It’s hard to believe that subcompact luxury crossovers have been around for more than a decade now. The BMW X1 and Mercedes-Benz GLA rolled out in America for 2013 and 2014 respectively, and while it took a while for Japanese automakers to wade into the segment, the 2025 Acura ADX seems quite promising. After all, with buyers hot for both crossovers and smaller entry level models, Acura’s interpretation of the Honda HR-V has a lot riding on it.
Perhaps as a result of these common bones, the base Acura ADX picks up where the top-spec HR-V leaves off. At $36,350 including a $1,350 freight charge for the front-wheel-drive model or $38,350 for the all-wheel-drive model, it’s between $5,455 and $5,955 more expensive than an HR-V EX-L, depending on whether you want to drive two or all four wheels.
In addition to pretty much everything a loaded HR-V comes with including a nine-inch touchscreen infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a moonroof, and heated seats, the ADX also gets a 10.2-inch digital gauge cluster, a power liftgate, and a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that should crank out somewhere around 200 horsepower. While Acura hasn’t released a figure yet, it’s similar to the engine that makes 200 horsepower in the Integra, and a Canadian brochure recommending premium fuel suggests it probably won’t be detuned much, if at all.
Want more toys? Well, the next trim up in the lineup is the ADX A-Spec, and it hits a pretty important price threshold. While the front-wheel-drive model stickers for $39,350 including freight, the all-wheel-drive model goes for $41,350, or $1,175 less than a base model BMW X1. There’s a chance it’s down on power compared to the X1, but it comes with ventilated front seats, a panoramic moonroof, 19-inch wheels, and a whole bunch of Ultrasuede. All stuff that’s either optional or simply unavailable on the X1.
Of course, there is a third trim worth mentioning: The Acura ADX A-Spec Advance. That’s an awful lot of alliteration. For $43,350 with front-wheel-drive or $45,350 with all-wheel-drive, this top-spec model gets you a 15-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system, a heated steering wheel, a 360-degree parking camera system, and Google built-in.
There are really two ways of looking at the Acura ADX. On the one hand, it’s pricey for what essentially amount to an HR-V Si with a continuously variable transmission. Nearly $6,000 more than a loaded HR-V with the main benefits being a power liftgate, a digital cluster, and a more potent engine seems a bit strong.
On the other hand, the BMW X1 starts at $42,525, the Audi Q3 starts at $41,095, and the front-wheel-drive Mercedes-Benz GLA 250 starts at a whopping $44,150. Compared to this German trio, the Acura ADX gives up some puff, but it’s also much less expensive. In a way, the closest competitor to Acura’s least expensive crossover is the $37,715 Lexus UX 300h, which is much smaller than the ADX but features a 196-horsepower hybrid powertrain that propels it to a combined fuel economy rating of 43 MPG.
Combine both of these perspectives, and it seems like the Acura ADX should thread the needle between other entry level luxury players and mainstream crossovers just about perfectly. Of course, stats on paper don’t tell the whole story, but we liked the fundamentals of the Honda HR-V, so we have reasonable hopes for the ADX. Expect Acura’s smallest crossover to roll into showrooms this Spring, where it should sit nicely next to the Integra.
(Lead photo credit: Acura)
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Can we please stop pretending ANOTHER CUV is a good idea? It’s a terrible car, inefficient, and expensive. Anyone in their right mind in that market space would either buy a high end CR-V or entry level Pilot. No one buys Acuras, there is no reason to spend that much money more than the plebian counterpart, it’s the same car. Please stop fawning over every new car like it’s the greatest thing ever, and call companies out on their idiocy.
Nobody buys Acuras? North Jersey is flooded with them (No jokes please).
You: look, what a deal!
Me: what a crappy car for $40k!
CVT should never be in any luxury or near luxury vehicle.
Maybe, maybe not.
Definitely shouldn’t be in an “A-Spec” no matter how good it pretends to have real gear shifts.
Yet for only $1000 more than the base Acura, you can get a 219hp (with premium) Mazda CX-50 Hybrid Premium (midrange spec)
These days, Mazda products are just as “premium” as Acura.
Seems a no-brainer.
I’d even put Mazdas higher than Acura, just because they’re that much more consistent and don’t share cost-cutting from a lesser brand. I see Acura (and infiniti and Buick/gmc) as fancier trims of existing models that you have to go to a different dealership to acquire. There’s not much that truly sets them apart from their lesser counterparts.
I love tiny luxury cars.
Why do small cars have to be spartan and feel cheap?
Why do luxury cars have to be ginormous land yachts?
I wish there were more.
Americans buy cars “by the pound”. Time and again we’ve seen smaller vehicles with nice appointments not sell while larger vehicles with fewer features sell well. Except Mini. They’re the exception.
If I am buying a car with ho-hum performance and a CVT, I expect it to be giving me 40+ mpg these days. I’d probably just look for a slightly used Lexus NX hybrid if I was in this segment where I must buy a “luxury” brand over a perfectly competent Honda or Toyota (or Mazda CX-50 hybrid).
I like the current HR-V on which this car is based, but I’m not sure I can wrap my head around spending $40K on one, even as nice as this car is. Also, I’d prefer to avoid that turbo 1.5 liter engine in any form, given all the trouble it’s given Honda in their recent models.
Having, unfortunately, developed a healthy acquaintance with a Honda Service Advisor, I’ve got to talk cars with him to a good extent. He’s very up front with Honda’s issues and I’d tend to believe him if he says a particular issue or vehicle is now good to buy.
As of late, he says a lot of the issues with the 1.5T have been significantly resolved. The oil dilution is all but gone unless you drive really short trips most all the time. Regardless of manufacturer, those really short and frequent trips with small displacement, higher compression turbo engine tend to elevate oil dilution. It is exacerbated by the already thin oil that’s common these days. If I did a lot of short duration trips, I’d consider a severe duty maintenance schedule and change my oil more often (a good bit before the MM says to).
It sounds like you’ve got a decent guy there at Honda service. My pal with a newish Civic (I dunno which trim… it’s in that pearly light grey and is the gen before they did that hex grill on the dash… it’s fine… the hatch area is huge with the back seats down). He pretty much only does those short trips (sometimes, he bikes to work… that’s how short his commute is) so maybe he complains about the oil dilution thing more as a result.
Still, if I were buying a new Honda, I’d rather have one with the naturally aspirated 2 liter (as is still used in the new HR-V I think) even though it’s an older design.
I wish they still offered the K24 series. I will pour one out the day they end the J-series.
If my wife liked it I’d like to have one of the A-Specs, that’d be nice, but I’d probably just get a lightly used RDX A-Spec instead and get the excellent turbo k-series and 10-speed auto.
Plus access to those red and blue colors. Mmmm thank you Acura for some fun colors!
This is simply not a vehicle I’d be interested in.
As my handle implies, I’ve owned a fair number of cars and a couple of small-ish Japanese trucks.
My favorites have been a relatively problem-free Peugeot 504, followed by an ’86 Accord, a ’94 Saab 9000T, a ’01 Jetta TDI and now, my current ’17 Accord V6.
A ’06 CR-V was impressive, but loud on the freeway. My ’74 Bavaria and my wife’s ’15 X5 were expensive to own and keep running. The advice to lease German is well-founded.
An ’18 MDX we bought to replace the X5 was pretty nice and likely had many, many more miles of reliable service left, but after we split, she banged up all four corners and took the local Lincoln dealer up on a decent (I guess?) deal on a ’23 Aviator. She likes it. I think I would have hated it.
Insane how many trim levels Honda will have that all have the exact same powerplant not making half an extra hp or torque figure
No one will care about this car. The main reason people buy subcompact crossovers is it’s the cheapest way to get a fancy badge on their cars to impress people. No one is impressed by Acura. They will pay more the BMW because everyone knows BMW is a luxury brand.
Man, inflation is a bitch. I bought a new MDX in 2012 for basically 38.5k, and that was all-wheel drive, albeit the base model. I think I need to drive it until the wheels fall off…
That being said, this is something I would take over the competition all day every day, if I wanted something that size.
I plugged that $38.5k into an inflation calculator and the current base model MDX is actually $2k cheaper than what you paid in 2012 inflation adjusted. Every time I see a new car price, I plug the MSRP into an inflation calculator for 2018 dollars, because that is the last time I had a good grasp on the relative value of money.
I need to start doing this. I now talk like my grandparents did when they would talk about prices when they were younger but I’m talking about prices 5-10 years ago.
Talking about buying a (good) new car for less than $20,000 feels like distant history at this point.
Drive the competition and youight change your mind. $40K-ish can buy a lot of car.
While my opinion means little since this is a category of vehicle in which I have zero interest, I would much rather have the Acura than any of the German brands. If I was buying at least. Leasing changes a lot of the calculus since you don’t need to worry about resale value and need to look at the downpayment & price.
I’ve worked at agencies where the primary demographic is women in their 20s and 30s who are making decent money for the first time and don’t have kids, and they shop in this category. They want an elevated brand but don’t have the money for something truly expensive and don’t really care about cars enough to care which brand. They want to look cool, so they don’t want anything that looks too family-oriented, and larger or mainstream-brand CUVs are today’s minivans vibe.
A small premium CUV avoids much of that baggage, and leasing it rather than buying it avoids any headaches of owning a car. They all have good credit and know how to set a budget, so plan for the monthly payment and forget about it.
I am massively surprised how many entry level cars like this are now requiring Premium fuel just because they could not make do with an N/A 2.0 4 pot instead they tacked hair dryers onto motorcycle sized motors and said it makes sense to get just 200 HP if you are willing to pony up the extra $ per gallon.
I imagine it’s a “recommended not required,” but can still be off-putting to see. Honda has put the recommended label on the 1.5T on different cars over the years, most recently the 1.5T called for regular in the “plain” Civic but Si and Integra had the recommendation for premium. Kinda similar to the naturally aspirated K24 that came before it, regular in your average Accord or CR-V but the higher-revving ~200hp version in Acuras and Civic Si called for premium, so I guess there’s precedent.
Seems like it might behoove them to list outputs on premium and regular like others like VW and Mazda have done for their turbo motors though.
Yeah, and putting regular in it is fine. I have an Integra with the 1.5T and before that I had an ILX with the K24, and both “recommended” premium, and ran no differently on regular. I’m sure you could tell a difference if you were running them on a drag strip or something, but in daily driving use, I never saw any difference.
Pricing of the base one isn’t too far off from where a loaded Corolla Cross leaves off, at least with the regional add ons in my area. That has the option of a hybrid of course. I mention the Cross since it has an edge over the HR-V in some features like the power liftgate and rear seat vents.
Will be interesting to see if it gets the same mileage or better even than the 2.0/CVT HR-V. The 1.5T did in the “plain” Civics, figure with whatever sportier tuning for Acura it may be about the same but much more zip.
IMO seems a bit off to say this is priced right compared to brands that carry more cachet but a larger, V6 Passport is too pricey for its segment as was said here the other day. But I will say against Lexus models, it probably compares better to the NX than it might seem, at least NX250. From the few preliminary specs they have released, the ADX is longer and has more cargo volume: 24.4 cu ft seats up/55.1 seats down vs. the 22.7 / 46.9 for the NX respectively.
This may be an HR-V with more power and an Acura badge, but it also looks infinitely better than the catfish-mouthed bar of soap the HR-V looks like. I’m still confused how the HR-V looked this ugly when the rest of the Honda crossover lineup (global HR-V, CR-V, Pilot) looks so sharp.
Great description of the HR-V styling!
I joke that the HR-V (and HHR) are cars with onomatopoeia names – sort of hurling sound. I don’t recall anyone ever laughing at this particular joke.
I always associated BUICK as a sound akin to making a street pizza.
Honestly I think it looks great and it should have a little more driving verve than a lot of the competitors…not to mention you can actually buy it and keep it long term, whereas you’d be nuts to do anything but lease any of the German counterparts. I honestly think they’ll sell a ton of these and if anyone asks me for a recommendation for an entry level luxury crossover I wouldn’t hesitate to suggest this.
That being said, why the hell does Acura still have ZERO HYBRIDS?! Basically all of their cars (outside this and the Integra) are powered by thirsty, last gen ICE engines that somehow have less power AND get way worse gas mileage than their competition. I get that Honda desperately wants to upsell luxury buyers their $70,000 EV crossover but it’s clearly not working…and anyone who does any research will know it’s an Ultium product anyway and steer clear.
Give us some damn hybrids you cowards!
I will shocked if an Integra hybrid or ADX hybrid never materializes. It’s such a no brainer in this segment
It’s shocking to me that the e:PHEV drivetrain isn’t sold in the US — it’s basically the same engine as the CR-V Hybrid but with a bigger battery. The RDX got a facelift instead of a new model in ’22 so it’s on the 5th-generation CR-V platform not the 6th, which means it can’t do PHEV.
This one’s especially egregious because the HR-V outside the US already has the same 200hp hybrid powertrain from the CR-V/Accord, and it’s one of their few vehicles small enough to not be underpowered by it. Putting it in the ADX is practically free!
Although the take rate would likely be very low, offering a manual on this would be cool and set it apart from the other offerings in the segment.
There is absolutely no business case whatsoever for offering a manual in a *checks notes* entry level luxury crossover. They already offer it in the Integra anyway, this is more or less just an Integra for normies, who don’t usually like to drive stick.
I love a manual, but imho the enthusiast driver and the CUV/SUV consumer are separate circles in a venn diagram.
I’m sure a lot of people driving CUV/SUVs would balk at this but it doesn’t mean I’m wrong.
I am going to keep complaining about this until it stops happening, but it is insane to me that an automaker can give you radar cruise control as standard, but make you climb three trim levels in order to get a heated steering wheel. In this case that wheel will cost you $7000 over the base price.
(I’m not that fond of adaptive cruise control, and would happily give it up in exchange for comfort features or [gasp] a lower price.)
Honda has always been odd about which features you get at each trim level. Wife’s 2010 Odyssey has leather and rear TV and a sunroof but no auto headlights.
Packaging across Honda/Acura models in particular can be maddening. For me it’s that Acura tends to package the fob-operated remote start on Tech or Advance packages. That same feature is on all but the most base trim of the equivalent Honda. In this case an HR-V has it at $29k. Throw in Canadian models and it gets more frustrating. Canadian HR-Vs offer a heated steering wheel, no American HR-V offers it.
I think adaptive cruise trickled down into everything once the pre-collision systems and the related safety suite started becoming standard (for those IIHS ratings), so the cruise aspect got thrown in for cheap too. So you get weird packaging like that. I think Toyota has some base-trim models that have auto high beam, but no automatic headlights, go figure.
Honda seems to have several American models in which a heated steering wheel is not available on any trim — including the Civic and Accord. It’s extra maddening when both the Canadian & US cars come off the same line. This is a “Kia/Hyundai-ignition-lock” level of cheapness.
My SIL has a ranger with heated seats and a heated steering wheel, it’s definitely something I want in my next car.
Ditto, and I have absolutely made purchasing decisions based on whether I can get a heated steering wheel in a reasonably priced trim.
No hybrid option in 2025 is kind of crazy. Granted, we’ve been waiting on the
HR-VZR-V hybrid for years now, so at this rate it seems like it’ll never make it.I’m naive but I’m almost shocked when a mainstream crossover comes out and it’s not a hybrid. In fact, I think for this price point Acura should have gone with nothing BUT hybrids (even if means using the CR-V powertrain). Nobody’s really buying this for screaming performance…they’re buying it because their significant other is emabarrassed by a Honda badge! 🙂
(top trim CR-Vs are a couple grand more, though…)
I thought they were saving the hybrid for the ADX to differentiate it from the HR-V. The HR-V really needs it, it has the worst fuel economy in its class.