pattiann

I have tried to find the setting that calibrates the compass, but can't find it. Any help

Carbon2008RDX

Calibrate it? Do you feel it's inaccurate? Seems OK to me.

zatsnzapps

I'm interested in this question, too.

I have a 2017 MDX Advanced and my compass points left for East and right for West.

I feel like there should be a way to calibrate it, but I haven't had any luck finding it.

RDX-Rick

Can you describe the problem in more detail? I'm just having a little trouble trying to picture your problem in my head.

A handheld boy scout compass usually has a red pointer that points North, but the Acura compass really doesn't point in any particular direction at all. The direction you are travelling should be at the top, so if you find East is on the left and West is on the right, that is perfectly normal (it means you are driving south). In fact North can be on the right and South can be on the left, and everything is normal (if you are driving West).

markAZ

IIRC, if you have the navigation package the compass is driven by the GPS and there's no way to calibrate it.

zatsnzapps

Thank you for the replies, guys.

Yeah, it's so odd. Here is a pic. Notice that West is up (makes sense since I have the direction to head up), but the blue arrow is to the right. If I go East, then East is up and the blue arrow is to the left.

RDX-Rick

I think I see where you are confused. As I mentioned before, the compass shows the direction you are headed (at the 12 o'clock position). In your image, you are heading west. The blue arrow is pointing towards north. So if you are driving west, you would have to make a right turn to go north. If you are driving east, then you would have to turn left to go north.

So I may have confused you when I said the compass doesn't point in any particular direction. It actually does point north ( at least the blue arrow does) but the blue arrow could be in any direction on the circle. So it's easier to think of the RDX compass as simply pointing in the direction you are travelling rather than pointing north or south.

If you are following someones instructions, and you know you have to turn south at a certain intersection, you can glance at the compass and see which direction is south ( the white arrow on the display).

jcross1231

Look up "Compass Calibration" in the manual, and as markAZ said, if you have navigation, the compass is calibrated by a lookup table and GPS position. The display format is "nose up". The reference carat in the center of the compass rose doesn't move. The current direction is under the lubber line at the top. I haven't found the compass to be particularly useful. It always tends to be one increment too far off toward the north most of the time. However, it does display general orientation.

RDX-Rick

What is the icon of the letter "A" in the bottom area of the tachometer indicate? My 2016 model does not have that. At least I don't recall ever seeing it.

I downloaded the 2017 owners manual and could not find any reference to it there as well.

zatsnzapps

Ah, now there's my derp moment. I should've been able to figure that out. Thanks again - really appreciate it.

The circle with the A is the automatic engine stop that's enabled by fully depressing the brake pedal. It takes a little getting used to, but aside from being a little jerky at times on the restart, it's a pretty cool feature. There's also a master switch just below the push-button transmission shifter to turn the feature off and on.

RDX-Rick

Yes the compass can be a little confusing until you get your mind around it. Since I use the navigation system for everything, I rarely glance at the compass unless I have an urge to get some idea which way I am travelling. I always use the compass on the Nav screen which mirrors the one on the MID. I still have to think for a second when I glance at it though.

I didn't know that the auto engine stop had been added to the 2017 RDX. I'm not sure it is something I would use, but I guess I would have to experience it before I made up my mind.

zatsnzapps

I actually have the MDX. This thread was originally started in the MDX forum and was moved over here to the RDX side.

Regarding the auto-stop, it wasn't something that I would've thought that I would like. In fact, I thought I'd hate it. Back in my younger days, I had one of the cheese wedge-looking Nissan Pulsar NXs. The timing belt popped when I was at a red light on a very congested road and the engine just shut down, so fast forward several years and I wasn't wild about the engine shutting off as part of a feature. I'm not certain how much fuel it really saves by shutting down the engine for a minute or so at a time, but it's something that I'll probably keep using.