Hey All,
next week im getting an extended all day test drive in a loaner (Tech trim). Just wondering if there’s anything in particular I should be testing/checking while I have it. Going to take it to work to check my daily commute, etc.
I’m wondering about the wind noise with the moonroof open on the highway, how the backup camera works at night, although I think I’ll be returning it before it gets very dark.

Any and and all suggestions are welcomed.

 

a used car is a used car is a used car...check it for used car things....

 

mainly transmission, turbo lag and corner handling. few more things that you can play with are touch key pad, apple carplay and backup camera

 

I think fit and finish will feel great and it'll be a fun car to drive. I would pay attention to the engine noise (revs high) and infotainment system. IMO, those are the vehicle's weaknesses.

 

Road noise--very noisy on the highway. If you are big on infotainment, make sure you play with that--CarPlay if you are into that. If you are into things like adaptive cruise and lane keep assist, try those. LKA doesn't work all that great, nor does road departure mitigation--more annoying than useful.

Try the backup camera in rain if you can, otherwise it works fine at night.

What do you drive now?

 

From the reviews I've read (which I'm sure you've read too) and from comments on this board, I think putting the RDX through it's various drive modes and listen to the engine noise. Many folks don't like the piped in engine noise, but you're going to have to decide if you like it or at least can disregard it in your preferred drive mode.

BTW I'm not sure I agree with @anoop about the road noise (as distinct from the engine noise, which is intentionally augmented). Reviews I've read rate it an A in the Advance trim, maybe an A- for the other trims (which don't have as much acoustic glass), For me, the road noise is a big improvement from the Honda I'm coming from.

 

Definitely test the Adaptive cruise and find an area where cars are parked on the street. Good way to test your calibration settings and parking sensors

 

Make sure the loaner is a 2020, as there seems to be some running SW changes which make the car more refined. For example, the piped-in engine sound has been significantly toned down from the early 2019.

 

You wont find much issues in one day cause theres so much to learn and digest. You'll probably love the car more actually haha.

 

What proof do you have of this

 

This is not true at all.. There have been no changes from the 2019

 

Have you driven the two model years and do the comparison yourself? Case closed.

 

It’s not closed. What proof do you have of this?

I haven’t seen any changes in software. How do you know that the 2019 you were driving didn’t have problems?

 

Thanks, it will be a 2020 Tech package. It's the service department loaner so it will have a few thousand miles on it already. I've read the manual (twice) to shorten the learning curve, and have already spent more than a half hour sitting in one and just playing with the controls to get comfortable.

 

Hopefully it's a good deal!

Back in July 2012, my mom drove a manager's 2012 Murano SL that only had maybe 2K miles on it. w
We could have gotten for like $24K out the door if we traded our Kia Sportage. She didn't like how it drove, but the deal was killer!

I watched a video of how the interior works and guite honestly, I could defiantly see myself in one later on.

 

I won't be buying the loaner, I'm not test driving it to decide if I want to buy this particular car. I'm test driving it to see if I like the RDX in general. If I decide I like the RDX, I'll be buying a new one. I've never owned a luxury brand of anything. I was cross shopping it with a handful of other vehiles, but have now narrowed it down to 3 (Audi Q5, MB GLC300, RDX Advance). One thing I noticed previously is that the transmission seems to always be shifting. It's a bit annoying. For the last 10 years I've been driving a CVT transmission so I sort of "forgot" what it was like to drive a car with a shifting transmission. It's one of those things I never noticed in the CVT that I'm constantly reminded of when driving a car with a 10 gear transmission.

 

That's cool!

I haven't driven anything with many gewrs expept for a ZF9 Odyssey almost a year ago.

I definitely could see a 10AT taking some getting used to.

 

take it to the track and see what that puppy can do, see if it is as capable as the TV commercials claim, gotta get a feel for the skid pad

When rolling up to red lights, give a few grins and see what can be left in the dust. some are not a fan of of the stop and start, and turbo performance must thoroughly be evaluated.

Don't forget to take it on the beach, as well through muddy swampland with angled climbs to make sure the awd is up to snuff, make sure it has enough ground clearance

 

Really take a look at storage with those comparisons. If you do any kind of family outings, car vacations, camping or whatever, I think you'll find those other options are much smaller behind the passenger's seats. I didn't test the Q5 because of this, but I have been in a GLC300 that my brother in law owns and it feels very cramped by comparison. The RDX is larger on the outside, but I think the tradeoff is worth it.

This depends on the drive mode. This weekend (my first owning the car) I drove it in Comfort and in Sport+. Comfort did shift a lot but it didn't bother me - for the most part it was smooth, quiet and not noticeable. Mostly. There were a few occasions where it would "clunk" into gear when I did something like pull out of a parking lot while turning hard and accelerate quickly. Sport+ was a big difference - it held the gears longer and I could really feel the difference in performance. I'm still breaking-in the car (is that still a thing?) so I didn't push it too much. It did hold the gears a little too long for my taste though - I only did it because my kid wanted me to make it a "sports car."

 

The weakness of RDX compared to Audi/MB would be infotainment and engine response at low speed. The frequent shifts from 10AT can be annoying at first, but you should get used to it quickly at the end of the day, especially if you drive in Comfort mode the quieter piped-in engine noise definitely makes the shifts less noticeable. Speaking of driving mode, do try those settings. If you are not happy with either comfort or sport, then that is a obviously a red flag.

 

If you are still breaking it in, do it the way the manual says. No WOT accelerations, stay short of redline, vary your speeds, and stay off of cruise control.

A good thing to do is to show the AWD in the iMid. It will demonstrate how the sh-awd works on the road.

 

Thanks. One thing that "sort of" annoyed me just while sitting in the car is why the outside temp, and compass heading are displayed in the dashboard between the tach and speedo where only the driver can see them? Those 2 items should be with the clock on the right side of the infotainment display where everyone can see them. That would also be 2 less pieces of info to clutter up the drivers info area. Also, while I'm on a roll, if I choose "minimal" as the display I want to see on my drivers display, that area should be BLANK. I don't want to be staring at the big bold sign that says "Minimal". WTF is up with that?

 

Personally I like a simple clock design. In fact, I wish they had options for faces. The temp and heading have always been in the driver's info area for me, so that's where I expect them. If anything, I'm annoyed that the way that I have my steering wheel and seat adjusted, I can only barely see the temp reading.

I'm with you on the "Minimal" display though. That's just silly. I use the compass myself because I find it the least offensive of the screens. But for some reason it keeps defaulting to Trip Computer for me, and I have to switch it manually. I'm probably doing something wrong.

Either way, these are nitpicks that I can learn to live with.

 

Yeah....to me they are less than nitpicks.

I've driven so many different cars over the years that each one is just different. Takes a few days or maybe more to get used to each one's personality.

I've liked some more than others, I don't care for the way the RDX has the Home Link garage door opener buttons on the rear view mirror. I prefer the way Ford does it on the sunvisor, but it only took me a few days to get used to it on the mirror...

 

My last car had it on the mirror, too, so that is where I expected it to be, and it was.

 

If you really want to see it to believe it, go subscribe i-HDS for one day and buy/rent DST-i adapter, then you can see every control module updates available. For example from my research, ECU SW for non-Advance SH-AWD model incremented from the launch version A86 to A88 in Sep 19 to A89 in October.

 

Does OTA updates update the ECU? Or is it only done by dealer?

 

It’s great that you get the car for the day. Based on what I have been reading, if you are happy with the infotainment. There shouldn’t be any other big issue. Enjoy and Share your experience with us.

 

Thing is, the infotainment system takes getting used to. And it may take more than a few days. I also think that it gets better with customization (I just spent about 20 minutes yesterday customizing mine). Once you've got the shortcuts where you want them, the system is a lot more eyes-free than it comes when brand new.

That's one thing that in retrospect makes me reconsider all of the reviews I read/watched before I bought the RDX. Many of them panned the infotainment system, and perhaps they're right for saying it's not as intuitive as a touch screen, but once it's set up to your liking and you're familiar with it, I do think it's better than a touchscreen.

One other note I'll make about test driving the car; take the time to make sure the audio settings are adjusted a bit. The "DTS Neural Surround" is disabled and maybe play a bit with the fade/top speakers. I found that the DTS actually made the system less surround-soundy and the roof speakers weren't quite loud enough out of the box. I now think the sound system is exceptional (even in my Tech Package with only 12 speakers).

 

I moved my most used icons to the four corners, and never have to look at the screen to get them going.

But I am having a bit of an issue now. I had been unable to drive the car for about 5 weeks, and now the auto stop-start is unavailable, and my trip A setting stopped working.

I expect that the A.S.S. Isn’t working due to low charge status, butI think the battery should have charged up by now. The trip A thing, well, I can’t figure that out. Maybe I will change it to manual reset, and put it back in a week or two.

It is these little, random things that irk me.

 

My only gripe about rearranging the main screen is that you can't have empty slots. If I had my druthers, I'd probably only have four icons on the screen, all at the corners. That I have to fill it up with other icons that I don't really use much just clutters things. Also, getting the icons to where you want them is like playing one of those number slider puzzles.

A.S.S.?

 

Sorry to OP that I kind of hijack the topic, for doubters read the 19 vs 20 comparison from Motortrend

https://www.motortrend.com/cars/acur...arison-review/

The author said 19 A-spec engine noise is louder than 20 Advance, though I don't know if A-spec by default has louder engine noise or not. The handling is also slightly better on 20 Advance, ironically because A-spec should have more grip, but some SW tuning makes the 20 more eager to turn in. Brake feel is better on 20, which is nothing new since the 19-022 TSB confirms that and later-built 19 should already have the change.

 

I think the active suspension is the big plus for the Advance, and probably the reason it handles better. It really should have been on the A-Spec. Personally (and I know I'll draw fire for this) I don't understand the A-Spec; to me its a few extra speakers and some black trim. Ok, ventilated seats is nice, but not $3k nice, at least to me. I went with Tech because I wanted the upgraded interior and navigation features, as well as the slightly upgraded safety features. It surprises me that Motortrend thinks the battle is between A-Spec and Advance - I think it's really between Tech and Advance.

 

Automatic Start Stop. Just happens to have a convenient acronym.

 

Oh I thought you were just making fun of the ACC (which I like, mostly, especially with the LSF). LKAS is really the one that needs an extra S at the end.

 

The bigger tires was a negative to me, and, like you, the general appearance package was not worth it to me.

If the advance had folding mirrors, I was in. I like a HUD, but never having one in my own car meant it was one more thing I was not used to, would not miss, but would forever after have it as a must. So I passed and went with Tech.

 

That's what BMW calls it (and perhaps others). Acura calls it AIS -- auto idle stop.