wrestrepo

I love my RDX but feel that it needs to "calm down" a little bit, specially when in the city. I own a Saab and they have a "sport" button for when I want to get all the performance available in the car....How about Acura doing something similar? It would get better gas mileage...right?

Metz

Interesting idea. I actually tend to shift the RDX into sport mode when in stop/go traffic to minimize the amount of shifting - I think it also improves low end torque. Maybe Acura should have put their new v6 with cylinder management like the new accord (shuts off 2 cylinders when just cruising).

brizey

V6 doesn't fit.

What the RDX needs is the sport package from the MDX--specifically the magneto-adjustable shocks. For simplicity, it could go to sport mode when the transmission is shifted to sport.

cwepruk

I'm pretty sure they could fit a V6 if they wanted.

I hardly think the RDX needsto calm down though. It's not exactly rip roaring to me.

White92

I've been thinking that since day one. Maybe MMC?

johnny99

I don't buy the "V6 doesn't fit" argument. The RDX was a brand new vehicle last year. Acura could have made the hood a little bigger if they wanted a V6 to fit. I'm sure they thought about this.

The real reason for no V6 is probably because they did not want to compete with the MDX. Also, the V4 turbo is cheaper and offering 2 different models would increase their costs.

MMike1981

i think the turbo is all part of the aura of the rdx & packaging, the whole 'techno charged thing. You take away the turbo and its gadgets (vari flow, turbo gauge, turbo badging), the RDX, at least to me, is alot less appealing

i think, at least by now, the marketing ploy of performance of a V6, econ of a 4 is out the window. Acura, and Mazda, havent even been close to proving that claim. good marketing tool....just misleading and not true. and in hindsight, not practical for those concerned through the roof about a couple miles to the gallon.

the older legends had an "S" button....i just cant remember if it was a fancy button for overdrive or an actual sport mode.

wrestrepo

Maybe some clarifications to my original post. The sport button that Saabs have actually changes the performance of the car my making the throttle more responsive, it is not just a fancy overdrive. As for the 4 cyl or V6, I don't care for either of the two, having had 4 cyl turbos for the past 10 years I like them. However, the fuel consumption of the RDX is just shameful for the engine size. Even if compared to other cars it's class and size it does not make sense that the 4 cyl has the same consumption of the V6s.

Back to the story, I do feel that the RDX needs to calm down a little bit in the City, that's actually the review that either car and driver or road and track gave it. The RDX is a great car to drive and I don't mind the tight suspension (even if it makes my 9-5 feel like a Cadillac) as most of my friends do. But in the spirit of being green and saving money on gas, the sportiveness of the RDX can be turned off for normal driving and turned back on for spirited driving....Or the other way around, How about a "COMFORT" button????

MMike1981

given its performance/weight, its MPG is basically along the average of any other comparable truck (other than the V6 in the toyota), especially w/full time awd

so...are you saying you would want a sport button for the tranny...& a setting for the suspension? or a sport/comfort suspension only

wrestrepo

Mileage is bad for the size of the engine...everyone agrees on that...MIleage is also comparable with other cars in this segment with the exception of the Toyota...everyone agrees on that....but how come you get the same mileage on an MDX???

I want a sport setting to have a more calm car all the time, or a comfort setting to have the option of calming down the car when I don't want to drive in a "fun" way, whichever way you want to go. The setting doesn't have to involve the suspension or tranny, it could be a re-mapping of the ECU to be more/less responsive to the throttle and shift sooner/later (that's how the Saab works)...I have to clarify that the engine power (all of it) is available all the time, so you won't loose on that, it's how responsive it becomes to the accelerator.

mav238

Interestingly, I don't find the RDX to be "high-strung" or jumpy at the throttle. In fact, I find the throttle really easy to modulate and linear. But I must say, that when I do want that torque to kick in fast for overtaking, it really does kick in fast.

The "S" mode on the autotrans, will provide much more spirited driving, but it would be really good for running around S curves, where the engine holds onto low/mid gears longer.

I drive the RDX to work everyday, in typical heavy city traffic here in Vancouver, BC, and never once did I find it difficult to modulate the throttle, or did I find the car to be jumpy when tipping in the gas pedal.

One thing though, even for the variable flow turbo, there is still the 1-2 secs of lag, when pushing the car from standing stop position.

mav238

Mileage is NOT bad for the TYPE of engine and also where this engine is used in. We think it's bad because it's a 2.3L engine. But it is not simply a 2.3L engine, it is a variable flow turbocharged engine. The variable flow is suppose to get the turbo spinning earlier, and turbocharged engines typically forces more air into the combustion chamber per second than a normally-aspirated one, allowing more fuel to be pumped in as well, = more instantaneous power. So it will consume more gas than the normally-aspirated 2.3L engine, but it generates the same power as a 3.8L V6 without the V6 gas consumption.
AND PLUS, 4000 lbs + FULL-time AWD, = more gas consumed.

You can't really compare with the Toyota RAV4, where it is a normally aspirated engine, and it's AWD system is a "on-demand" system, it comes on only when it is needed.

Why did Honda choose turbocharging? I don't know. But I personally like to drive cars with high low-end torque, and turbocharging is one way to get that.
Why did Honda choose FULL-time AWD, I don't know... maybe in the future, they will have an "ON-DEMAND" SH-AWD system?

So my personal take on this:
The turbocharged engine will consume more gas, even if it's ONLY a 2.3L engine.
It's a HEAVY vehicle at 4000 lbs.
it has FULL-time AWD, constant added frictional losses in the transaxle which is constantly engaged front and back.

So why complain now about the poor gas mileage? Can Honda potentially improve on this, sure... but the RDX is a very unique package, and you should have considered the pros and cons of a turbocharged full-time AWD chassis in a heavy vehicle. JHMO

brizey

It's size of the engine bay, not the height under the hood. The chassis is designed for a transversely mounted engine. I don't think the V6 fits front to back. They would have to extend the length of the chassis. The hood of the RDX is already WAY higher than the CR-V because of the TMIC.