Showkey

Acura must publish the EPA mileage mentioned in prior post. All manufacturers are subject to the same test. The test is designed to give an even playing field or even comparison number. Comparison being the key work……your mileage may vary. Especially in cold weather in city driving !!!!!!

EPA change the test to better reflect real life about 15 years ago.

More than a few manufactures cheated or fudged the EPA MPG test so they could advertise a better number. Some paid dearly when they got caught.

Hyundai and Kia fined $100m for misleading customers on fuel economy
Hyundai and Kia have agreed to pay $100m (£62m) in fines and forfeit $200m in credits for misleading customers about the fuel economy of more than a million cars sold in the US.
Hyundai gained a marketing edge by claiming that its cars got 40 miles per gallon in highway driving. The inflated fuel economy claims involved about 1.2m vehicles, about a quarter of the 2011-2013 models sold in the US, the EPA found.

RiotfunK

I recently went on roughly 300 mile trip each way. Fresh fill up before I left to go there and back with 91 Sunoco. I got 21.8 in comfort mode there and 21.6 in sport on the way back. 72-80mph going with traffic. Even around town there’s barely a noticeable difference in mpg between the modes. I usually just switch to sport + after warmed up in town since the throttle response in this thing is absolutely f’ing terrible and unsafe with the initial toe in. Feels like an old Nissan cvt, foot down, nothing, nothing, still nothing. Hey we’re moving. That probably doesn’t help the mpg.

Jordster

Right. On the highway, drive mode will make little difference (as long as you keep the transmission out of S). 21-22 mpg at 75-80mph sounds just about right for a well geared 4100 lb+++ tall vehicle.

But by your last two sentences, it sounds like you've never driven a heavy, fuel-economy oriented turbo before. You don't stab the throttle - you roll onto it. The only reason it's mitigated in Sport+ because the boost programming is changed to engage more readily. If you did that all the time (not on a highway trip) your fuel economy will be way worse than 21 mpg. And if you really can't stand it, aside from commenting that you probably bought the wrong car for your driving habits, I'd suggest an ECU tune.

JB in AZ

Wife and I are doing better every day. Thank you. We still have many challenges...due to the type and severity of my shoulder break, I will likely never be able to raise my right arm above the shoulder level. See my "Sad to say" topic for more...

RiotfunK

Acura also marketed this as a sporty suv. Is phenomenal in the twisties, general drivability is fatiguing though. In sport + I get like 1-1.5 mpg difference. Is negligible. But drivable. Doesn’t help this thing is in 6th gear at 35mph and holds the higher gear until you’re back on throttle and then is laggy af and clunky , waiting to shift. And then shifts hard. Have to constantly down shift on the paddles since I’m running 2-3 gears too high for the current situation. Also doesn’t change my mpg when I do that. It’s geared to stay below 2k rpm, which is pointless in a 4 cyl. sorry about the rant. The longer I have this. The less I like it. Have driven It 2k miles

Jordster

Wow. You type like you're on ADHD meds. Or something. Short thoughts. Partial Sentences.

First, I think you're ignoring a lot of details about mpg (like how much worse it is when cold, which is why you think Sport+ is returning the same mileage).

Second, you seem to be gunning for peak power like it's the only way to drive. I realize that there is no "right" way to drive but for this car, I'd assert that you're doing it all wrong. The fact that you're constantly asking for 3 downshifts makes it seem like you want to live life at 5k RPM+. That's great, and the Acura is a standout because most 2.0Ts run out of steam past their low RPM torque peak. Do you just floor it every time you want to speed up? What are these "current situations" that are always calling for instant max power?

Finally, in what way is it pointless to stay under 2k rpm when cruising? High revs while cruising are tiring as f (from someone who used to drive an '08 Si that did 3k rpm at 65 mph).

As previously suggested, if you want faster throttle response, get an ECU tune. But in all honesty, you bought the wrong car if this is the way you want to drive. The RDX is a sporty take on a premium mainstream crossover. The car you want is built by Porsche and has 6 cylinders, costs a lot more, has far worse gas mileage, but keeps you on the boil.

jkozlow3

NYC is not like any other city in the U.S. and I can guarantee you no manufacturer is testing their EPA fuel economy numbers in NYC.

NYC is basically the equivalent of one giant downtown (not just Manhattan - the other boroughs are more congested than the downtowns of many other cities). That's not what "city" driving means as far as EPA fuel economy goes.

"City" driving for 98% of the country means getting in your vehicle, driving down a few residential roads in the suburbs, (25-30mph), stopping at a few stop signs, then transitioning to some busier streets with businesses (typically 45-50 mph), getting stopped at a few decently spaced traffic lights along the way while you drive to the store. Not constant stop & go driving in heavy traffic conditions or in a congested downtown area with a high density of traffic lights where you are accelerating and decelerating constantly.

Nothing about NYC driving meets anyone's definition of normal city driving, the EPA included. I'm an ex-NYC resident and have lived in 5 states as an adult and driven all over the country on various business trips. NYC is different from the rest of the country in just about every imaginable way and driving is certainly no exception!

anoop

If you click the "Test Details" tab on this page, it shows exactly what test is used to measure city mpg.
https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml

Texasrdx21

Anything over 65mph and your mileage will decrease a lot. Add wind or hills, and the size and turbo will drive down mileage. In pure city driving with a light foot I get 17mpg. At hwy speeds of 65-75, rolling highways with elevation changes and wind - best I got was 25.4 mpg with a strong tail wind pushing and 22mpg at lower speeds with a head wind of 15-20mph. I have the SHAWD Aspec, 2nd oil change done at 4K with pure synethic and thats terrible mpg in my book. Also, the RDX was empty, only the driver and tires inflated to 36psi.

Peter Vred

Boy, there is a lot of poor mileage going on in this thread!
I recently bought a used 2020 RDX Advance SH-AWD, and have been getting 28.* MPG, in comfort mode, and not "getting on it" often.

Then a month or so ago, my Auto engine shut-off feature quit working, I see an Engine idle shut off "Unavailable" message, briefly on the dash when I stop.
This has reduced my fuel consumption to 27.* MPG, no big loss.
I have yet to figure out why the auto shut off doesn't work, but I really didn't love it so much anyway.
I wish there was a way to disable the feature to when I want to, and have the disable "stick".

SilverJ

My RDX with 90% city/10% highway gets about 17.5 MPG.
I get on it every now and then. No complaints from me. I didn't buy this car and expect it to be a Corolla MPG wise.
I'd rather drive a car I want and enjoy vs saving a few dollars at the pump.

Midi Man

In real NYC traffic I was getting 9 to 12 with a grandpa light foot.
On a highway 28 to 30 driving at 70 MPH with cruse control on.
The city was the reason I got rid of this car. Mine was a ASPec with bigger tires.
I have drove a 2022 2021 MDX and RX350 I get 17 to 198 driving with a V 6.

BTW did everyone hear about the major recall for 2016 - 2022 MDX and TLX V6 engine lock up recall?

Midi Man

You will not in real In real NYC traffic I was getting 9 to 12 with a grandpa light foot

Peter Vred

I live just outside of a smallish town in Illinois, near Springfield.
Grocery store is 1/4 mile away.

I drive 13 miles each way thru 7 stoplights to go to the gym, to swim, 4 days a week.

Once or twice a month I’ll drive 50-70 miles to see grandkids or eat out in Springfield.
Not a lot of crazy driving.

I have a love/hate with the RDX, but I’m stuck with it, and I love the stereo.

The Acura is a dream to drive.
I love the adaptive cruise control. Wow.

ns324

I am contemplating getting this:

(idlestopper)

It does require disassembly, but the video does a good job of the "how-to".

I came across the link on a thread on the site but I cannot find the thread.

Also, there was a thread identifying how to re-enable the stop/start once it starts to fail activating, but I made the mistake of not bookmarking the thread. The thread indicated that a low battery charge due to short drives is frequently the reason for the stop/start not engaging, causing the display of the message that you saw. Sure enough, that's the case for me. I got the RDX more than a month ago and the mileage is still below 300; my driving opportunities are currently limited, so after intially having the stop/start engage, it stopped after a couple of weeks.

The reason that I am considering the idlestopper is because when the feature was working, the start did not feel smooth. Should I get the stop/start working again and be brave enough, I will probably go for the idlestopper. If that courage doesn't come, I will have to develop the habit of disabling the feature each time I begin driving.

Midi Man

Illinois is better city driving than NYC. for me to go to a grocery store 1/4 mile away from me I would go through 2 stop signs and 15 red lights.
Forget about getting on a highway that is a parking lot. Traffic is a nightmare at times in NYC. Really bad.

I like the car other than that Yes stereo was great The sh all wheel drive was a blast to drive. I just could not stand the very poor City Gas Mileage.

Also I had the blank display three times on the car. Which after the second time they said they fixed but it came back one month later and they had to call Acura about fixing it again.

Texasrdx21

Would matter if you stomped on the go pedal with that type of NYC driving. That's what a Hybrid RDX (if they ever build one) would rock the MPG in the city.

SilverJ

Hmm...I have not used that yet. Time to read up on it...I never really use cruise control period.

quikj

It's amazing. I use it most at slow speeds in traffic in the city. Makes stop and go traffic much more bearable and returns better gas mileage.

Peter Vred

First thing I tried was having a local battery specialty shop test and charge the battery. Tested fine, took a full charge. Still no auto shut off.

I made an appointment at a non-dealer shop to get this looked at, but like you, not sure I want it, especially if it does not do the car any harm to not use it.

Baldeagle

Changing subjects, since the change to winter fuel formulation and colder/denser air, my highway fuel economy has decrease over 10%. (Same tires, all set at 35 psi.) That drop seems worse than other years. Anybody else observe a similar decrease?

Almatti

I'm "Toying" with getting a 2024 RDXA-Spec Advance as a Demo resale. I have a 22 MDX Advance - lease coming to its end in August 2024. I have a buyout of $38,500 on the MDX with 20K miles on the clock after 3 years. I beleive I have some good "equity". My key question is about real world MPGs in the RDX. The MDX achieves nowehere near the City EPA numbers driving in Suburbia NY (Westchester County) as a retiree doing primarily local Jaunts for shopping, etc. with the occassional longer Jersey Trips to see the Grandkids. I have never achieved 25-26 MPGs on the Highway as well.....but I do 70-80 MPH on the Jersey Turnpike. Don't gt me wrong, I really LIKE my MDX (I reserve Love for people), but I always like to leave my options open. Speaking of which, I have the option via Acura Financial (who the lease is from) to extend the current lease for up to 6 months at my current payment of $610 /Mo. That extension would reduce the Buyout in Jan (6 months later) to $35,500 according to the Agent. Based on my Calculations, that equates to a 3.25% lease rate. By that financial calculation, I could put the $$$$ for the buyout in a T Bill for 6 months earning 5.4% per annum... That also gives me some time to Shop around down the road or just keep my MDX for awhile longer. As a Retiree at 73 yo, I really don't need a 3 ROW SUV, but love the room and comfort of the MDX, The Advance package gives me all the Toys (some of which I don't use regulalry), excellent ride & handling, sufficient Get and Go, excellent sound system, the dreaded TTIP (which I have become accustomed to - the HUD helps a lot) . And it still "winks" at me sitting in my driveway.

Midi Man

Well I live in NYC and I got 9 to 12 NYC Real driving with my 2019 RDX A Spec. On a long Trip to GA cruse set to 70 I got 28. I don't drive aggressively either.

I have since dumped it and got a 2022 RX 350 with 20 inch rims. I love my Lexus. I am getting 14 to 16 in the city and 33 on the highway cruse set to 60 in long island.
This is with reg gas also not prem like the RDX needed.

On a side note when my RDX was in for repairs I had a MDX loaner and it got better gas mileage that the RDX did.

I will never get another Acura again. I had to many issues with the dead display, Unable to change drive mode and just Acura corp and the Dealerships stupidity on not fixing. Yes it went in several times to get fixed.
Acura treated me as if I purchased a Honda. Lexus treats me Like I purchased a Luxury car.

I am not a Acura hater since I had a 1990 Legend L and I loved that car. But truth be told Acura is not the Acura of the 90's
I hope this info helps you.

Texasrdx21

Completely agree. Owned lots of Honda's over the year and this was my first Acura. It's built well, very durable, super reliable, SHAWD is a tractor but has some negatives (rides hard, AC is not the strongest and lacks newer features of the competition). The RDX city MPG with a big turbo loves petrol.

Lowest I got was 14 mpg in the city in -10 degrees and best was 26-27 mpg at 70 mph on a 700 mile road trip (flat terrain and little wind). Hybrid is the way to go if you want a big bump in city mpg. As for the dealership experience - it's definitely a hit or miss.

Getting warranty repairs for odd wear exterior/interior items or bigger issues requires the corporate Acura rep to review the issue and either approve or disapprove. That's a frustrating process!

anoop

If mpg is the only consideration and you’re enjoying the MDX, I would stick with the MDX. The 6 month lease extension sounds good and by then you’ll know whether the buyout price is good based on market conditions. There’s some redesign expected with both RDX and MDX for 2025 and along with the economy that may impact used car prices (making the buyout price look worse or better).

https://acuranews.com/en-US/releases/release-c47fff63a4bbfa260d98e7dcc2030af7-the-best-gets-better-2025-acura-mdx-receives-bolder-styling-enhanced-tech-and-bang-olufsen-audio

https://www.edmunds.com/acura/rdx/2025/

Midi Man

Thanks for your feedback. My issue was they said they fixed the display then 2 weeks after being parked in the garage it came back. Showed the dealership a picture they said that is not proof. LOL
Then the Dealership said they need to call Acura to ask if they could fix it again. I said.WTF.
Long story short I said I am getting ride of this RDX. Pandemic hit and it was a cheap 2 to 3 year lease for me even thought I had purchased the car.
To me the RDX is not as well built as they clam it to be. The 90 legend fit and finish was excellent the 2019 RDX was not look at your bumper and they way it fits under your head lights.
Really bad. Also the gaps are not good and I had an issue where there was a pooping sound from the roof. They never found the issue.

I would never get a Honda / Acura Hybrid that I would say stick to Toyota / Lexus since they have been doing it the longest and have the bugs worked out.

On a side note I have an old 92 LS 400 I lost a screw out of the remote. Called the dealerships they said they had no screw So I called Lexus to see if they could help.
I said here we go with the car is way out of warranty. Nope what they said is let us review your issue, called me back in 2 days replaced the key fob and programing with $400.
Now I am not going to say everyone's experiance will be the same since I really have never called Lexus for the LS before but I was shocked at there response.
I thought I was SOL.

My thoughts after this was I guess you get what you pay for in the long run.

Almatti

Judging from the last Posts - THX Guys - Knowledge is Power, it seems there is no benefit of improved MPGs going with a RDX , unless there is a Steal in the Deal!. The more I think about it this, the more I'm trending to doing the 6 Month Lease Extension and then See what's What!.

Midi Man

You are welcome Yes The MDX will get better MPG. All those Turbos are BS on MPG.
I really am confused on how they really check the MPG on those 4 cylinder Turbos since reviews say they are way off.

Almatti

I Liked your comment. The only Downside to the lease extension is that the reduction of about $3k in the buyout in January may not equate to the reduction of the market value of my 22 MDX because the 25s will be out. Of Course the 25s will be up in Price over the 24s by 5% or more which may still make my 22 MDX with about 21K miles still a Deal! But I don't buy or lease cars on Market Values like a house. Having said that $35,500 for my MDX sounds to be pretty good comparatively speaking. Of Note, Just checking Low Mileage 22s MDXs with Advance package has dropped a bit ...circa $46-47K.

Midi Man

You might want to look at Lexus at that price. Unless you just love the MDX and will not switch brands. From what I saw Acura sales are in a slump. This also might help to get a better deal.

mantan

Appreciate being able to stick my head in this post.

I'm on an extension of my 21 TLX lease and going back and forth between buying it and getting into something else. The only thing I don't like about the TLX is getting into a lower car as I have gotten older (sigh). I have an RDX loaner while my TLX is in the shop. With the same engine and all the shared DNA, it's like having a TLX that's a bit more practical. The lease deals on this month are fantastic.

My two reservations were fuel mileage and it potentially getting a refresh. You don't buy an Acura if you're chasing fuel economy, but there is a difference between a car that gets 15/19 mpg and a car that realistically gets 21/26. My driving is probably 50/50 in the DFW metro area. It seems like the mileage may be similar to my wife's 2020 Lexus RX350. Not great, but not terrible.

It doesn't sound like a hybrid is in the cards. That's the one upgrade I'd definitely be interested in. I'm thinking an updated exterior, digital dash (like the new TLX) and maybe an infotainment screen upgrade. Looking at the MDX refresh they seem more evolution than revolution with their designs these days.

Texasrdx21

MPG for each vehicle has a lot of variables, like: Driving conditions, weather, avg speed, wind, terrain (hills and elevation), condition of vehicle, tire pressures and etc. I can attest that after 44 months/25k miles of ownership - overall mpg is 20. In the hot summers, city driving with summer fuel blends - I average 17-19mpg (with a light foot). Winter in snow and near freezing - city driving is close to 14-17mpg. On the other side, road trips I have averaged 25-27mpg for 1000+ mile trips. Speed, wind and terrain play a large part in MPG on road trips. I keep it at 72 MPH and tire pressure at 38psi. No hyper mileage here - just real life mpg numbers. The RDX is just not a super efficient turbo (none are especially in the city), a hybrid paired with a smaller turbo would be much better for MPG and performance.

It's a sporty SUV, but far from a sports SUV. With used values declining fast, you can pick up a 22 or 23 RDX for the mid 30's loaded - great value there.

Midi Man

2019 A Spec.Best I got with a light foot winter and summer in real NYC traffic was 9 to 12. Best on the Highway doing 75 with curse control on was 28.
It very poor in NYC real world traffic. I now have a 20022 RX350 and I get 16 to 17 mpg real nyc driving / Highway 33.
.I don't understand how turbos are cleaner if you burn more gas that is more pollution.
.

Texasrdx21

Turbos are not cleaner, verse a naturally aspirated engine or your V6 - nor more reliable with the additional heat soak. Burn more energy (petrol, diesel or electric) = more pollution overall in the entire system. Impressive MPG for a larger SUV.

Midi Man

No argument from me on that. I am just repeating what the BS that is being said about them.

markAZ

I agree with Texasrdx. We have about 23K miles on our 2021 Advance/SH-AWD and it's averaged about 20mpg overall. We get about 18-19 mpg in suburban driving in the Phoenix area and about 25+ on highway trips. Our 2014 with 6 cyl did better (and still does with about 80K on it). Our next vehicle will most likely be a hybrid. We like the RDX quite a bit but gas mileage is not one of its high points.

Baldeagle

Compared to a naturally aspirated V6 of equal power, a turbo-4 provides better fuel efficiency under light loads, equal fuel efficiency under moderate loads and worse fuel efficiency under heavy loads. To be fair to Acura, it’s not the engine that’s giving you crap fuel economy. It’s the AWD system. The engine is excellent. My FWD only RDX has averages 28mpg in mixed driving and returns 32 mpg at 72-75 mph. Hate the car, but don’t hate the engine. It’s the constant AWD that’s killing your fuel economy.

anoop

If that is the case, why is the EPA estimate only 1 mpg different between the two?

Baldeagle

They flat out lied.

Midi Man

IF it's the AWD then why does the MDX get better MPG in the city? Verified by loaner I had. I hated the RDX with all the issues I had so glad I dumped it.
Got a 2022 RX 350. everything works. like it should . MPG 16 to 17 Real NYC MPG 33 highway.
Bigger car, better ride.