2024 Acura ZDX Type S Review: Balancing Act

2024 Acura ZDX Type S | Cars.com photo by Max Bednarski

By Conner Golden

May 2, 2024Conner Golden joined Cars.com in 2023 as an experienced writer and editor with almost a decade of content creation and management in the automotive and tech industries. He lives in the Los Angeles area. Email Conner Golden

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The verdict: Acura’s first production EV has quite a bit in common with the Honda Prologue — and it’s not just the shared platform. Like the balance of performance and comfort in the all-new Acura ZDX Type S, there’s a clear balance of things we like about it and things we don’t.

Versus the competition: The ZDX Type S is related to the Cadillac Lyriq and is a natural competitor to that along with the Genesis GV60, Lexus RZ and far cheaper Tesla Model Y. For the most part, the top-level ZDX cuts right down the center, offering more range and quicker DC fast charging than some, but not all.

Like most rides under Acura’s Type S sub-brand, the 2024 ZDX Type S is best approached with managed expectations. Statements from Acura like “the most powerful Acura SUV ever” and an optional high-performance wheel-and-tire package would have you believe this is a habanero-hot performance electric vehicle with the forthcoming Porsche Macan Turbo between its calipers.

Related: 2024 Acura ZDX Leads Brand’s Electric Charge2024 Acura ZDX Type S | Cars.com photo by Max Bednarski

Not so. A day spent scrubbin’ the ZDX Type S’ sticky Continental tires through the lush wilderness surrounding Santa Barbara, Calif., revealed that this is an all-electric SUV that’s positioned exactly as it should be even if it won’t snatch too many prospective buyers away from the new Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. Look to existing Type S versions of the gas-powered MDX and TLX to clear any static; these are balanced performance trims, cutting the comfort and performance difference between a base BMW and a ballistic M-division product.

So goes the ZDX Type S. Exactly 499 horsepower — not 500 — and 544 pounds-feet of torque is more than enough zap to fold on-ramps and launch loose paper and phones from the console tray into backseat orbit. For most customers, this invisible G-force on demand will be sufficient enough to impress the nephews and nieces — and get you in a heap of trouble with either the law or your lifespan. It is not for someone seeking the breath-snatching warp of a top Tesla or Porsche Taycan — which, again, is perfectly fine.

This is our first drive of the ZDX, but you’ll notice I’m only chatting about the Type S. That’s all Acura had on hand at the vehicle’s launch event, leaving us to wait for our first taste of both the single-motor rear-wheel-drive and dual-motor all-wheel-drive A-Spec versions. (Cars.com pays for its own travel and lodging when attending such manufacturer-sponsored events.) I’m looking forward to driving these models, as the Type S is a rather niche product, even if it mostly adheres to its intended purpose.

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The ZDX’s Origins

Let’s back up a second. Like the new-for-2024 Honda Prologue, the ZDX is the fruit of a now-dead $5 billion technical partnership between GM and Honda that offered the Japanese automaker a temporary EV bridge as it readies its ground-up, in-house electric efforts that are aimed for primetime in a few years. Whereas the Honda is built on the bones of the Chevrolet Blazer EV, the Acura is born of the Blazer’s more expensive platform mate, the Cadillac Lyriq.

Makes total sense, right? The everyman Chevy becomes the everyman Honda, while the high-falutin’ Caddy morphs into one of the most expensive Acuras in production, competing with the MDX Type S for maximum bank-balance destruction. However, the resulting projects feel like the sum of neither brand, with the Honda offering little of the brand’s signature charm and the ZDX Type S not quite presenting as ritzy as its $75,000 price tag would suggest.

It’s an incongruous comparison, but you need to look to the gas-only MDX Type S to see the discrepancy. That’s a very well-equipped three-row crossover with some genuinely luxe touches, like massaging front seats and extended leather upholstery, along with identifiable brand language and positioning. Meanwhile, the two-row ZDX Type S feels like a step down from the bigger MDX in both equipment and presentation even if the actual differences of the former are nearly inconsequential.