Went rabbit hunting with my dad this weekend on his farm and was surprised at the MDX ability off road. After hunting we thought we would see how this thing does in snow and mud on steep grades (if we got stuck he has a big tractor to pull me out). Both of us could not believe it. On steep grades the tires never spun. On some grades I stopped half way up the hill and started out with little or no spinning. I had the vtm locked and was in 1st or 2nd most of the time. But even with the tran. in D5 it went very well. Only trick was going down some hills at angles we were sliding which scared the ---- out of me because trees were getting close but no fear we did not hit them. I think a creeper gear would definitely help. It really impressed my dad (owns a 00 Ford F250 super cab 4X4) which is hard to do. I think the tires had a lot to do with it but the vtm-4 worked great. I could feel it kick in and out and vary the amount of torque it provided the rear end. Oh by the way I missed 3 bunnies and got one, dad missed 2 got 0. Those wascly little wabbits.
That's great news Creese, but not surprising As we all know, Acura says the MDX was designed for "medium-duty off-road applications", and Honda's engineers are usually dead-on (or err on the conservative side) when they make claims about their vehicles' capabilities (e.g. their crashworthiness predictions for the MDX). The VTM-4 system is very advanced and capable, and given enough ground clearance and driver skill it can get you through some amazing stuff. Did you happen to take any pics of your rabbit hunting trip? Here's a pic from my trip to the Withlaccochee State Forest, taken from my favorite vantage point
I wish I had a digital camera to share the adventure. I was really surprised at how well it did because it was about 40 degrees and the snow was about 4 inches in places. wet snow is very slippery.
Don't know if the goodyears have a similar pattern but I did deflate the tires to 33.5 psi all around (dealership gave it to me with between 45-60psi.).
Time for dinner, that's right we are having fried bunny with bacon over it. Rabbit is very good for you especially when you fry it in butter and bacon. Well it has to be better than steroid-pumped chickens.
Time for dinner, that's right we are having fried bunny with bacon over it. Rabbit is very good for you especially when you fry it in butter and bacon. Well it has to be better than steroid-pumped chickens.
Yup, the MDX is an excellent vehicle in the mud/snow.
I've been in a couple of ski trips in New Mexico and Colorado and it has performed superbly.
The Michellin tires are hard to beat, they grabbed the dirt like it was dry pavement (even when driving in Taos in the freezing rain, going up a steep muddy trail out of a canyon).
MDX should be no problem in most off road. The only weakness is the ground clearance and tires(if you have Goodyear Intergrity). I have not tried my car in mud and snow yet but I took my car to a off road trail in Angel Forest park,CA. It did pretty well.
I've taken my MDX on some four-wheel-drive roads around Moab, UT that I probably should not have (Shafer Trail Road, parts of the White Rim Road, Chicken Corners Trail, etc., nothing too extreme ), and did better than I expected.
Ground clearance is the biggest limiting factor, and I missed a creeper gear going down hill, especially on the Shafer Trail switchbacks. Never had to use the VTM lock.
I have an 03 mdx
The trans started slipping. When I pull over n let it cool down it works fine in all gears for a short while then starts skipping again. I don’t think is the gears. I changed all the solenoids all of them: n still problem. Drained fluid 3 times Honda fluid. Put Lucas in n it...
I have a 2014 MDX. I have been experiencing some irregularities during downshifting with my transmission. I took it to the Acura dealer to take a look. They informed me that it needed a new software download and that I had to pay for it. Has anyone experienced this? I don’t believe that...
As we all know, Acura says the MDX was designed for "medium-duty off-road applications", and Honda's engineers are usually dead-on (or err on the conservative side) when they make claims about their vehicles' capabilities (e.g. their crashworthiness predictions for the MDX). The VTM-4 system is very advanced and capable, and given enough ground clearance and driver skill it can get you through some amazing stuff. Did you happen to take any pics of your rabbit hunting trip? Here's a pic from my trip to the Withlaccochee State Forest, taken from my favorite vantage point 
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