I have had my 2013 RDX for 7 months now. It has very low miles about 3500 only. Its a weekend car as I work in the NYC. 2000 miles out of these are from 3 weekend getaways. So, the car is not really driven very regularly.

I just took a 500 miles trip to Lake George. Few things I noticed about the driving that worries me and I seek your advise:

1. While going uphill (not very steep), I actually had to press harder on the gas and it took a second or 2 for the car to really pick up the pace. And while it picked up the pace, I could feel the gear shift.

2. The engine doesnt feel smooth still. On low speeds, I could feel the gear shift to be noticeable so a stop at a traffic light was not very smooth.

I dont know if this is because of the fact that my RDX has low miles or there is something to worry.

 

When at highway speeds, the car is in 6th gear, and for it to climb a hill or accelerate, it will generally downshift to 5th (or lower if necessary) to avoid strain on the engine and/or to maintain speed. That's common with cars that have 6 or more gears.

Your second point is confusing - you say the engine isn't smooth, but then seem to be referring to the transmission. Assuming it's the transmission you're talking about, here's some thoughts:

- How smoothly the transmission shifts when starting up from a stop depends a lot on how briskly you take off. Mine will shift buttery-smooth if I accelerate slowly and smoothly, but if I cowboy it a little it will often shift harder. It's a simple result of applying more torque to the transmission.

- If you mean downshifting while coming to a stop, it shouldn't downshift harshly. You will often be able to notice it downshifting, but if it is "clunking' or jerking, you might want to have it checked.

- What kind of gas are you using? I've found that my RDX shifts a little more roughly when I use Regular gas. When I go back to Premium it smooths out. I suspect it's a matter of more efficient combustion with Premium, which translates to smoother throttle transitions. If you've been using Regular, try a tank or two of Premium and see if it doesn't smooth out.


If none of this applies, take it back to the dealer and have them check it out.

 

The RDX's Grade Logic Control is designed to hold a lower gear when climbing hills to keep the transmission from roughly fumbling through gears. If you are trying to gain speed while traveling uphill, this would explain the car's hesitation.

As for roughness in low gears, there are some other threads on here where owners have complained of similar occurrences. I've noticed mine is generally smoother and swifter after reaching ~5k miles.

As Mike said, fuel octane rating may be a factor as well. I've always used 93 octane, except for one tank and I noticed a considerable difference in drivability. Hope this helps, good luck!

 

Something else that I've noticed that can cause a "hesitation" when starting up a hill, especially at highway speeds, is the cylinder deactivation. On some grades, I've noticed the car trying to stay in the high efficiency mode, which causes it to loose speed, and it doesn't go from 3 cylinders to 6 cylinders quickly all the time. Now if I'm going up a steeper grade, it doesn't have issues and tends to either start firing on all cylinders, downshift, or both quickly, but subtle inclines it seems to have difficulty with.