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There is an art to arriving late.

There is the classic dramatic entrance, when you swoosh in a la royalty after the commoners are seated.

There is the slither-sneak, done to avoid embarrassment. You snake-crawl into the room, blend with the crowd and pretend you’ve been there all along.

And there is the Acura Arrival Mode, exemplified by the 2001 Acura MDX sport-utility vehicle.

Chronologically, Acura is three years behind rivals Lexus and Mercedes-Benz and a year behind BMW in bringing forth its own luxury sport-ute. For that matter, Acura is trailing Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. in the plush sport-ute segment, too.

There was the Acura SLX in the late 1990s. But it was an act of industrial plagiarism — an Isuzu Trooper with a truck chassis and an Acura nameplate. No one, not even Acura, took it seriously.

To attract attention, the MDX had to be something different. And it is — a nearly perfect combination of car, truck and minivan, borrowing the strongest attributes from each vehicle without assuming the negatives.

The MDX is as fuel-efficient as a family sedan, getting about 23 miles per gallon on the highway. It can seat up to seven people, as many as a minivan. It can tow a boat weighing 4,500 pounds, or a trailer weighing 3,500. The heavier boat load is allowed because boats are more aerodynamically designed and offer less wind resistance than square-bodied trailers.

But even with those qualities, the MDX risks being a me-too mobile. A GMC Envoy sport-ute, for example, can tow boats, and a Lexus RX300 provides comparable ride, handling and mileage.

But by offering much improved all-wheel-drive and emission-control systems, the MDX arrives as a thing of envy.

Almost every automaker has some version of all-wheel drive, where power automatically flows from slipping to gripping wheels. But most of those systems are reactionary. The power transfer begins after the slipping starts.

By comparison, the MDX’s all-wheel-drive system is more anticipatory. Computers sense impending wheel slippage and begin sending power to the rear wheels as needed. The MDX operates in front-wheel drive when no wheel slippage is present. In terms of emissions, the MDX outclasses most passenger cars, regardless of size. Environmentalists rank sport-utes among the road’s worst polluters. They rank the MDX among the cleanest vehicles on the road. So far, it is one of few vehicles to meet California’s tough “ultra low emissions” standards.

Unfortunately, Acura and its rivals would like you to believe that their SUV/wagon/vans are rugged enough to handle off-road driving. Don’t be fooled. They all have all-weather driving capability, but they should be driven only on things that qualify as roads.

Still, all said, the MDX is a welcom e addition to the luxury sport-ute party. Its late arrival might cause some lesser attendees to leave, or to at least visit the development and design shop to make some changes.

NUTS & BOLTS

2001 Acura MDX

Complaints: More a question than a complaint. I just wonder where all of this plushing-out of trucks and truck-like cars and wagons is going to end.

Praise: Acura has done it again — put together a high-quality, content-packed mobile at a very competitive price. The people at Lexus might want to rethink their pricing of the RX300, and the folks at Daimler-Benz AG might want to consider a similar course of action for their ML 320.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Triple aces. No complaints. But that does not mean you can get silly with this one and start tossing it around curves. It still has a higher center of gravity than most cars. You can roll this one, too.

Head-tu rnin g quotient:Not much outside. But the interior, a work of leather and wood trim, is rich and warm.

Engine: The MDX is equipped with a 3.5-liter, single-overhead-cam VTEC (variable valve timing and lift control) V-6 designed to develop 240 horsepower at 5,300 revolutions per minute. The torque band is generously wide, allowing the production of 245 pound-feet of torque between 3,000 and 5,000 rpm.

Capacities: Seats up to seven people. Carries 81.5 cubic feet of cargo with second and rear seats down. Cargo space shrinks to a sedan-like 14.8 cubic feet with second- and third-row seats up. Fuel tank holds 19.2 gallons; premium unleaded gasoline is recommended.

Mileage: On the test model, about 23 miles per gallon in mostly highway driving in front-drive mode.

Price: Preliminary estimate. MDX prices, subject to change, begin at about $34,000. With all of the options, including the on-board navigation system, the test model comes to $38,000.

Purse-strings note: Compare with Lexus RX300, Mercedes-Benz ML320, GMC Envoy, Oldsmobile Bravada and the Mercury Mountaineer.