Change of Heart; Familiar-looking MDX adds more power, stability and by-wire acceleration.(News)(Honda expects to sell 3000 fewer Acura MDX luxo-sport/utilities)

Byline: JOHN D. STOLL

If Honda predicting it will sell 3000 fewer Acura MDX luxo-sport/utilities than the 53,000 units sold here last year has you scratching cranium, rub no longer.

The challenge comes because it is built exclusively in Ontario, under the same roof as Honda's equally hot Pilot and Odyssey. Higher-ups juggle which vehicles will be made in what quantity-50,000 is MDX's magic number, partly because, we suspect, the low number maintains surplus demand. Acura told us if they can ``squeak out'' more though, they'll match the 2002 mark.

Cross your fingers, because the 2003 MDX is better than ever and, according to recent inventory numbers, demand remains solid as ever. Of MDX's improvements, we can't decide whether to laud a) the next-generation engine under the hood, b) the newly designed five-speed tranny, c) the drive-by-wire throttle or d) the vehicle's first-ever stability control system. We'll take: e) all of the above.

Start with the revamped V6. It maintains 3.5-liter displacement and variable valve timing, but increases horsepower from 220 to 260. A 40 percent exhaust resistance reduction is responsible for the bump. Bigger-diameter exhaust pipes and two close-coupled catalytic converters mounted atop the cylinder head (replacing the single under-floor unit previously used) lower backpressure and, Acura says, work to reduce 0-to-60-mph and quarter-mile times by half a second.

Maximum torque doesn't come in as low as before when 245 lb-ft peaked between 3000 and 5000 rpm, but there's more of it (250 lb-ft at 3500 to 5000 rpm). Acura claims a higher-capacity transmission in the 2003 model employs gear and clutch materials and a transaxle case that improve ...