As a weather fanatic, I’m the guy who always wants a storm to come along. And because I always want storms to come along, I’m a perfect travel companion because my wish is rarely granted. In fact, I once drove from Los Angeles to Boston, right through Tornado Alley, in the middle of the most unstable month in the center of the U.S., and didn’t see a single drop of rain. Just my freaking luck.

On the day we test drove the Acura MDX in western Pennsylvania, a day which had about two hours of track time built into the schedule, I did not want a storm to come along. So, of course, about 20 minutes after we began lapping the BeaveRun road racing course, thick, charcoal-colored skies rife with brilliant cloud-to-ground lightning and booming thunderclaps rolled in, accompanied by a torrential downpour. Just my freaking luck.

Well, this turn of events turned out for the best. What good is a road test of a new SUV on a nice dry race track, anyway? Fortunately, Acura never called us in, so we raced from the MDX to a Porsche Cayenne V6 to a BMW X5 3.0i and back to the MDX in the rain, the thunder, and the lightning, and we learned that the Acura MDX is one capable foul-weather conveyance.

Though the German-bred Cayenne felt most at home threading the kinks, hills, and bends of Beaver County’s premier motorsports park, in part because its Pirelli tires hydroplaned less than the Acura’s meaty Michelins and gripped better in the dry, it was the Acura MDX that felt quickest while displaying the least amount of body roll combined with incredibly effective brakes and sharp steering. The X5, well, it was clear that it needed a redesign. Acura’s SH-AWD system acquitted itself well on the rain-soaked track, letting us accelerate with confidence out of turns that had the Porsche and BMW scrabbling for grip.

While driving on the rural country roads surrounding BeaveRun before the foul weather arrived, we discovered that the MDX’s 3.7-liter V6 is quick, strong, and sounds great when revved. The transmission shifted smoothly, and the SportShift manual feature was quite responsive for up or downshifts. On real-world roads, the active suspension was impressive, offering a clear difference between the default Sport setting and the available Comfort setting, but we detected some head toss on uneven surfaces and over scarred back roads we noted some suspension crash at the front of the MDX. Steering effort levels also seemed a tad bit stiff at lower speeds and it lightened up significantly when cresting a hill, but at higher speeds was perfect. The brakes were responsive, almost touchy, and quite effective at arresting velocity. The wide tires gripped well in the dry and the wet, but tugged and hunted a bit on rumpled pavement. What was our fuel economy for the street-driving portion of the test? We got 15.5 mpg, but this included prodigious testing of the MDX’s acceleration.

Unfortunately, we missed a demonstration of the MDX’s off-road credentials at an off-road driving academy due to an early return flight to California. However, since the MDX maintains the approach, departure, and breakover angles of the current model, and it can ford 19 inches of standing water while keeping the cabin dry, Acura says it retains its medium off-road capability. We will be sure to put the MDX to the test later this year when full production models are available.