The Short life of the Acura SLX

This mid-sized luxury SUV was in production from 1996- 1999. It would be later on be replaced by the Acura MDX somewhere in 2001. It was discontinued due to its poor sales as bad press was given to it because of getting rated “Not Acceptable: by Consumer Reports around 1996-1997 because of the fact that they would tend to roll over during its testing.

It is considered to be a more “posh” version of the Isuzu Trooper, though it was clearly outlasted by it. Imagine a Trooper with a different grille, wheels, and exterior and interior trim. It was also given more luxury features than that of its Trooper counterpart. All of them were sold with automatic transmission and came with a 3.2-liter 190 horsepower V6 engine. It also had optional features such as leather upholstery, sunroof, and heated seats.

The SLX has plenty of legroom as well as space for cargo. Its acceleration is OK as well as its engine. Its suspension provided a more than average ride although you may really feel the big bumps and potholes. The power steering is not so good but the breaking was above average. The SLX was considered to be one of the roomiest SUVs in the market before its termination.

This vehicle probably would have lasted longer if it weren’t for the bad press it got. The competition with SUVs has gotten so high-leveled nowadays, that even the slightest negative aspect of a cars performance or build would prove to be devastating to its sales. It is a good thing that Acura was able to come up with the MDX, which had its own identity unlike the SLX that was always compared to the Isuzu Trooper. It had better features and seemed to have been thought of a lot more thoroughly than that of it’s predecessor.