Hi everyone... I'm happy to be alive tonight to talk to you, and I feel like I owe it to my RL. To make a long story short... I was driving to work this morning on a 4 lane highway... doing about 60 in the left lane, not paying attention and playing with the radio... looked up and the car in front of me was at a dead stop (apparently trying to make a U-Turn)... Well it's amazing how your reflexes take over...and how quickly you 'think' of your options (NeuronRob will have to explain that further)... breaks were out of the question...I had about 20-30 feet to impact...didn't have time to look over my shoulder to see if anyone was next to me...so took my chances and jerked my steering wheel as hard as I could to the right. Without even a squeal, the RL squatted and steered into the Rt lane... then another quick jerk (just in case there was someone in that lane...which luckily there wasn't)... and I was back in my lane..still doing close to 60mph. Amazing. After checking my pants to make sure I didn't S**T in them.... I promised myself NEVER...EVER to complain about my car.

If I do... you guys can smack me.

 

May I suggest that this is another reason why the CMBS option is something that is extremely misunderstood.
Its just for situations just like the one you described.
It may have warned you in advance, and if you didnt catch it, it would have made a difference before an impact, which thankfully didnt happen.

 

Wow im glad your ok but I didnt even know the RL rattled I thought that was just the TL?

 

NOW... I understand the need. Don't think I'd buy a car without CMBS from now on. And I'm SURE when my kids are old enough to drive... I'll be wanting it in their cars.

 

Yea... mine does. I've silenced 90% of them... but I won't be complaining about the other 10%.

If you want a 'creek free' Acura... you should drive the new MDX. I had a loaner a couple weeks ago...and I pushed on every part of the dash..and trim...and count illicit a single sound. I guess when the purpose is to possible take it 'off road'... they put it together pretty solid so it doesn't shake itself apart.

 

Doc, I am glad you are OK and no one else was affected by the emergency manuever.

The RL is a well balanced vehicle and the admiration you just gained for the RL was indeed a valuable lesson.

I hope we all do not have to experience the same to appreciate what this vehicle will do for us. Admittingly, we all lose focus on our driving periodically.

Most of my emergency manuevers have been affected by other drivers, sometimes who are careless, but too often simply agressive and hostile drivers. The RL has stopped better than I expected, manuevered without losing control and maintained composure when I thought it would surely be lost.

Now, perhaps you should optimize use of those voice commands for the stereo!

And when you settle down, you need to get back on your rattle steed and figure out how to get the center console creak exorcized! I'm counting on you and that stethescope!

 

Ok Tampa... but just for YOU!

 

A "creak" and "rattle" free Acura? Try a 1st gen RL or TL.

 

Wow, glad you're OK.

 

X 2

 

+3. Whew!!

 

Man! You gave me a start, there... The way your story started, it sounded like it was going to end with the car being totaled, but you walking away. Glad it was a happy ending!

CMBS is nice, and all that, but it's no substitute for an attentive driver who is aware of his surroundings. When I drive, I know exactly who is where...when I "have" the lane to my left or right, etc.

Drives me nuts to see people playing with things, talking on cell phones, etc, when driving. I mean...these people are operating a 3,000 pound mass of metal and glass and they're busy eating, putting on makeup, etc, etc, etc.

Nope...no CMBS for me. The adaptive cruise control would be nice at times, though!

 

cmbs is nice, but its also a good additional tool even in defensive driving, b/c you can not react as fast as the computer can when faced with idiotic drivers.
I remember when it saved me from an accident when a driver turned right from a left lane in front of me at 40mph and the system saved me from an accident because the brakes were already applied by the system before I could move my foot from the gas to the brake.
That 1 sec difference (and it could be as much as 2 seconds) definitely saved me from t-boning that idiot.
Bottom line is that no matter how attentive you are, you just cant be 100%. The computer on the other hand is always on.
I believe that even tho he was able to get out of the way of this accident, if he had the CMBS, he would have had more warning, as we are all human, if he didnt catch it, it would have saved him from more serious injury which thankfully didnt happen at all.

 

Damn glad to hear you didn't wreck but if someone was on your ass they're in for a surprise.

 

I agree with soitri. CMBS definitely speeds your reaction time, and I believe that the CMBS applying brakes in a similar situation gave me that extra edge in not having an accident. It is a great defensive tool, but still a tool, that cannot substitute for the driver. The CMBS will not brake fully to a stop, nor steer you around obstacles like Doc did, but it gives you an added measure of reaction time, which is something you can never get back once it has passed.

Doc, glad to hear you made it out OK. I thought I was going to read about a horrible accident in your RL. It is an awesome car indeed.

 

I had similar experience this Monday.
I was drving down 5 south and just past 710.
It was 1:45am and I was doing 70 in fast lane and suddenly I saw some white object was in my lane.
It was a small white puppy and I din't even look my right, I just steered right and came back to the fast lane.
My RL moved around it without any glitches.
I didn't know what happened to the dog, but you can imagine.

 

Check where the plastic around the shifter (where the seat heater buttons are) comes in contact with the plastic of the console shifter (metallic looking plastic). After I removed that plastic to run a remote radar detector display, I notice some pretty bad creaking. I noticed the squeaking was where those two pieces of plastic touch each other.

A couple pieces of felt and it was quiet as a mouse again.

... and Doc, glad you're OK.

 

Thank Hawks. That is exactly the issue. I did asked the dealer to address it on my A1 service call. But well,,,,you know. It seems to be the space where the trim piece surrounds the metallic piece. The rub and the friction creates a creak between the two. Now that we are hitting 90F here, they seem to no longer be in harmony and the creaks happen when you step on the gas, brake or hit the bumpy road. It is a simple one creak, not overly repetitive. I figured I am best to resolve it myself with something I can wrap around the metallic plate and buffer it from the surrounding trim piece. I have not found something that will be invsiable in the seam between the two pieces.

I am relying on NavyDoc and his magic stethescope to publish the cure. I route Doc through his creak & rattle exorcisms of the past. My theory is to let him practice the solutions before I screw up attempting a fix! Needles to say, I am grateful Doc did not become bug splatter last week!

to you both.

 

I used some felt. Stuck it on the sides of the silver metallic looking piece (shift indicator). If you stick it low enough it won't be visible when you put it all together again.

 

For the squeak and screech sound coming from the shifter area, I just sprayed adjoining parts with Aerospace 303 and all the squeaky sound is gone. I realized that the sound is coming from the plastic rubbing against each other. I thought about the felt paper, but decided on the spray first and it worked. No mess at all, just wiped extra solution off and everything looks good.

 

Apparently you aren't using the RL's technology to it's fill extent, Navy.

You shouldn't have to take your eyes off the road to pleay with the radio.

 

How do you open the shifter cover? I don't want to break anything by just pull it up.

 

If you're directing your question to me, well, I didn't even removed the shifter cover, just sprayed over the adjoining gaps like I said, you kinda let the 303 solution flow over the gaps then wipe off any extra solution.

 

That could have been bad, glad you're okay.

 

I don't have any 303 solutions. I'll try using WD40 first.

 

I had this rattle around the shifter area also and fixed it yesterday... I applied some felt to the sides of the silver trim area. It's actually quite easy to do and less messy than squirting oil which is messy and only a temp fix imho.

1. flip open the cup holder . 2. Then gently pry the shifter trim (4 clips hold it). 3. finally disconnect the harness going to the heater switches. 4. Next remove the shift knob by unscrewing. 5. finally lift panel out to the right and apply the felt to the sides of the silver trim.

fwiw, I went a step further and disassembled the shifter area and applied additional felt to the plastic piece bottom that sides when you change gear. No sounds now at all, but now I can hear another rattle. It's minor, but they are a endless battle LOL.

 

Aerospace 303 is not oil and I was initially thinking that it would be messy, but to the contrary, no such problem. Aerospace 303 for those who don't know is some kind of UV protecting product that you can use on the dash, seats and everything else that is not covered with paint. Well, whatever works and suits your taste will do.

 

I'm sorry I didn't see the previous post with WD40 mentioned. In that case, it will be very messy indeed and you wouldn't want to do that.

 

Glad to hear you're OK.

My old car didn't have ABS, and it wasn't until I needed it that I understood why. Now I'd never buy a car without it.

Re: when your kids are old enough to drive ... Down the road, I can see CMBS becoming a standard feature like VSA, TractionControl, ABS, etc.

Further ahead, I expect to see self-driving cars (like the teams are competing to develop for the DARPA contest). While the initial benefit is to reduce wartime casualties to drivers in combat areas, the bigger impact (when it catches on for everyone else) is that drivers would not need to pay attention because the computer is doing the driving. So you'd be free to adjust the radio without looking at the road ahead (though it would help if the system warned you before it did anything abrupt, so as not to startle you).

I know this kind of self-driving car talk is probably heresy on a car forum -- if we didn't love driving, we wouldn't be posting. I also would not want to be driving version 1.0 of such a vehicle. It's bad enough when a PC crashes, let alone a motor vehicle!

But I think there are a lot of people who'd just as easily let someone else drive while they were chatting on their cellphones, etc. (Plus, if cars could drive themselves, then even drunks could get home OK because they weren't really at the wheel. It changes the whole notion of car insurance and liability, if the car is really controlled by the software.)

And much like it's hard to find a car-rental place where you can get a car with a stick-shift, at some point in the future, someone won't be able to find a car they can drive themselves.

The irony is that horses were self-driving!