2025 Acura MDX Type S First Test: Acting the Part

It wasn’t that long ago that we tested the 2024 Acura MDX Type S and concluded it was still learning how to act like a Type S. Models with Acura’s red S are supposed to be its most athletic, but it proved slower than a non-Type S 2022 A-Spec we evaluated years earlier. It also didn’t meet our expectations from a handling perspective, and worse yet, it came equipped with Acura’s much-derided touchpad-based infotainment interface.

Thankfully, much of what we didn’t love about the previous model has been addressed through a refresh of the MDX for the 2025 model year. Every MDX now gets Acura’s new standard 12.3-inch touchscreen with a Google operating system. The wide, high-resolution screen worked brilliantly overall, with one of the easiest setups we’ve come across (carmakers are getting good at this). A new A-Spec with Advance package is available for the MDX lineup, while the 2025 MDX Type S also makes its debut with the AcuraWatch 360 system that comes with several safety features exclusive to the model.

The MDX’s bones are carryover, however. That includes the model-exclusive 355-hp 3.0-liter turbo V-6, its adaptive dampers, and a set of Brembo brakes. Given that, did the Type S version of the brand’s bestseller do better through our test regimen post-refresh?

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Is the 2025 MDX Type S Any Quicker?

Despite its unchanged underpinnings, the 2025 MDX Type S managed to eke out more straight-line quickness during our testing. We recorded a 5.9 second run to 60 mph, which is 0.3 second quicker than the 2024 Type S. The newer Acura is also some 47 pounds lighter than the older one but only a few pounds heavier than the 2024 Lexus TX350 AWD, one of the MDX’s main rivals. The TX350 ran a decidedly slower time of 8.0 seconds, but it also uses a smaller, less powerful turbo-four engine.

Compared to our last experience, the overall vibes of the new Type S have improved noticeably. It has a launch-control-type feature that’s accessible when the vehicle is in Sport+ mode, a quicker way to fast than simply matting the go pedal. Overall grunt remains more than adequate, and shifts from the luxury ute’s 10-speed automatic are snappy, but only when the Acura is in one of its more athletic drive modes. Power delivery is still even-keeled in the other modes but less immediate. The engine sounds great at wide-open throttle either way.

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Split Personality

The more aggressive side of this split-personality SUV handles better than before, too. In our lateral acceleration assessment, its 0.87-g average exceeds the 2024’s 0.84 g and the TX’s 0.80 g. The story is more dramatic with our racetrack-in-a-bottle figure-eight evaluation. The 2025 model’s average of 25.7 seconds at 0.72 g was a much better performance than the pre-refresh model’s 27.0 seconds at 0.66 g average and the TX’s 27.6 seconds at 0.62 g.

The test team reported turn-in to be exceptionally sharp out at the track, we suspect due to the MDX’s sophisticated torque-vectoring AWD system. The transmission did a fine job of staying in gear during lateral acceleration testing, enough that we could induce a little oversteer with careful application of the accelerator at the vehicle’s limits. The weak link was the MDX’s tires, which started to lose effectiveness after a few laps of hard driving. A grippier summer tire could potentially liven things up even more.

While putting the MDX Type S in one of its more athletic settings is transformative from a limit-handling perspective, we sense most owners usually won’t click out of Normal or Comfort. Although those folks should still be pleased with the drive, the SUV’s reflexes dull considerably, with a more compliant ride and a lazier powertrain response and steering feel.

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Brake Stuff

When it comes to slowing the MDX Type S down, the test team managed to chop another foot from the 60–0-mph stopping distance over the 2024 model we tested. It’s also 2 feet shorter than the TX’s 124 feet. Closing rates were repeatable and body motions largely well controlled, though the Acura predictably feels like a big vehicle.

Pedal travel is short and a little tricky at first, but you get used to it. Type S variants come with a model-specific brake-by-wire system and four-piston Brembo front calipers (that look cool in racy red). As with the other handling tests, our evaluators noted a grippier tire might have made for better performance.

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What Else Is Good?

We’re still not sure this interior passes for luxury, but it has plenty that’s premium and interesting. We fell in love with the combination quilted and perforated Milano leather upholstery in Azurite blue and black wood trim on the doors (both also part of Type S fare), but as if to prove our point, the quilted material doesn’t extend to the third row. The A-pillars sport futuristic-looking tweeters, and the icons above the HVAC toggles in the cabin pulse with light when you turn the temperature up or down. Switches and stalks feel solid.

Acura lines all but the MDX base model with sound deadening, making for a solid, quiet ride. Second-row passengers get their own HVAC controls and display, USB and 12-volt outlets, sunshades, and manually adjustable seats that recline quite far (enough to comfortably nap). There’s big space under the cargo hold floor, and it comes with a reversible lid (plastic on one side, felt on the other).

No longer are there two top models in the lineup. Last year, we had an MDX Type S and a version above it with the Advance package. This year, the S is the top dog (it’s now called the Type S Advance) and comes accordingly equipped. This includes Acura’s most powerful stereo yet, a 31-speaker Bang & Olufsen setup that packs a wallop. Massaging and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel and second row, head-up display, power-folding side mirrors, 360-degree camera, hands-free liftgate, rain-sensing wipers, and the suspension we mentioned previously are also included.

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The Less Good

As a Type S performance model, the MDX comes with a smaller but thirstier V-6 than other trims, and that doesn’t change with the refresh. The TX with its smaller engine returns better mileage (20/26 mpg city/highway) and range (409 miles).

The third row remains a cramped place, even for average joes. The second row also has a tiny middle seat that works better as a flip-down armrest and cupholder. This center seat can come out, but it’s heavy and awkward and almost not worth the effort. Also heavy are the third-row seats, which aren’t powered and require accessing a flimsy plastic grab handle from the cargo area to unfold them.

The as-tested price of the model we had in for evaluation rang in at $77,200. That includes standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a wireless phone charger, heated power front seats, a power adjustable steering column, and power-folding side mirrors, features that are standard on most 2025 MDX grades. The only extra Acura gave us was the $600 Urban Gray exterior paint.

Although the TX we used here for comparison is significantly less expensive ($62,550), it’s also not nearly as capable as the MDX Type S. A competitor like the 2025 BMW X5 xDrive40i might be a better match, but it is also under $70,000 (albeit only just).

The Bottom Line

Acura did a good job refreshing the 2025 MDX Type S, adding some flair to its top spec family hauler to keep it exciting, and thanks to its updated infotainment system, it's better from an ease-of-use perspective, as well. But despite its upside, from our perspective, it could use a smidge more opulence considering how much Acura is asking for its top-tier Type S SUV.