I know what you're thinking. "Acura ZDX? Didn't you just do a walkaround on the Honda Accord Crosstour, Honda's other sloped-back hatchback crossover thingamabob? Aren't they badge-engineered twins?"
I know this because I assumed it myself when I first saw the ZDX some months back. I know this because a Honda employee I know asked approximately the same question just two days ago. OK, he works for the motorcycle division, but still...
It's an easy mistake to make. I mean, who would go to the expense of engineering two totally different but similar-looking versions of a car for a segment that doesn't yet exist? No one really knows if people will buy five-door hatchback crossovers with all-wheel drive because the jury isn't merely out, it hasn't even been empanelled yet.
Nevertheless, Honda came out with two cars with this odd form-factor at about the same time, and it turns out they couldn't be more different under the skin.
Let's have a look, already.
Right off the bat, we're seeing a huge difference. The Accord Crosstour uses double-wishbone front suspension, but the ZDX's front end is suspended by MacPherson struts.
In addition to the strut, there's an aluminum lower control arm and a 2-piston sliding brake caliper. The stabilizer bar and its long, slender link (yellow) attach to the strut body in a direct-acting fashion.
Just like every other strut that came before it, the upper end of the ZDX's coil-over strut bolts to reinforced "shock towers" in the unibody via a Lazy-Susan top mount above the spring so the whole assembly can rotate as the wheels are turned.
Here's a close-up of the L-shaped aluminum control arm. The main component of most road impacts is vertical, and these loads generally go straight up into the spring and damper without much effect on the arm. But the fore-aft load component, which can be significant, goes straight into these bushings.
The forward bush and its heavily-reinforced mounting pocket are designed to tackle the fore-aft component, head on. But since the source of the load is far outboard at the ball joint, this bush also acts as a pivot around which the arm tries to twist back. Enter the rear bush, which is optimized to absorb the resulting in-out loads.
Because the ZDX has a transverse-mounted engine, the steering rack (green) does its work from behind the front axle centerline. It would take fewer words to say "rear-steer" but some of you might start thinking about forklifts. We can't have that.
Meanwhile, the front stabilizer bar (yellow) sneaks behind the lower control arm on its way to its connecting link.
Obvious high-pressure hydraulic lines (yellow) are a hallmark of hydraulically-assisted rack-and-pinion steering. But this low-pressure line (green) is far less universal. So, where does it go?
It goes to a power-steering cooler. There isn't a whole lot of heat to get rid of, so a single-pass heat exchanger (yellow) is enough to do the trick.
Here's another look at the 2-piston sliding brake caliper and the ventilated one-piece brake rotor it squeezes.
Moving to the rear, we once again see that the Acura ZDX shares nothing whatsoever with its similar-looking crossover-hatchback cousin, the Honda Accord Crosstour. If you remember, the Crosstour used a Honda Accord multilink setup featuring three lower links, an upper wishbone and a coil-over shock.
We don't see any of that here. The ZDX instead borrows from the Honda Pilot SUV, and as such its multilink setup uses a trailing arm (yellow), a pair of lower links (white and orange), and a single upper camber link (green). There's no coil-over spring in sight.
Instead of a coil-over, the ZDX's spring operates below the body, where it's cradled about halfway along the swollen lower link at something like a 0.5:1 motion ratio. The shock and stabilizer bar attach at points further out. In our Crosstour, all of these attached directly to the outboard knuckle for a 1:1 ratio, a move that allowed them to be lighter. Not so here.
The plus side of this arrangement is less intrusion into the cargo area. But the ZDX's Pilot roots show up in the ride quality -- the suspension doesn't "breathe" nearly as much as the Crosstour. This could be a result of an intentional tuning strategy designed to give the ZDX a sportier feel. Whatever the reason, the Acura has a more stiff-legged ride than the Crosstour.
Here's another view of the ZDX's rear spring and the urethane bump-stop contained within its coils.
Let's see those links and arms again. There's the main trailing arm (yellow) that locates the wheel in the fore-aft direction. Down below we have two lateral links, a larger and longer main one (orange) and a shorter toe-link (white). Up top, the camber link (green) defines the camber axis at the top end.
The trailing arm is bolted rigidly to the knuckle, though the nuts themselves are hidden on the back side.
The ZDX has single-piston sliding calipers, solid-disc rear rotors and a drum-in-hat parking brake.
Compared to the Crosstour and its 225/60R18 rubber, the Acura ZDX rides on significantly larger P255/50R19 Michelin Latitude Tour all-season tires. They weigh 62.5 pounds when mounted, some 8 pounds apiece heavier than the Crosstour's shoes.
This transfer-case-that-looks-like-a-PTO is the first ZDX component that looks remotely similar to the corresponding Crosstour piece.
Once we get to the business end at the back, however, the similarities end.
Instead of the Crosstour's single hydraulically-engaged clutch on the input end that turns rear-wheel drive on and off based on front/rear axle speed differential, the Acura ZDX has permanent all-wheel drive regulated by two computer-controlled electromagnetic wet clutches, one each on the left and right sides of the differential.
That PTO we saw before overdrives the rear axle so it spins 1.7-percent faster than the front, and that means there's always a little bit of slip in these clutches. But this offset also allows the clutches, when fully engaged in unison, to deliver significantly more than 50-percent of the overall drive torque to the rear wheels. Fine control of the left-right clutch offset is used to create a limited-slip effect through the otherwise open differential, but the system also can create large left-right offsets to send as much as 100% of the rear-wheel torque to the outside wheel during aggressive cornering, something we call torque-vectoring but Acura calls Super-Handling All-wheel Drive.
Actually, they call the whole thing SH-AWD, but the torque vectoring trick is the "Super-Handling" part.
So, there you have it. Even though it looks like a badge-engineered brother to the Crosstour, the 2010 Acura ZDX is another animal entirely.
But did the market really need two of these (three, if you include the BMW X6)? Honda saw fit to develop two entirely different cars around the concept, so we can only assume they recorded some slam-dunk focus group results in product development clinics before they green-lighted these projects.
What do you think? Will the AWD crossover hatchback concept be the next big thing or a short-lived dead end?
billt9 says:
06:04 PM, 05/27/10
Like the Murano and the FX came out at the same time.
And they're not even driven by the same wheels!
subytrojan says:
06:42 PM, 05/27/10
Another great walkaround, Dan! Would you mind taking the time to breakdown how much time it takes you to do one of these (hopefully, f1mom doesn't say too much time)? Thanks!
carfreak8394 says:
07:19 PM, 05/27/10
LOVE that paint color.
estreka says:
07:26 PM, 05/27/10
Not to change the subject, but whose Miata is that in the background?
cruiserhead1 says:
08:31 PM, 05/27/10
Dan,
Car to speculate why they went with struts on the ZDX and double w-b on the CT? I would have thought the opposite would be more appropriate.
actualsize says:
09:48 PM, 05/27/10
@cruiserhead1: It's because the ZDX is based on the MDX and Honda Pilot platform (yes, even the Odyssey looks similar underneath), so it shares the same strut front and trailing arm multilink rear found in those. The Crosstour is simply a version of Accord, so it borrows the double wishbone front and upper-arm multilink rear from that car.
actualsize says:
10:10 PM, 05/27/10
@estreka: That's my '91 1.6-liter car, one of two Miatas I own. It's engineless at the moment, buy I'd like to eventually match it up against Jay's LT car. But it's not an official project car, so I have to pay for everything out of my own pocket. :( The idea is >200 horsepower and <2,000 lbs. The other one, a white '90 some have seen in the background of other pictures, is a recently-restored race car. That one has a much longer story.
estreka says:
04:04 AM, 05/28/10
My best friend has 2 Miatas, but one is purely a donor car. Sounds like a fun somedayinthenottoodistantfuturebutnotaprojectnow car. You couldn't have chosen a better platform.
ed124c says:
07:39 AM, 05/28/10
I guess the complexity of the ZDX accounts for a lot of the price differential from the CT.
I like the CT, but there are so many more practical crossovers at this price point (30-35K).
The Venza is one. I think it is quite good looking and comes standard with a lot of stuff-- like climated control air and power seat. And it doesn't require 3000 dollar packages to get some good options like the fancy sunroof.
Yes, you can get a Flex at this price point, but I just don't like it that much. It doesn't quite fit me-- I am only 5ft 7. And I am ambivalent about the styling. It does have great rear visibility, thanks to its upright boxiness.
So, does it come down to a new Outback (my current car is an '05 OB and my previous car an '02 OB. The first one was faulty, but the '05 is one of the best cars I have ever owned-- and I have owned a lot of cars since 1960.
Wow, I guess I am rambling on here. Maybe I shouldn't even post this.... oh, well, read it if you care, all I have to do is push "Post Comment"
audisport says:
09:01 AM, 05/28/10
I really like the paint color, but other than that, IMO this, like all acura's these days are waaaay overstyled.
half_ton says:
10:06 AM, 05/28/10
Not trolling here but I don't think it's possible to have picked a FUGLIER vehicle to do another EXCELLENT suspension walkaround on.
santiagofdz says:
10:54 AM, 05/28/10
Good of you to take the time to do this walkaround, I would have also sworn they were badge engineered twins and called it a day.
Am I high, or does the rear suspension of the Accura have more in common with a "control blade" Euro-Ford than with it's corporate brother?
actualsize says:
11:41 AM, 05/28/10
I'm pretty sure Ford did not invent that concept, as I've seen it on three or four other brands of cars as I've done these walkarounds. Ford does seem to be the one that first used a very thin Control Blade type of trailing arm, one that's tall yet thin and laterally flexible. This one is ribbed and laterally rigid, so it's not a CB and there's going to be a little more binding/friction in some of the surrounding bushings.
kevinlch says:
12:01 PM, 05/28/10
Thanks Dan for this great walkaround again.
Just disappointing to see Honda spend so much effort on these 2 meaningless junk , while killing off S2000, Civic Type-R in Japan, and NSX (HSV).
6sptl says:
12:06 PM, 05/28/10
Not to point out the obvious. But you could have saved some time and simply said they are completely different setups because one is an MDX with all the utility removed and the other is an Accord with a grafted hatch. The whole article could have been summarized right there.
Both are probaly dumbest ideas that Honda has ever had. A modern honda version of the Chevy Citation hatchback and a copy of the similarly stupid BMW x6. What the heck were they thinking??????
aznraptor says:
01:03 PM, 05/28/10
yay for another great walkaround
aaykay says:
01:15 PM, 05/28/10
Truly appreciate the walkaround and wonder if you can do the same between the Subaru WRX and the Subaru WRX STI. On the surface, these 2 vehicles look close enough but according to many, other than the exterior looks and the similarity in name, the differences are far more than what appears on the surface.
As far as the ZDX vs Crosstour is concerned, I am just ashamed that Honda, which is a company that I admire and respect, is going down this sorry path of such useless designs. They messed up the TL's design, which was very slick in the prior generation and how could a sensible manufacturer do that to their bread-and-butter model ?
They just killed off vehicles like the Honda S2000 and killed off the fledgeling NSX program and then felt it was time to introduce utter garbage like the ZDX and Crosstour ? Pity the people who allowed these lousy designs to see the light of day. Also understand that these weird creations are coming out of the California design location of Honda and not from their more traditional Japanese design center. I just wish Japan puts their foot down, when the US arm try to introduce more of such monstrosities (ZDX, CrossTour) and design faux paus (Acura TL).
bodyblue says:
04:49 PM, 05/28/10
"A modern honda version of the Chevy Citation hatchback and a copy of the similarly stupid BMW x6. What the heck were they thinking??????"
Probably thinking of making money and selling cars. The Citation was a horrible piece of garbage but it sold like crazy and it was very practical....lots of room....small size decent performance and good MPGs. Until warranty costs killed GM it made them a ton of money. The Crosstour seems to be selling better than most thought also. Nobody wants diesel station wagons with man trannys.....they want CUVs with automatics and that is what Honda is trying to give them.
cz_75 says:
05:38 PM, 05/28/10
If the sales figures for the Cross Turd and this POS are any indication, expect the crossover hatchback to be short-lived. That the design for the ZDX and CT came out of Kalifornia doesn't surprise me - the designers probably fried their brains on too many drugs.
6sptl says:
08:51 PM, 05/28/10
Probably thinking of making money and selling cars. The Citation was a horrible piece of garbage but it sold like crazy and it was very practical....lots of room....small size decent performance and good MPGs. Until warranty costs killed GM it made them a ton of money. The Crosstour seems to be selling better than most thought also. Nobody wants diesel station wagons with man trannys.....they want CUVs with automatics and that is what Honda is trying to give them.
If that was what they were thinking about they have the most incompetent market research division in the industry. The reason 4 door hatchbacks disappered from the market was that people didn't want them. BTW I inherited a 4 door citation, bar none the worst car ever made besides the yugo, total undiluted s--t. WHat they wanted to do was offer a station wagon to compete with the venza, they failed miserably. Crosstour sales have been dismal. THe ZDX was designed by a moron" look at me I'm driving a car that can fit only two weighs as much as an SUV and cannot fit a box 36 inches high, all that and its not even a sports car"! WHat the hell is it? Not sport, not utility, sucks gas fits, 2 and it costs 56K!!! HOw many stupid people will even consider such a contraption? ZDX sales plus x6 sales to date are less than a civic sales in one week, forgive for thinking that the whole idea is stupid beyond the pale. HOnda made a video about how failure is part of Honda's quest for innovation, however it seems that failure has become a principle in their design mantra. Have something nice (like the TL), well lets f#*& it up! SAD SAD
aaykay says:
04:55 AM, 05/29/10
@6sptl....I agree about the TL. The previous generation was such a slick design and then they had to create this utter freak when creating the current generation. Luckily the TSX (whose fundamental design was done in Japan for the European market Honda Accord) was not allowed to be touched by the TL designers. Unfortunately, the TL is the bread-and-butter model of Acura.
Acura should fire some of these stupid designers and/or their managers who allowed these freaky designs to get through them. Cars like the ZDX and Crosstour should never have seen the light of day, as a production model. The current TL is absolutely slick as far as the interior design is concerned and also from the perspective of driving dynamics and overall execution and I personally REALLY wanted to buy it but simply could not get beyond the horrible exterior design.
Acura should take a page out of the Audi book, where their success is the result of absolutely fantastic executions of what one would consider as an otherwise "traditional" design. Their sport-wagons and sedans are just fantastic designs - both exterior and interior. I just wish Audi was able to make the product as reliable as an Acura .
hondacura4 says:
06:55 AM, 05/29/10
Accord, CrossTour, TL, TSX and RL all use the same base platform although modified specifically for each application. Quite a few difference in all applications of this platform not just badge engineering.
Pilot, Odyssey, Ridgeline, MDX, ZDX ARE NOT BASED on the Accord as they use a platform designed speifically for "light duty trucks" in Honda speak. This platform is modified also to a higher degree based on appication than the Accord platform and its stablemates.
"Badge engineering" is when the EXACT same vehicle, engine/drivetrain, some body panels are shared between 2+ brands. For example the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ. That is badge engineering.
dpc9000 says:
11:28 PM, 05/30/10
"aaykay" hit the nail on the head for me. I couldn't have said it better.
I WAS a Honda guy, owning a '93 Legend LS coupe with a 6-speed, an older Accord, a few Civics and a '00 S2000. The Legend coupe and the S2000 were dream cars to me. The NSX was even more so. Currently, I have no desire for any current Honda product, except maybe the Accord (never a Crosstour). Even then, why should I. The American car makers have given me reason to look at their vehicles. I once swore off American junk - not anymore. American and German cars have style, character and have come a long way in almost every catagory. For the 1st time, I do not see myself purchasing a Japanese product, unless it was a Lexus LS, but I can't afford that.
6sptl says:
09:14 AM, 06/ 1/10
Another+1 to aakay. Couldn't have said it better myself. Thankfully I'm not in the market for any cars my 06 RL, 07 s2000 and 08 MDX should serve me well for the foreseeable future, hopefully Honda will be out of their design slump by the time I need a new car.
I love audi design too but I wouldn't touch one with a 10 foot pole because of german reliability.