2024 Acura ZDX Type S review: Driving the least special Type S ever

Honda's luxury brand has sometimes seemed more like a marketing exercise than a genuinely distinct line of vehicles, but the Type S family has a track record all its own. Ever since the 2021 Acura CL Type S debuted with 16 percent more horsepower than the regular CL (260 hp vs. 225), that badge has meant one thing above all to Acura fans:

More muscle.

Of course, it also means sportier suspension tuning, cooler wheels with grippier tires, all that good stuff. But if you peruse Acura's own history of Type S models, starting with that '01 CL, you can't help but notice that every single one of 'em got a sizable upgrade in the engine room, including the current Integra Type S (+120 hp), MDX Type S (+65 hp) and TLX Type S (+83 hp).

What, then, are we to make of the 2024 Acura ZDX Type S, which is rated at a measly nine more horsepower than the regular ZDX AWD?

The optics aren't great at a glance, but let's give Acura the benefit of the doubt and take the ZDX Type S for a drive.

What exactly is the ZDX?

Fair question; not everyone will know the answer. It's a two-row midsize luxury electric SUV, first of all, and you can go see where we rank it in that segment. But fundamentally, it's a reskinned Cadillac Lyriq, albeit with a much more mundane interior. The two models share a 121.8-inch wheelbase and are manufactured at the same GM plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. The base rear-wheel-drive ZDX borrows the rear-drive Lyriq's powerful single motor — rated at 358 hp in the Acura and 365 hp in the Cadillac — while the dual-motor ZDX AWD cranks it way up to 490 hp, mirrored by the Lyriq AWD's 515 hp.

Interestingly, Cadillac recently announced that the upcoming 2026 Lyriq-V will pump out 615 hp, a healthy 100-hp upgrade over the regular Lyriq AWD.

On the Acura side, however, the ZDX Type S gets cut off at 499 hp (really? they couldn't claim an even 500?), raising the question:

What's the point of selling the Type S (MSRP: $73,500) alongside the regular ZDX AWD ($68,500) with its nearly identical 490-hp powertrain?

Searching for Type S-ness on the road

My drive in the 2024 ZDX Type S got off to an encouraging start. I opened the taps all the way when I pulled out of the parking lot onto a deserted canyon road, and did it feel like 500 hp minus one? Yeah, I'll give it that. I even liked the fake acceleration soundtrack — the speakers emit a baritone hum that's more distinctive than the natural electric whine.

As it happened, I had just driven a dual-motor Honda Prologue, a close ZDX relative by way of GM, and found its 288-horsepower output underwhelming, so the ZDX Type S was a nice reset. Although the Acura weighs a formidable 6,052 pounds, its twin motors are up to the task of imbuing it with that zesty Type S spirit.

To quantify that, Car and Driver hustled one to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds en route to a 12.7-second quarter mile at 112 mph. That's serious speed for a three-ton wagon.

There's no hiding its size, though. In addition to that formidable mass, the ZDX is about as long as an MDX, so we're talking about a substantial vehicle here. Easing my test car through some tight corners, I didn't detect much athleticism. This isn't an electric SUV that would make you want to take the twisty way home. There are certainly some hefty EVs that magically drive smaller than they are, but the ZDX Type S isn't one of them.

Finding myself on a long straightaway with some aging asphalt, I settled into a steady cruise and found the ride quality to be quite agreeable, the standard air suspension presumably filtering out impacts that otherwise would have been transmitted by the massive 22-inch wheels. Those air springs, a Type S exclusive, might be a decent reason to pay the $5k premium relative to the standard ZDX AWD.

But there's just not any meaningful separation between the two versions in the powertrain column, and even after a pleasant if not scintillating drive in my Tiger Eye Pearl Type S, that fact still had me scratching my head.

The ZDX Type S deserved a better fate

I can imagine how the conversations went at Acura HQ. There was probably a big push to launch the ZDX with a top-of-the-line Type S version, which is completely understandable.

But personally, I love the idea of saving the Type S for the Lyriq-V powertrain mentioned above, the one that's good for 615 hp. Joining the 600-horsepower club could elevate the Type S brand to new heights, and it would give the ZDX Type S the same breathing room that the Lyriq-V will enjoy relative to its lesser AWD sibling.

Now, maybe Acura floated that proposal and the Cadillac folks vetoed it, because they didn't want the Type S to steal any of the Lyriq-V's spotlight.

Or maybe Cadillac was game, but the Acura team didn't want to wait an extra year to launch a 600-hp Type S, so they decided to slap a Type S badge on the lesser AWD powertrain.

All I know is that the ZDX Type S deserved better. If the Lyriq-V's powertrain simply wasn't in the cards for whatever reason, fine — just make the Type S the only all-wheel-drive ZDX, which would underscore how different it is from the standard rear-drive version.

But as things stand, the ZDX Type S is unfortunately the first Acura Type S model ever that effectively shares its powertrain with a lesser non-S variant, which can only dilute the Type S brand as a whole. Here's hoping that future Type S EVs from Acura don't similarly deviate from that badge's traditional meaning. ⛐ md