First Drive Review: 2025 Acura ADX

For the second consecutive year, Acura is adding an all-new SUV to its lineup. Last year, it was the ZDX EV, and now the range of Acura utilities will grow to four with the addition of the compact ADX. Slotting into the lineup below the RDX, the ADX will serve as an entry point into the Acura family.

Built on a platform that underpins the Acura Integra sedan, along with the Honda Civic and Honda HR-V, the ADX feels familiar, despite its all-new status.

Autoguide recently traveled to San Diego to sample the ADX, and here’s what we learned.

What’s New For 2025

Everything, as the ADX is a first-ever model. It does, however, share a platform and a powertrain with the Integra sedan.

Exterior Style

From the outside, the ADX checks the primary Acura design boxes, including Diamond Pentagon mesh grille, chicane-styled LED daytime running lights, and a long hood. These elements work together to give the ADX a wide, sporty stance. An available aero package comes with an active grille shutter, front lip spoiler, and underfloor cover for extra sportiness. LED foglamps are also available on A-Spec trims.

At the rear, there’s a sculpted hatch with a prominent fascia and diffuser, with dual exhaust finishers cut into the latter. LED taillights, which also feature chicane styling like other Acura products, ties rear styling together.

The ADX rides on 18 or 19-inch alloy wheels depending on grade. Berlina Black wheels, along with additional black trim, is available with the A-Spec with Advance package in the U.S. The ADX is available in six colors, including Milano Red and Adriatic Sea Blue, which are new.

Powertrain and Fuel Economy

Powering all ADX models is a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that’s shared with the Integra. In the ADX it produces 190 horsepower and 179 foot-pounds of torque and is paired with a continuously variable transmission. For comparison, the 1.5 produces 200 horsepower and 192 foot-pounds of torque in the Integra.

Despite being slightly down on power compared to the Integra, the 1.5 turbo hustles the ADX along reasonably quickly, and we made good use of the paddle shifters during some canyon runs on the drive route east of Encinitas to wring a few more revs out of it before simulated upshifts from the CVT.

It all works perfectly fine, but at no point did the performance feel especially neck-snapping. The engine gets quite buzzy when pushed, but the matting of the throttle doesn’t make the ADX feel much faster. To get more oomph, we’ll need a Type S variant. Please Acura, don’t hesitate.

Around town, the ADX feels quite zippy, and given where most buyers are likely to spend their time – when they’re not cruising on the highway – the power on tap from the 1.5 turbo is more than enough. We just wish there to satisfy our performance jonesing.

Fuel economy figures for the U.S. are 26 city / 31 highway for front-wheel drive ADX models and 25 / 30 for all-wheel drive grades. For Canada, the ADX is rated at 9.1 L /100 km in the city and 7.7 on the highway.

Ride Quality and Comfort

The ADX is designed to deliver a smooth ride with sporty handling, and during the drive that proved to be the case. It’s built on an architecture that uses a lot of aluminum and advanced adhesives for a lightweight and rigid structure.

The suspension, MacPherson struts up front and independent multi-link set-up at the rear, works in concert with an all-wheel drive system that can send up to 50 percent of torque to the rear wheels. The ADX also uses variable-ratio electronic power steering, which is designed for a more precise feel.

All these aspects, including large brakes (12.3-inch vented front discs up front, and 12.2-inch solid discs at the rear) combine to give the ADX handling that feels quick and precise. During the drive, which covered twisty canyon climbs and interstate cruising, our ADX tester was smooth riding, but with good road feel and responsive steering.

Interior Style and Quality

As with many Acuras of recent vintage, the ADX sports an attractive, and premium cabin. Three highlights of the design are a low cowl, thin pillars and door-mounted mirrors. These elements give the cabin a spacious feel and help with outward visibility in all directions.

Materials used for seats, door panels, knobs and switches and other high touchpoints look and feel great. The proliferation of mechanical switches, in an era when more controls are being dumped into touchscreens, is welcome. Everything falls to hand easily and works with precision, and we appreciate the satisfying click of buttons and knobs as they are being adjusted.

Acura has made a point of hushing the cabin, so the ADX is the beneficiary of sound deadening materials, including acoustic spray foam insulation, sound-insulating front and rear fender liners, sound-insulating front floor under cover, and sound insulating carpet.

Standard features of note include heated front seats, eight-way power driver’s seat, moonroof, dual-zone climate controls and rear A/C vents.

Three color schemes are available for the ADX in the U.S. – orchid/blue, red/black, and black. For Canada, just as it is with the ZDX, orchid / blue is not available.

Lastly, the ADX interior is one of the most spacious in its class with 37.7 inches (958 mm) of rear seat legroom, and 55.1 cubic feet (1,560 liters) of cargo volume with the rear seatbacks folded down.

Tech and Safety

The ADX has a tech-focused interior, and there is a lot here, and much of it is standard. Standard features include a 10.2-inch digital instrument display, nine-inch infotainment touchscreen, wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto, wireless phone charger, four USB-C ports (two front, two rear), and more.

Our top line A-Spec with Advance Package also has a multi-view camera, power folding mirrors, heated steering wheel, and a 15-speaker Bang & OIufsen premium sound system. The latter is a new partnership for 2025, and the audio experience it delivers in the ADX is simply magnificent. The ‘25 MDX is also available with Bang & Olufsen audio.

As for safety, the ADX comes standard with the Acurawatch suite of advanced safety tech, including blind spot information system, collision mitigation braking system, forward collision warning, and more.

Value Dollars and Sense

American pricing for the 2025 ADX starts at $35,000 for the base front-wheel drive model, $38,000 for the mid-grade A-Spec, and $42,000 for the range-topping A-Spec with Advance Package. All-wheel drive is available on all models for an additional $2,000.

Three ADX grades are also available in Canada, with the base ADX starting at $44,980, A-Spec at $46,980, and the top-level Platinum Elite A-Spec checking in at $51,480. All Canadian ADX models come with standard all-wheel drive.

Final Thoughts: 2025 Acura ADX

The Acura ADX delivers what most buyers in the compact premium SUV segment are searching for: sharp styling and sporty driving character, with lots of advanced tech at a reasonable price. For this reason, we think it will be a good sales performer for the brand, as it fills a glaring need in the Acura SUV lineup.

On the downside, there are no electrified ADX models (yet), and the CVT, while adequate, robs the ADX of some of its performance potential. Generally, it performs fine but shouldn’t give the Germans fits. But Acura needed an entry in the segment, and now they have a strong contender with the ADX.

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