Can anyone tell me how much noise (engine, tire roadnoise) the RDX has (in comparison to the Acura TSX or RL)?
Because i live in Switzerland i have no chance to drive one. So i can only get an idea if you compare it to the mentioned cars.

Thank you for you help

 

Compared to the TSX, I would say that the car has more of both road noise and engine noise. Engine noise is variable since it is very quiet unless the turbo is kicked in. I am inclined to say that there is significantly more roadnoise, but we sold our TSX about 2 years ago so I don't remember exactly.

Our other car is an Infiniti FX with 20 inch wheels, but the RDX does seem like there is more roadnoise even compared to that car. Obviously, there is much more engine noise in the FX than the RDX.

Hope that helps.

 

Interesting that you find the TSX to be that quiet. I don't even think the TL is terribly quiet. . . yet I think the RDX sufficiently hushes a lot of road noise. Don't expect it to be LS430 quiet - you hear the tires, engine, and some road nosie - but I don't think it's nearly as whooshy as a TL and surely not a TSX.

 

I did say that it's been a while since we had our TSX, but I'm pretty sure that I didn't say anything about the TSX being quiet.

 

A consideration in assessing the road noise of the RDX is the OEM tires. My experience with the stock Michelins on the RDX is that they are noisy and rough. Because of this,I am very confident that by either upsizing to the 19 inch wheels with better tires or simply upgrading the rubber on the standard 18's will result in a much smoother, quieter ride with the RDX. This was certainly the case when I changed tires on my RL which shares the same crappy OEM tires as the RDX. Unfortunately, tire choices are limited in both the 18 inch and 19 inch sizes. I plan to buy the 19 inch wheels for my wife's RDX and mount snow tires on the stock 18's (by the time the RDX is available up here in Canada, I'll probably need the snow tires).

 

.....on noise and smoothness, because I'm VERY sensitive to this issue!!...I got a chance to extensively test drive the RDX, and here are my thoughts:

The RDX ENGINE is quite noisy when accelerating aggressively, as well as when accelerating moderately and "around town driving" the engine can be clearly heard. There is also a fair amount of TURBO WHINE heard in these same driving conditions. However, once you start cruising at around 50+mph (80+km/h since you're in Switzerland) the engine is "reasonably hushed". Besides this, it's not just the noise, but the kind of sound the engine makes. It's an unrefined "vacuum-cleaner-raspy-sounding" note that is a typical trait of a 4 cylinder engine. Overall the engine is fairly smooth for a 4 cylinder mill, but not anywhere near as smooth, quiet or refined as a well made 6 cylinder, including Honda's own excellent J30, J32 and J35 engines.

Road noise is "fairly good" for the class of vehicle, and the ride quality is pretty good too, for a vehicle with sporting pretensions. Wind noise is well controlled as well.

In comparison to the RL and TL, the RDX is way noisier IMO. In comparison to the TSX, the RDX engine seemed a bit noisier as well, probably because of the turbo. However road noise seems roughly about the same as the TSX

Like I've said above, the primary offender here is the ENGINE.

 

... although the audio admittedly is not a good test due to the quality of the recording. Try about 3 min into the video of my test drive at the link below:

RDX Video

 

Thank you for your posts!

 

How long did you own the TSX, like 5 months???

The RDX wasn't engineered to be Lexuslike quiet, but it's certainly well within reason for vehicles in this class - less road noise than X3 for sure.