.JPG)
2010 Acura RDX interior (Courtesy: MSheena)
This 2010 Acura RDX review is a continuation from Part One. To read the first part of this review, please visit this link.
After driving around in the RDX for a week, the 2.3-liter four-cylinder turbo engine (240 horsepower, 260 pound feet of torque) left me with mixed emotions. I appreciated the extra grunt, but it was not as smooth as a V6. The lag on the turbo was not inordinate, hitting strong after 2,500 RPM, but not as instantaneous as I would like my power delivery to be. The fuel economy on this RDX was rated 17 City and 22 Highway which is a little lower than I would have hoped for. I think the TSX/TL’s 280HP V6 would have done a better job in this vehicle. Ride quality was on the stiffer side, but not jarring and handling was very good for a compact crossover. It was a very rainy week during my test and the SH-AWD system worked very well, giving me more confidence when traction was low and helped the RDX rocket through corners in a very sporty manner.
I took some photos of the RDX at night, in addition I have uploaded some shots courtesy of Acura's media site. View the RDX from all angles and times of day in the slideshow below this article!
Inside the cabin I was very comfortable. The heated seat controls are rocker switches, so they stayed on the whole time and began heating as soon as I started the car. I appreciated the fact that I was able to fully control the heat as opposed to some arbitrary timer. Visibility was good and all the controls were easy to learn. I would like to have had backup sensors in addition to the camera. At times the camera was either fogged over or it was very dark outside. As an extra precaution, I like to know that I have an extra set of “eyes” helping me when backing up, just in case I miss anything. There were absolutely no rattles inside and everything felt substantial. The center console was hinged on the right side and when opened blocked the view for the passenger. An excellent sounding audio system with satellite radio was very appreciated. The rear seat did not slide fore/aft and that was missed, why not use the cargo area for more legroom when you do not have stuff back there?
The 2010 RDX with the technology package comes with a navigation system that sports real-time traffic, weather and traffic rerouting. I did not get a chance to play with the traffic rerouting function, but I did occasionally check the traffic updates. My experience with a Garmin GPS that reroutes was favorable and I have no doubt the RDX’s system would be similar. The weather updates were predictably the same, more rain, the whole time I had the RDX, but it was fun to look for a ray of sunshine while waiting at traffic lights. Bluetooth pairing was easily done via voice commands (while parked) and I had no problem making calls. From what I could establish, dialing by name would require transferring the phonebook to the RDX, as I was unable to use the phone’s built-in ability to dial (something I have experienced in other Bluetooth equipped cars). Subsequently, I just voice dialed by number or hit the contact list manually on the phone. Had I more time, I would have taken the effort to transfer the phonebook over and setup voice dialing. Speaking of voices, the voice command system built into the RDX was good, responding to a fairly large number of commands for navigation, audio, climate control, etc.
Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of this vehicle:
Pros:
- Nice, clean styling
- Impeccable quality
- Plenty of power
- Generous helping of technology
- Great AWD
- Very sporty handling
Cons:
- Fuel economy
- There is some turbo lag before power arrives, V6 would be a better application
- Interior could be jazzed up a bit more
- Side hinged center console blocks passenger from easily viewing inside
- Needs backup sensors to compliment the rear camera for an extra margin of safety
- Ride could be a bit smoother
The price of the 2010 Acura RDX SH-AWD with technology package, which is the top of the line model, is $38,430 (including destination). The size, price and performance of the RDX are all in the ballpark. If I could have changed one thing, it would be to install the V6 that performs so ably in the TSX and TL, but that is in a perfect world. Overall, I feel that the RDX is a solid student and a pretty competitive class.
If you like my articles, consider subscribing to my e-mail list to receive a notification whenever I submit a new post.
Comments