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"The ZDX prototype unveiled at the New York auto show is almost identical to the production version set to go on sale in the U.S. this fall. Besides being the first Acura with an all-glass roof, the 5-seat ZDX is also the first Acura model designed start-to-finish at the company&amp;#039;s new studio in Torrance, California. Due to the ZDX&amp;#039;s radically sloping roofline, the vehicle&amp;#039;s designers label it as a &amp;quot;4-door luxury sports coupe,&amp;quot; although we would label it a 5-door since it is a hatchback design. Acura states the &amp;quot;segment bending ZDX blurs the distinction between coupe, sedan and sport utility vehicle,&amp;quot; which, as with BMW&amp;#039;s X6, sometimes leaves us wondering exactly what the vehicle is. To paraphrase Acura&amp;#039;s description: The ZDX is designed to take two people in comfort on a driving adventure in the desert, on a ski trip to Mammoth Mountain (in California), an then a trip down the coast \u2014 all in one day! The platform underpinning the ZDX comes from the MDX sport-utility vehicle, but the sleeker ZDX features a 3.9-in. lower roofline. Although Acura was not overly specific about the powertrain, we do know the production ZDX, which Acura says will definitely be marketed &amp;quot;above the MDX&amp;quot; in the lineup, will come standard with a V-6 (count on 3.7 liters and slightly over 300 bhp) and the company&amp;#039;s excellent Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD). The ZDX&amp;#039;s exterior was penned by Michelle Christensen (incidentally, this was her first project since joining Acura about four years ago) under the direction of senior designer Damon Schell. Schell says the goal was to create &amp;quot;suspenseful emotion&amp;quot; with every curve and line of the ZDX, both inside and out. Christensen used such objects as a slingshot, an Olympic volleyball building in Tokyo and a bullet passing through a fluid medium for inspiration. Although Christensen&amp;#039;s original sketch for the ZDX was more radical than the final outcome, the pushed-rearward B-pillars do give the car a coupe-like stance. Another notable on the ZDX is the first use of a through-bumper exhaust by Acura. The interior was built around a &amp;quot;dual personal structure.&amp;quot; Interior designer Michael Wiedeman achieved this goal by applying two large strips of leather that drop down from the dash and flow into the center console, fully delineating driver and passenger space; the convex &amp;quot;monolith&amp;quot; center stack adds to this effect. An effort was also made to &amp;quot;give the ZDX some soul,&amp;quot; implementing center stack lights that appear to &amp;quot;wake up&amp;quot; once you touch the car&amp;#039;s starter button. Acura promises the 192.4-in.-long ZDX \u2014 with a V-6, SH-AWD and new 6-speed Sequential SportShift automatic transmission \u2014 will perform like a sports sedan, with outstanding handling in all weather conditions. We can&amp;#039;t wait to find out. Stay tuned for our Driving Impression this fall. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-shows/new-york-auto-show/news/a14624/acura-zdx-prototype/>