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So my latest trip to Portland from Seattle we had our first winter storm of the season. Not “big” snow but enough to cover the freeway in several inches of snow/slush and enough to call out snowplows on I-5. I was heading to Portland to get a set of Michelin X-Ice snows put on at my dealer.
First warning that came on was the radar alert and then the two indicators for CMBS and RDM. No problem - comforting to know what I am up against in case things got worse. Naturally, snow and slush covered my entire grill so this was to be expected. I was also able to use Snow Mode in certain parts and it worked as expected. Steering and gears got tighter and the car just felt solid going down the freeway. Gave me some peace of mind, but going slow has always been my snow driving tactic after seeing four-wheel trucks lying in a ditch four years ago from yahoos thinking four-wheel drive gives you superpowers to drive whatever speed you want in snow conditions.
The OEM Conti’s? Did surprisingly well. I was nervous about them on slippery I-5 and while they’re not the sexiest tire nor the best tire around, they held their own!
The white-knuckle part was my fuel gauge was getting low and got the amber warning light. OK – all good – figured I've got about 2.5 gallons left for aprox 40-50 miles so I’m not sweating it. About 10 miles in the fuel gauge goes dark (as in the photo) so now I’m wondering - "WTF." "How much do I have now?" "How many miles do I have?" Double-checking my AAA Card to make sure it’s up to date in case I need to call for a truck, or perhaps it's time to test Acuralink. I also didn’t see a red light to warn me of 10 miles left like my TSX does, but then I’ve never checked the RDX manual on the fuel gauge section to see if any other warning lights come on after amber.
Bottom line is I made it to a gas station in time, but it made for an interesting trip, because on the way back to Seattle an owl decided to risk his feathered life and lost against my grill. Damaged the grill and the chrome trim. Will post pics in a separate thread.
Why do you go to Portland for service? There are a number of Acura dealers in the Seattle area.
We also have a home in Portland, although it is not considered our permanent address. We have family there and Oregon does not have sales tax. Washington sales tax is between 8-10% so we do save some coin by making purchases and getting services completed down there.
I live in the Northeast so I drove my RDX a few times in the snow, after I bought it. The combination of OEM tires and traction control makes for relatively acceptable driving on roads that haven't been fully cleared of snow. Also, parking near snowy curbs, which results in one or two wheels in pretty deep snow, was no problem at all. Nothing compares to winter tires, though, so when I really have to drive on snowy roads I'll switch to my other car, which has them,
One thing I find very annoying at this car is that it doesn't take more than a few flurries for the radar sensor to become obstructed! So even though the road is not covered at all by snow and the visibility is excellent the car tells me that the active cruise control is not available.
One thing I find very annoying at this car is that it doesn't take more than a few flurries for the radar sensor to become obstructed! So even though the road is not covered at all by snow and the visibility is excellent the car tells me that the active cruise control is not available.
This was my thought when it initially lit up. Wasn't really that bad weather-wise, so I assumed it is fairly sensitive.
It also brought up another larger question while I was driving (and I'm no expert with radar frequencies) and I was asking myself if it is a radar frequency why wouldn't it work through snow? My mind was going through various thought bubbles like, "well - if I'm able to listen to my car radio through solid steel why would snow be able to block my radar?" It got comical. My wife and I were very curious about radio and radar frequencies so she used her time in the passenger seat to google all things radar and different frequencies. Kept her mind off slippery snow and an empty gas tank.
We've never owned a vehicle with sophisticated tech like the RDX so it was a nice little education about radio waves, transmitters, frequencies, etc.
Driving in the snow, I've had the proximity alarms go off a few times, momentarily. I think I got the ACC not available message once. Of course, you'd have to be an idiot to use ACC in a snowstorm.
12-26-2020, 05:54 PM
