Recently got my 2021 RDX Advanced and had a few questions:

1) Manual says it has a radar detector but not much else on it. Is this to detect Police radar & if so how does it alert you?
2) May be a dumb question but is there a way to close the display screen or is it permanently in the upright position?
3) The display screen stays on after I shut the vehicle and only shuts off when I open the drivers door. Is there a setting to shut it off when car is shut off?
4) I'm getting some visible exhaust smoke when I accelerate suddenly. Is this normal?
5) Manual says parking brake must be on before attempting to start car but I'm able to start w/o parking brake applied. Is manual wrong?

 

1) The radar detector is to detect objects for adaptive cruise control. Police radar detectors are illegal, so the odds that a car would come installed with one are pretty low.
2) It's permanently upright.
3) No. But you can open the door and close it again.
4) That depends. You're more likely seeing water vapor if the car has recently been started. That would be normal. If you think it's actual smoke, have someone check it out.
5) I'm not aware of the manual saying this.

 

Radar detectors are perfectly legal in all states other than Virginia, and DC. Radar jammers are illegal.

https://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/radar-detectors/

 

Oh, did that change? Why does everyone try to hide their radar detectors then? Or are those jammers also and I didn't know, LOL?

 

They've been legal since 1934. The only reason you would "hide" your radar detector is 1) so thieves don't see it and 2) so cops might have some leniency if you do get pulled over.

 

To answer #5 for you

To start the car, press your foot on the brake and press the button and the engine will fire on. If your foot is NOT on the brake and you press the button, it turns on just the car battery. Press it a 2nd time without foot on brake, it goes to ACC mode (similar to a car key turning but not all the way to crank)

 

If a cop sees it when you get pulled over, there’s zero chance you’ll get off with a warning. They take it as a sign that you’re a habitual speeder and won’t cut you any slack.

Also, states have done a good job of misinformation about radar detector law. For instance, when entering Maryland from Virginia on the beltway, there’s a sign saying radar detectors are illegal (along with operating a phone while driving), ha!

 

The 2019-2021 RDX manuals do indeed state this. I never had to set my 2019's parking brake in order to start the vehicle. The 2018-2020 Accord with a manual transmission did require the parking brake to be set before the engine could be started.

 

That's odd, I just checked and it does say that. I can't explain why that is in the manual. However, I can assure the guy who asked that it is not required to have the parking brake on to start the car.

Also, I just wanted to clarify that I said that I wasn't aware of that because I wasn't aware of it. I wasn't denying that it might be in the manual, I just haven't read the manual thoroughly.

 

I almost never use the parking brake. The car starts, even with the remote app.

The manual is incorrect.

 

On one forum I have participated, there was a thread titled "Owner's manual errors"! There were many,, but some of the posts referred to "errors" that might have been referring to a different trim level or even a different locale!

 

I considered that in this instance, but the RDX isn't available with a manual transmission and the owner's manual applies only to the North American market (the RDX sold in China may have different operating characteristics, but it has a different manual). When there are differences between the US and Canadian models or different trim levels, the manual states "Canadian models" or "some models only".

I "enjoy" spotting errors in Honda's press releases and website. The 10th Civic was advertised with several features that never made it or were never planned for production. The 2nd Ridgeline was shown with the HR-V's climate control panel for a long time. Four years later, some trim levels of the Ridgeline have features the website says it's not supposed to have.