewhat customizable, so more frequently chosen options can be moved to the first “page” for easier use.
When it comes to actually using the screen, it is quite responsive, and there are very few missed touches or swipes. Looking away and taking a hand off the wheel to touch a screen at roughly eye level still isn’t ideal when driving, but it’s orders of magnitude better than the old touchpad solution.
It Has Eyes Everywhere
The next-biggest change for the 2025 Acura MDX? A bag of new tricks added to the AcuraWatch 360 suite of driver assistance features. Lane change assist, lane change collision mitigation, and front cross-traffic warning are the new additions. The adaptive cruise control has been revised for smoother acceleration and deceleration, the blind-spot monitoring system gets longer range, and the automated emergency braking system is enhanced with improved pedestrian detection and cross-traffic sensing.
These features are possible thanks to a gaggle of new sensors Acura added to the MDX Type S for 2025. There is a new long-range millimeter-wave radar in the front along with four more millimeter-wave radars at each corner hidden under the bodywork. The radars work in conjunction with a new wide-view front camera just behind the windshield and a new capacitive-touch steering wheel to detect driver involvement, but more on that later.
Pick a Lane
Acura's route for our drive includes a stretch on Interstate 5 meant to highlight the new semi-automated lane change assist feature. Use is simple: With the adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist features activated, push the turn signal stalk halfway in the desired direction for a left or right lane change. After about a second, the system recognizes you want to change lanes and indicates its engagement with animated arrows digital gauge cluster display. Then, if all is clear, the car moves over into the selected lane.
It's intuitive but not without some annoyance. For starters, like in many other vehicles that have similar systems, you must keep your hands on the steering wheel while the lane change assist feature does its work. We wouldn’t blame anyone wondering why you would need the car to change lanes for you if your hands are already on the wheel anyway.
You might be tempted to keep a light touch on the steering wheel throughout the procedure, but the system doesn’t like that, either. The moment the MDX thinks you aren’t holding the steering wheel firmly enough, the lane change assist will abort, leaving you to ride between lanes (or whatever position the car manages to achieve before your mishandling of the wheel shuts the action down) for a few seconds before moving you back into the original lane. Sometimes, the lane change assist aborts seemingly for no reason.
And forget using the lane-change feature in denser, lower-speed traffic; it appears to only work at speeds greater than 50 mph. Other times, lane change assist refuses to move the MDX over, insisting via a warning message in the gauge cluster that the desired lane is occupied despite there not being any cars close enough to trip the blind-spot monitoring system. Perhaps the blind-spot system has more leeway than the lane-change system when it comes to determining gaps in adjacent traffic streams. The only other AcuraWatch 360 bugaboo is a slight wandering sensation when using the lane keep steering assist feature, with the MDX at one point shuffling side to side as if in sync with a wobbly semi truck ahead.
Addressing our experiences, Kin Fung, the chief engineer for AcuraWatch 360, clarifies that if a vehicle ahead is large enough to obstruct some of the lane markers that the system uses as lane-centering guidelines (like, say, the tractor trailer we encountered), it could lead to less precise centering and thus slightly more wiggling as the MDX works to stay inside the lines. As to the lane change assist’s hands-on requirement for use, Fung adds that not only must you have your hands on the wheel, but you also can’t grip or move the wheel too much. If the system detects too much torque in either direction—which is interpreted as a driver’s attempt to override the action—it aborts the lane change. Similarly, if the system thinks another vehicle “might” change into the lane you’re trying to move to—for example you’re in lane one and moving into lane two, but the system detects a vehicle in lane three that might also move into lane two—it won’t allow the lane change. All of which is to say, these systems are complex and must be cautious by nature. Acura’s safety features work as intended, though systems from some other luxury brands (namely, Mercedes-Benz) are slightly sharper.
The Non-Automated Driving Experience
The 2025 MDX is again available in normal and Type S grades, with the former using a 290-hp 3.5-liter V-6 and the latter getting a 355-hp 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6. This review covers the spicier Type S, but the changes discussed above apply across the lineup.
As before, the Type S and its twin-turbo engine deliver a somewhat sharper driving experience than you’ll get in the more pedestrian MDXs. (One thing we’re looking forward to testing is whether the 2025 Type S is quicker than its less powerful siblings; a 2024 model we tested last year was inexplicably slower to 60 mph than a 290-hp non-S MDX we’d tested previously.) The 2025 Acura MDX Type S doesn’t feel sluggish or slow once it gets going, though the throttle response is somewhat dead through the first little bit of pedal travel.
On some twisty back roads, the MDX Type S shows a bit more teeth. Steering is sharp and pleasantly responsive, and this doesn’t feel like an everyday people mover (even though at heart that’s what it is). The Type S could still use a bit more of that edge that we found lacking in the 2024 model, and it feels like it needs merely some minor suspension and software revisions to get there. It’s too bad, then, the refreshed 2025 MDX is, mechanically speaking, identical to last year’s model.
Is This the Best Acura MDX Yet?
The 2025 Acura MDX Type S’ interior is orders of magnitude better than the previous model’s, mostly because the annoying touchpad is gone, everything is within easy reach, and the wireless phone charger is more accessible. Once again, the upholstery is attractive and comfortable, and the subtle styling changes make the already attractive SUV look even better. Acura could have gone further with this update, perhaps with more power for the standard models and a more distinctive driving experience for the Type S, but improvements are improvements, and the touchpadless 2025 MDX is better than before.
Andrew Beckford’s passion for cars started as a middle schooler when his friend Richie explained how an internal combustion engine works. He was bitten by the bug and the rest, as they say, is history. He dug deep into the tuner scene and eventually wrote for Turbo Magazine, Import Tuner, Super Street. He covered car shows, feature builds, and reviewed racing games for those magazines in addition to covering motorsports including Formula Drift, Indy Car, and F1 for his personal blog. Eventually Beckford joined MotorTrend to cover the daily automotive news beat. Besides being a gearhead, Beckford has been a gamer since the ’80s and is a huge fan of the arcade racing games of the ’90s like Daytona USA, SEGA Rally, and Ridge Racer. Beckford’s a movie buff as well, especially comic book films from DC and Marvel. When car culture crosses over with gaming and entertainment, rest assured Beckford is aware of it. In addition to serving as a consultant on a “triple A” racing titles, he’s reviewed major racing games such as Forza Motorsport, Need for Speed, Gran Turismo, F1, and more. He’s also interviewed blockbuster directors including Steven Caple Jr. (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and Neill Blomkamp (Gran Turismo). His biggest profile to date was with Robert Downey Jr. on his love affair with cars and his show Downey’s Dream Cars on MAX. Beckford’s profile of Downey Jr. was the first print cover story written by an African American in MotorTrend’s history. Along with KJ Jones, Andrew Beckford also heads up MotorTrend’s celebration of Black History Month by spotlighting diverse voices in the automotive industry and motorsports. Beckford’s first car was a 1982 Nissan Stanza affectionately named “Stanley” by his late mother.
Read More
