The 2025 Acura ADX subcompact crossover was dropped off at the Hagerty Media offices just a couple of days after the $1 million sale of a 2003 Acura NSX-R at a fancy auction in Italy. We spend a lot of time thinking about automotive heritage and provenance here at Hagerty, no surprise, and the occasion of the first seven-figure sale of a product from Honda’s luxury brand had me reflecting on the Acura brand.
I’m old enough to distinctly recall my first ride in an Acura Legend, as an undergrad in the late 1980s, when Acura was enjoying its brief strut upon the automotive stage as the sole upstart Asian luxury make, just before the onslaught from Toyota’s Lexus and Nissan’s Infiniti. Lexus quickly surpassed Acura (and just about everyone else) in overall sales, and Acura has never quite recovered its marketplace mojo; through the first quarter of this year, Americans bought more than two Lexuses for every Acura. That said, in recent years, with new leadership and vigor (but not a new Vigor), Acura is more relevant than it has been for decades. Its hits include the incredible Integra Type S sedan and, with the addition of the ADX, a full roster of SUVs.
Acura positions the ADX alongside the Integra as its gateway to the brand, so when I climbed behind the wheel of our A-Spec Advance tester, I imagined it to be an Integra A-Spec that’d morphed into a crossover body. Those hopes were dashed when I pulled out of the Hagerty offices, mashed the accelerator pedal, and was treated to the moo-ing and moaning of the standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). Oh dear. That didn’t sound very premium. I shouldn’t have been surprised since the Integra is built on the superb Civic platform whereas the ADX’s bones are shared with the respectable but hardly class-leading Honda HR-V subcompact crossover.
At least Acura was able to steal the Integra’s 190-hp 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder to replace the HR-V’s sluggish 158-hp 2.0-liter. Once you learn to ignore the surging of the CVT, which sadly is exacerbated if you toggle the center console switch to the Sport setting, you realize that the power delivery is quite good, with a discernible sharpness in the throttle response in sport mode (yes, sport mode giveth, and sport mode taketh away). The powertrain accelerates the vehicle strongly between 60 and 80 mph, and the ADX was fun to chuck into the cut-and-thrust of a fast-moving freeway. Which I learned as I headed southbound on I-75 out of Toledo, headed for Lexington, Kentucky.
• Price: $44,000/$45,950 (base/as-tested)
• Powertrain: Turbocharged 1.5-liter, DOHC inline four-cylinder, CVT
• Output: 190 hp @ 6000 rpm, 179 lb-ft at 1700 rpm
• Layout: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive, four-door crossover
• EPA-rated fuel economy (city/highway/combined): 25/30/27
• Competitors: Volvo XC40, BMW X1, Audi Q3, Lexus UX
• Curb weight: 3611 pounds
I also learned that the lane-keeping system, part of a comprehensive suite of standard safety equipment, is mildly intrusive. You turn it on and off with your right thumb via a switch on the steering wheel, and it’s easy to know when it’s on, because two vertical green lines appear on the driver-display screen. You’ll also know because you feel like a massive rubber band is corralling your steering efforts. But I used it anyway, because it’s just too useful on a long freeway drive.
At Lexington, I pointed the ADX southwest toward Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill, a historic site that would serve as home base for a bicycling tour I was joining. After clearing the suburban sprawl, the Acura and I found ourselves on Highway 68, an entertaining two-lane that traversed horse country on its way to the Kentucky River. Here, the ADX earned its Acura badge, acquitting itself beautifully with tight handling, accurate steering, and an overall entertaining drive. The thing does shrink around you when you’re driving it hard.
When you eventually stop, open the driver’s door, and walk away, the ADX seems to visually expand. You turn around and look at it again, in profile, and contemplate the huge front overhang, the lower bumper surround, and fog light fascia jutting forward like a chin that needs the attention of a plastic surgeon. The rear mirrors this with another big chunk of molded plastic containing the dual exhaust. (Both fascias, it should be noted, are optional, part of the A-Spec package.) You walk around the front of the vehicle and take in the “diamond pentagon grille with aggressive grille mesh,” to quote Acura’s press release. You’re confused because the HR-V, despite its middling powertrain, has tidy, classy exterior styling. When an automaker starts with a decent commodity vehicle and gilds it into a luxury model, the styling is supposed to be more elegant and timeless. Acura has chosen flash over substance.
Our tester’s “Urban Gray” paint, a $600 option, was modern and sharp, but from a distance the black wheel well surrounds can trick the eye into thinking there’s a huge amount of airspace above the tires. Which is why the best ADX color, boring as it is, would be the no-extra-cost Crystal Black. In Acura’s defense, many crossovers look best in black, as the color minimizes the visual clutter of the spoilers, air dams, fascias, and other specious body adornments. The rear-three-quarter view is the ADX’s best angle, the severely sloped tailgate creating the impression of a sporty fastback.
From the driver’s seat, the view over the hood is distinctly not in keeping with the Honda design ethos of “man maximum, machine minimum.” The sheetmetal stretches seemingly for yards, and you cannot visually place the front corners. This is a vehicle that you sit down into; you’re surrounded by it. Consumer research probably says people like the feeling of sheetmetal security, but it’s strange for those of us who drove Hondas from the golden age of low cowls, shallow dashes, and easy sightlines.
Acura has done a fine job of dressing up the interior for luxury-car duty, particularly in A-Spec trim, which brings full leather seats with snappy suede inserts, blue and black in our tester. The front seats are absolutely magnificent. Various injuries from years of running have left my hamstrings susceptible to long-haul driving pain, such that I travel with an orthopedic seat cushion, but I never had to reach for it over hundreds of miles. Our tester’s ventilated front seats worked in concert with the automatic temperature control; set the cabin to a cooler temp and the seat automatically blows cool air at your back. It’s easy to turn that off if you’re not in the mood.
The cabin, in general, is well packaged, with plenty of room to throw in a bike with the rear seats folded (two bikes would easily fit upright with their front wheels removed). The center stack is topped by a 9-inch display screen with Google and Alexa built-in, and there’s the usual array of Honda-style cubbies and cupholders. A stylish strip of mesh-style trim serves as a frontage for the HVAC vents. Our tester’s optional 15-speaker Bang & Olufsen stereo was superb—Acura has always paid outsized attention to its audio systems. The steering wheel suffers, aesthetically, from the airbag protrusion, but the rim is just the right thickness. Metal shift paddles are there for those who wish to suffer even more CVT noise.
Many of my issues with the ADX dissipated over 900 miles. It isn’t as exciting as a mid-engine sports car, as memorable as that first Legend, or as well-rounded as the contemporary Integra, but it is a comfortable and efficient (I achieved 29 mpg with a heavy right foot) offering in a competitive, lucrative segment. Just over $36,000 gets you into a base ADX—a temptingly low price point for a premium brand. Our test car, loaded to $45,950, swims in more crowded waters. Acura’s own RDX, the next model up, starts around that price and brings 272 hp and a proper 10-speed automatic transmission.
Highs: Beautiful and well-packaged cabin, energetic turbo engine, great front seats.
Lows: CVT groan, ungainly front overhang proportions.
Takeaway: Not as special as its Integra sibling or premium competitors, the ADX is a decent value with few faults.
$45k, a CVT and a 1.5 liter turbo 4. No thanks on this tarted up Honda.
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