RDX10

The rdx in the states has drls?

Lol and your welcome man. The MDX is super impressive and I am really happy with it so far.

Skirmich

It must as its mandatory since 2004 I think?

Midnight Mystery

Yeah, highbeams running on about 4V of power, go check out the pictures in my Mids and Update thread, I changed them to white halogen, so they're not as yellowish brown...

The RDX should have them in Canada, isn't it mandated?

RDX10

I thought it was a car specific thing? I know someone on the Kia forums still complains to this day about how his 2015 or 2016 sorento does not have drl's. I remember he was talking like it was a special feature or something. So I was under the impression you guys didn't get them.

Midnight Mystery

I though Canada made it a law in 1990, or something... I remember reading forums where people would import their U.S. vehicle to Canada, and have to get a Phillips DRL kit, or something...

Honda and Acura added and standardized them in 2006 in the U.S....

Pre 2005 - Not Available
2006 newer - Standard

They just made up their mind about it I guess... I like them, I added a kit to my old Kia in 2014, they worked fine...

To me, DRL is another "fancy" light, it gives the vehicle some class... I also rely on it on these backroads too!!!

Midnight Mystery

RDX10

Yeah in Canada it is mandated by law. I guess Acura and Honda are an exception in the states because many brands still do not offer drl's there. I like that we also get tpms on individual wheels with the rdx and mdx.

Skirmich

I always liked the MDX layout with the DRLs (Before the switch to LEDs), I dunno.. The lower position and using dedicated lights for it made it look very appealing... It was the driving force to make my DRL setup In the 2G TL-S (Which don't come with DRLs in USA but does in Canada) So I wired my Fog Lights (Instead of High Beams) to do the DRL work just because of the MDX Setup

The convenience of having dedicated lights is also a PLUS.. DRL work really tax the Lights and make the burn faster, Its not cool to burn in your High Beams with DRL work and that they burn out when you really need them. In the MDX the High Beams only do High Beam work and the Fogs only do Fogs Work! The only downside is having Dedicated DRL Lights which adds the cost to maintain. I bought Philips "Xenon Like" bulbs to help it remove some of the nasty yellow tint running a low voltage 12v light makes.

Midnight Mystery

Well... GM, Ford, Chrystler, Honda, Toyota, and some other makes provide it standard...

Nissan didn't offer it until about 2-3 years ago, almost all models have it now, and Hyundai has some vehicles with it... Kia is about the only brand that doesn't have it... Sportages do, but Sorentos don't, I think, neither do Optimas... GM has had it standard since about 1995 and other brands incorporated it randomly as time went on!!!

RDX10

Speaking of the new LED headlights, I am STRONGLY considering a jewel eye mod on my MDX. I really really like the way the jewel eyes look and I think would look mean af.

The things drawing me back are that the jewel eyes are inferior in light production (in both spread and distance) to the standard HIDs and my absent experience with this type of mod. I know how to use a volt meter and can easily wire up the jewel eyes to the corresponding drl, highbeam, ground, and low beam wires and wire in the required resister. But I do not trust mysef with opening and closing hundred dollar+ headlights.

Oh and on a related note, I am also considering installing a yellow film on my fogs/drls for a JDM look. Had my MDX been black or white, it would have been an easy call to go for yellow. Since I have silver, I don't know if I want to do the yellow film or HID's. I think both will work.

Hmm interesting. You learn new things everyday. Thanks for sharing!

Midnight Mystery

I did a HID retrofit in the Kia I had, it was pretty difficult... Well, the wireing, and opening the headlights... They always leaked after, and having the HID bulb wire cut and re-fastened, they failed constantly and I got so sick of replacing ballast and bulbs I gave up and went back to my stock housing with white halogen bulbs... Then they were destroyed in the accident....

It might work, but I'd find someone to fabricate it...

I had a hard time even with a Morimoto Mini H1 kit...

I'm sure it will look good...

Silver is a cool color because it's a cool color... I went art term there...

Silver would look sharp with pure white or yellow, it can be both classy and sporty...

The gray I have has to be sporty, so the choice was easy... Either would look good!!!

I just dipped the grille black and I'm loving it, I put clear on the chrome "A" emblem, well, I should've kept it red...

Either way, the MDX will look great!!!

Si_jeff

Did you plasti dip your grille black? I was thinking of painting the Silver grille, how would it look with silver MDX and black grille? I am not a big fan of the beak grille , it is just to big and out there.

As for the DRL, did you guys just change to either a yellow halogen or a pure white halogen? I am thinking of doing the fogs with pure white or yellow. I don't like to do HID's on the fogs of my cars because if it is not retrofitted with a projector inside, and just plug n play it is over powering and it over powers the headlights and is funny looking at night.

Skirmich

I went with pure white Halogen for the DRL.
Fogs are using 5500K pure white HIDs.

Midnight Mystery

Don't forget about the new LED crew style kits that are similar to HIDs!!!

RDX10

Yeah I don't know if I want to go through with it since the oem HID's work way better and don't look that much worse. Do I want to take fully functional headlights and possibly hack my electronics? Idk.

He has a 2007 RDX. I am assuming you have a 2010+ MDX. Rather than painting the grille, you can vinyl wrap it gloss black or satin silver but leave the A badge silver. I seen a 2010+ model and he had it vinyl wrapped gloss black, it looked really good.

I have tried those pure white halogens in the past. They were garbage. They were like $50-$60 and lasted only 4-5 months. AND weren't all that white.

I think I am leaning towards yellow film on the fogs. Because it is cheap and temporary. Later on can put HID's when I get bored of it.

Skirmich

Been 6 months now with the Philips Halogen bulbs, they are whiter than the stock DRLs but not mind blowing white... Running at 6V is very hard to make a Halogen bulb white when it's running half voltage.

RDX10

I tried the philips, the sylvannia silver star (ultra star) and one more top brand and top cost. All burnt out in 4-5 months. It even says on the label that they last less because they burn brighter. Now keep in mind that I had them in my low beams, not drls so that may be why they burnt out. 12V vs 6V.

Skirmich

Oh no for heavy duty stuff like continuos low beam duty they are the worst, very low lifespan..
I currently have the Sylvana Ultras on the High beams of the X though, it's amazing how powerful they are... I was thinking in going HID highs but I learned the hard way in my TL-S that not being able to quick flash is a terrible downside, even if you do since the HIDs need to "Charge up" the flash isn't really powerful at all using HIDs. I will keep the Sylvana for Highs.

RDX10

That's why I wish the MDX had bixenons vs the dual setup. But I guess it can't have bixenons without the HID's being the low beams so there is a tradeoff there with lower bulb life.

The one thing I did notice though was that the MDX HID's are not nearly as bright as my RDX's. The ones in the RDX were BY FAR the best I have ever seen. Period. The MDX are on the good side of ok. Kinda weird that the RDX would have better HID's...

Skirmich

The MDX projectors are really crappy.... I was thinking in retrofitting a pair of S2k projectors I have laying around in the garage.

RDX10

The cut off line is really good. But other than that I agree they suck. Not sure if s2000 projectors will fit, if you look at a 1G rdx headlight, you can see that the HID projectors are fricken massive requiring enormous shrouds, the ones on the mdx appear smaller. Disappointing to buy what was nearly double the cost of my RDX originally and have worse lighting.

Midnight Mystery

You need something like this....http://http://www.hidconcept.com/pro...soVxoCy8Lw_wcB

Skirmich

^^ Link doesnt load?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

I'm a big proponent on www.theretrofitsource.com any other site is a tragedy waiting to happen.

and skirmish, the 2G TL's head lights sucked. i think that was one of the first HIDs on the market. there are no "charging Up" times any more.

if you're going to spend the money, go to theretrofitsource.com...
any other site is a fuck boy

Skirmich

My Morimoto XB ballast and bulbs simply do not agree with you crabman... That is what I am rolling in my TL-S HIGH BEAMS, Low Beams are OEM + XB35 bulbs.. Why would I quick flash my Lows?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^idunno, i just read the very latest responses....LOL
so the last 2 post were talking about HID conversions, and I just added my two cents!

also, since Mystery is on a cell phone, his links input TWO http://.....
just backspace, until you get to... www.linkgoeshere.com

Skirmich

In fact I wanted to use the S2k projectors I bought for the Projector Retrofit into the TL-S but I never seem to have the time to do that....
I could in theory use the MDX projectors in the TL-S and use the S2k projectors to upgrade the MDX?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^ if you have time.
if you never got around to it on the TL, will you have time to do both!?

Midnight Mystery

The Retrofit Scource has always been good to me... That's where I ordered the Morimoto H1 projectors.... The install itself wasn't bad, but the wiring was a PITA, by the time it was said and done, it took me about 3 weeks to perfect it and I always had problems... Threw in the towel after 13 months...

I think my problem was that I had too many cuts and splices in the wiring for the Low/High wiring, as well as the ballast, bulb connectors (where I had the DRLs connected), and the bulb wires where I had to cut them to get them through the dust caps...

Eric The Car Guy recently purchased a Honda Odessey for his wife, MotorFiend sent him a new LED headlight kit similar to an HID kit... It's pretty much HID, but in one unit, and instant turn on brightness so you can "flash to pass"... It's pretty much the perfect package...

DBConz

quick question regarding the ATF cooler. what years does this apply to? was this poor design ever corrected? i tow 8-20 hour trips with my 2010 MDX, so is this something i should be concerned about?

Skirmich

It seems the affected models are the Pre-Facelift 07 to 09... I haven't seen a Radiator ATF Cooler failure in the +2010 Models?.

AlanW

Question-mine is an 08. Is there an external ATF cooler in addition to the ATF cooling section in the radiator? Or is it just the radiator section?

Skirmich

Yes we have an External OEM ATF Cooler.. See my DIY about it: DIY: Install ATF Cooler 2G MDX - Acura MDX Forum : Acura MDX SUV Forums

AlanW

Your DIY is excellent.
OK, if I'm not going to be towing anything with the MDX ever.....( I've got a 5.3 Sierra for that )..........what if I just bypassed the radiator ATF cooling section and just had the OEM cooler? I mean, how much is that hot radiator section cooling the ATF anyway? Doesn't seem like it would be much different.

Skirmich

Thank You!

I suppose if you are never going to Tow it should be fine? but don´t quote me on that...
AFAIK Acura installed the OEM ATF Cooler to push that 5000lb tow capacity perhaps without the Internal OEM ATF Cooler you will be fine below 3000lb tow... If you aren´t towing like ever then PERHAPS it should be OK to just use the External OEM ATF Cooler? More so if your state doesn´t have Very Hot Summers?

BUT I can only work on assumption here. I would recommend to Replace it instead of just Deleting it.

AlanW

It gets up to 100 to 105 during summers here, mostly upper 90s & low 100s...which is still cooler than the radiator. But without a transmission temp gauge, I wouldn't be able to tell if it ran hotter, cooler, or about the same.

Now it gets pretty cold in the winters, sometimes down to like zero on a few days, many below freezing. So I'm a little worried the trans might not get up to proper operating temp without the radiator ATF section

Skirmich

Don't worry about that.. The main source of heat for the transmission is the Torque Converter, Even without the Internal ATF Cooler the ATF will get toasty with the Torque Converter..
A simple trick to get the trans to operating temp with ATF Coolers is to start on 2nd gear.. This will push the TQ to heat the ATF faster.

RDX10

Hello all,

Sorry for my hiatus from this thread. Have been really getting some good driving in before I posted my experience with it. I have to say I am absolutely beyond smitten with it, in a similar way my rdx had me smitten but in a completely different style haha.

I LOVE the looks. Still gets looks, still gets stares, still gets compliments. I recently drove it to a family wedding and got multiple compliments (some even from my arch nemesis cousin who couldn't stop staring...long story). I was a groomsman and my bridesmaid (whom I just met) kept mentioning how nice my car was and how clean. My brother is always asking for the keys and is always complimenting the way it looks and drives.

If I had to compare it to my RDX. The RDX was much more nimble. But oddly and sweetly enough the big X has less body roll than the RDX. Like almost non existent. The RDX SH-AWD was hard to activate, really had to slam on the loud pedal, the mdx on the other hand almost activates before I am needing it leading to a smooth glide through a sharp turn. Due to the adaptive shocks, I can completely change the flavour of my drive. Put it into sport and it hunkers down, body roll disappears, the steering tightens up quite a bit (didn't know the sport button effected steering feel till after I bought it). Put it into comfort and it is a truly off feeling, a physics defying feeling. I see these giant bumps, I feel the suspension moving, but the body does not move. It is as though the body dissociates from the suspension. The suspension absorbs everything and the body does nothing. I can absolutely feel a drastic difference in the sport and comfort modes.

The engine note is intoxicating. I cannot wait to install the j-pipe and change out the mufflers. It hits 4k rpm and lets out the most satisfying snarl I have had yet. This absolutely trounces the 4.4 and 4.8 in my X5's and the 4.2 in my Touareg. A couple times I was workig the vtec while on the phone and the person told me it sounded like I had a race car. While calling it race car like is a tad pushing it, it really does sound amazing. I find the power to be more than adequate. It really can push. I wish I did have a 6 speed auto and really for 2007 it should have had one.

I don't regret my purchase one bit. It costs me $70 to fill and gets 500km in pure lead foot city driving. I haven't calculated yet but I am more than ok with that!

Midnight Mystery

I'm glad to see you love the MDX!!!

The MDX is more elegant than the RDX, that's why people stare at it so much...

I think I'd really like one!!!

RDX10

In a perfect world the 1G rdx would have looked more like the 2G mdx and been about 4-5 inches longer and wider. Would have been the meanest thing on the road and would have sold better and still be in my driveway.