Test Drive: 2013 Acura RDX

By Kevin Harrison

I have a friend who used to have the same tolerance level as me for spicy food. Those who know me know that my spice tolerance can’t be topped. Nothing is ever too spicy and I’m always the guy reaching for more hot sauce.

Recently I’ve noticed that he has been toning down the scoville scale, however. He no longer adds on spiciness, in fact he doesn’t order any food to be spicy in the slightest period. I had to call him out on it. His response?

“Sometimes you just want something that isn’t intense all the time. Sometimes you just want something more rounded and more agreeable to everyone”. He went on to say that it’s just much easier to make shared dishes in the way everyone likes it rather than having people pick off spicy peppers or things they don’t like.

Acura must have had the same thought with the new RDX. In the premium compact SUV segment, the previous generation arguably took the crown for most performance oriented. Acura turbocharged it, gave it SH-AWD (that’s super handling all-wheel drive in English) and gave it a much lowered ride height and stance. And who could blame them? Every car review is performance this, performance that regardless of the vehicle’s intended purpose. Acura simply catered to what all the reviews said was important.

But for 2013 Acura has completely redesigned the RDX and instead of taking it in the direction that performance gearheads wanted it to go, they decided to take aim at a much different and much larger market: everyone else.

Have they succeeded?

Acura’s corporate styling has been charged with being ugly, polarizing and harsh. The fact of the matter is, more people hated it than loved it so as a result, all refreshed Acura’s have had the styling softened down. The beak-like shield on the corporate grille is been toned down and the lines are softer and more angular. I personally think this is a bit of a mistake. While I was no fan of Acura’s new design language when it first debuted on the TL a few years back, it eventually grew on me. In fact it grew on me so much that I actually prefer the controversial styling to the new one. And the same goes for this RDX. The styling is now borderline bland. It easily gets lost in a sea of similarly shaped crossovers and there’s not much to help it stick out. Unimaginative taillights and 18 inch allow wheels don’t help, neither does the traditional SUV sloping roofline at the back or the window design. It’s as if they were trying to make it look more like the bread and butter Honda CR-V. The RDX no longer has a unique visual identity.

 

Luckily things are quite good on the inside. It offers standard leather, sunroof and heated power memory seats. And to show that the RDX’s priorities have changed, there is now less side bolstering than in the outgoing models. The controls aren’t as overwhelming as they were in Acuras of the past. The button overload is toned down and I like how Acura has enclosed the centre display screen in a dome as it reduces glare from the sun. The toggle master switch is easy to use and I actually prefer it where it is on the centre stack rather than in between the two front seats like where most other companies tend to put it. Overall the RDX is ripe with standard equipment which means the only package available is the tech package which improves the already great sounding stereo and adds a power lift gate, HID headlights and the aforementioned 8 inch display screen. There is a back-up camera which doesn’t seem necessary since the RDX is fairly easy to maneuver about and it’s not the best quality picture if I’m honest as the colours seem a bit out of whack. Rear seat room is aplenty as is headroom and cargo room. The RDX incorporates  the same pull-lever feature that the new Honda CR-V has to fold the rear seats. One pull of the lever and the seats fold effortlessly. That is, for the right hand side rear seats. My tester’s lever did nothing when I pulled it to try to get the left-hand rear seats to fold. Luckily they can still fold the old fashioned way and luckily this issue was likely limited to my tester.

 

While most automakers are downsizing their engines to meet fuel efficiency standards, Acura decided to buck the trend and replace the old turbo 4 cylinder with a V6. It produces 273 horsepower and 251 pound foot torque. The engine is quiet and smooth but admittedly, it doesn’t feel as fast as the numbers suggest, likely due to the RDX’s weight. Still, the new engine is expected to get quicker 0-100 times than the turbo four (official times have not been announced yet) and this is more than adequate power for the non- performance buyer. But perhaps a figure even more important to the non-performance buyer is the fuel efficiency numbers which have actually improved over the 4-cylinder. Official fuel consumption numbers are 11.7 L /100 kms city and 8.4 L/100 kms highway. I returned 11.2 L/100 kms during my time with the RDX in mixed city/highway driving. Part of the reason why Acura was able to make the V6 more efficient than the outgoing 4-cylinder is due to cylinder de-activation technology. Depending on the driving conditions the RDX can drive on just four or even three cylinders.

 

Another big change for the RDX is that they have dropped the SH-AWD in favour of a new all-wheel drive system which basically allows the vehicle to drive in front wheel drive up to 100 percent most of the time and kicks in the rear wheels when slippage is detected. The system can go to a 50/50 distribution when there is little or no traction at all. So why did Honda drop their fantastic SH-AWD system in favour of a tamed down system? Yes, you guessed it. Because Joe Public doesn’t care that the system could vector torque between each wheel. The public also didn’t care that it improved handling and stability. They just want to know that the system can get them up their snowy driveway and that’s it about it. Not to mention that the cost of the SH-AWD system is more and it sacrificed fuel consumption.

 

The result is a less engaging drive. There is noticeable body roll and under steer when the car is pushed. In fact this new system has transformed the new RDX into a luxurious ride rather than a performance oriented drive. As a result bumps and potholes are easily soaked up with no trouble at all. There is little to no steering feedback to the driver, which was done deliberately since this is apparently preferred among female drivers. This makes the RDX a rather dull drive, but a very comfortable one.

 

And this takes me back to my original point, or at least back to my spice-fatigued friend’s point. Acura has to do what it takes to sell models. The fact of the matter is they were not selling potentially as many as they could with a performance oriented RDX, as impressive as it was.  This new version is nachos without jalapenos. It’s lost its spice. But now the RDX is much more agreeable to more people and Acura certainly can’t be faulted for that. It’s a great SUV even if it is completely different than its predecessor.

Not everyone loves hot sauce on their pizza, but everyone loves pizza. And that’s what the new RDX is delivering –something more agreeable for everyone.

Price As Tested: $43,990

Pros:

  • Improved interior function and look
  • Luxurious smooth ride
  • Improved fuel consumption
  • Good price and standard equipment

Cons:

  • Much less fun to drive
  • Unimaginative toned down exterior styling
  • Rear camera quality

Overall: 8/10

Related Posts

No Comments Yet.

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.