The Acura MDX is a mid-sized luxury crossover SUV that competes with crossovers like the Mercedes M-Class, Volvo XC90, Volvo XC60, BMW X5, and BMW X3, and Lexus RX among families interested in mid-sized luxury SUVs that seat 5-7 individuals. Some of the newest passive and active safety features are present in the MDX, including rollover-sensing side airbags, Electronic Stability Control, good safety scores in moderate front overlap, small overlap, and side impact crash tests, and a roof capable of supporting 4 times the vehicle’s weight. It’s also perhaps the most reliable luxury SUV on the market along with the Lexus RX and GX series, and one of the few made in the US (in Lincoln, Alabama along with its badge twin, the Honda Pilot, and in East Liberty, Ohio). As a result, when I had the chance to borrow a few to test car seats in them, I made it my mission to figure out which seats would work well in the MDX in 3 across setups. Let’s take a look together!
Before doing so, however, it’s worth keeping best practices in car safety in mind. For me, that means rear-facing our youngest travelers as long as we can (ideally until 4!), and then harnessing them in a forward-facing convertible or combination seat (ideally until 6, 7, or 8!), and then boostering them until they can pass the five step test for seat belt use with flying colors (which typically happens between 10 and 12). Essentially, keeping kids in safer configurations in car seats keeps them safer, and that’s what I’m interested in.
With all that in mind, the good news is that there are a whole lot of car seats that will fit well in an MDX, especially if you use seat belt installations and relatively narrow seats. I’m guessing this is already the most complete 3 across guide for the MDX on the Internet, and I’m not done with it yet. If you find the list helpful when shopping for car seats, you can shop through my Amazon link below. I’ll add more seats as I test them over time.
You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. The Canadian car seat guide is here. 3 across car seat images are courtesy of Wikipedia.
2014, 2015, 2016 , 2017, 2018 Acura MDX (YD3)
Guaranteed 3 across installations:
Clek Fllo (x3).
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Britax Pavilion G4.
Clek Fllo, Clek Fllo, Britax Pavilion G4.
Clek Foonf (x3).
Graco 4Ever Extend2Fit (x3).
Safety 1st Grow and Grow EX Air (x3).
Maxi-Cosi Pria 85 (x3).
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Diono Radian / RXT.
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Britax Marathon ClickTight.
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Britax Boulevard ClickTight.
Graco Size4Me 65 (x3).
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Britax Marathon G4.1.
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Britax Boulevard G4.1.
Graco Contender (x3).
Combi Coccoro (x3).
Recaro Performance SPORT, Recaro ProRide, Graco TurboBooster.
Tips and Tricks:
This generation of the Acura MDX is 194 inches long and 77 inches wide, making it the longest, though not the widest, generation of the MDX yet. The width is narrower than that of previous generations by 1-2 inches, which means you don’t have quite as much room for wide 3 across installations, but it’s still wide enough to fit most car seats without trouble. To do any better, you’ll want to look at minivans like the Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna.
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Acura MDX (YD2)
Guaranteed 3 across installations:
Clek Fllo (x3).
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Britax Pavilion G4.
Clek Fllo, Clek Fllo, Britax Pavilion G4.
Clek Foonf (x3).
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Diono Radian / RXT.
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Britax Marathon ClickTight.
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Britax Boulevard ClickTight.
Graco Size4Me 65 (x3).
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Britax Marathon G4.1.
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Britax Boulevard G4.1.
Graco Contender (x3).
Combi Coccoro (x3).
Recaro Performance SPORT, Recaro ProRide, Graco TurboBooster.
Tips and Tricks:
This generation of the Acura MDX is around 189-191 inches long and 78-79 inches wide, which means you have a generous amount of side-to-side space for most 3 across installations. That said, you’ll still want to use the seat belt system to maximize your available space, and depending on which seats you use, you might need to have someone help you put pressure on the seats while pulling the belts out to engage the retractors.
Similarly, if you’re using the Frontier 90, be sure to use it outboard so you can take advantage of the long belt path. The short belt path of the inboard seat is notoriously difficult to use with the Frontier 90.
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Acura MDX (YD1)
Guaranteed 3 across installations:
Clek Fllo (x3).
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Britax Pavilion G4.
Clek Fllo, Clek Fllo, Britax Pavilion G4.
Clek Foonf (x3).
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Diono Radian / RXT.
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Britax Marathon ClickTight.
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Britax Boulevard ClickTight.
Graco Size4Me 65 (x3).
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Britax Marathon G4.1.
Britax Frontier 90, Britax Frontier 90, Britax Boulevard G4.1.
Graco Contender (x3).
Combi Coccoro (x3).
Recaro Performance SPORT, Recaro ProRide, Graco TurboBooster.
Tips and Tricks:
The first generation of the Acura MDX is around 189 inches long and 77 inches wide, which means you have a generous amount of side-to-side space for most 3 across installations. That said, you’ll still want to use the seat belt system to maximize your available space. Interestingly, although it’s narrower than the generation that follows it, it’s the same width as the 3rd generation MDX.
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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.