Acura MDX offers space and cargo flexibility superior to the class.Airy, perforated leather adorns the seats, side panels, steering wheel and shift knob. There is nothing swoopy or eye-popping about the instrument panel, just easily read instruments with an unobstructed view. Simple, large knobs are easy to operate whether that hand is wearing mittens or has long fingernails. The overall sense is the serenity of simplicity.
The air bag fits flat into the passenger-side dash. Sun visors have extensions for those sharp shafts of sun angling low at dawn and dusk. And then there's the added touch of elegance makes you say to yourself, "If they thought of this they must have thought of everything": That's the roof-mounted grab handles that don't go CLUNK against the ceiling when released; they whisper their dampened way back into place.
New for 2003 are automatic headlights and an auto-up feature for the driver's window.
Third-row seats are easier to get into than those, say, of the Volvo Cross Country wagon. Every seat in the house has a shoulder harness as well as a lap belt. (Many SUVs do not come with a shoulder belt in the rear center position.) And there are anchors for child seats seemingly everywhere. Lots of cup holders, too.