I'm thinking of purchasing the heated steering wheel for my 2019 aspec. For those of you that already have this installed. Does the heated steering wheel get activated when you remote start the RDX?

 

Yes

 

Yes, Also if the heated seats were on when you shut the car off, they will come on.

 

The heated seats come on regardless of their setting. I never keep my passenger seat heaters on because I don't usually have a passenger. The passenger seat heater is still on every time I remote start.

 

Depends on the interior temp of the car if ac and cooled seats come on or heat and heated seats-does not matter where you had them set when you shut off the car-
car wants to be at 72 degrees interior temp

 

If it’s cold enough outside the heated steering wheel and heated seats turn on with the auto starter. When you get in the car and press the brake and start button, the seat heaters stay on and the steering wheel heat turns off. I find that odd. The rear window defroster, mirror defrosters also come on with the auto starter and turn off when you start the car. The electrical front windshield comes on with the auto starter and stays on. A mixed bag of tricks.

 

The operation of these things doesn't make sense to me. The second row heated seats stay on if the people back there don't turn them off. I always have to remind people to please turn them off. They say okay, I start the car the next day, get out and check, and they're still on.

All these electric heaters should shut off when the car is shut off. Just like the rear defroster. And they should be on timers just like the defroster. If your ass isn't warm enough after 10 minutes, move to a warmer climate. Or, press the button again. Is that such a chore?

 

Per the manual, using the remote start in cold conditions does the following:

- Activates the defroster at a moderately warm temperature (I read this mean that it will set it to a moderately warm temperature)
- Activate the rear defogger and door mirror heaters
- Activate the seat heaters (I read this to mean all of them, including passenger, although I have never gone back there to check) and heated steering wheel

Regarding the heated seats, it states that when the car is turned on, the previous setting of the FRONT SEAT heaters and ventilators are maintained. So if you had the seat heaters set to 2 and the car temperature set to 73 degrees and on, that's what it will do when you restart the car. (But if you use the remote start, it sets the ventilator to front defrost instead.) The manual makes no mention of this with regards to the rear seat heaters.

Depending on the interior temperature, after "a certain period of time," the seat heaters will automatically be reduced one level at a time until they are turned off. However, I have never seen this happen, so I assume you'd have to have a very warm interior. I keep my interior temperature at 75 for winter driving.

 

It's a little confusing what happens when because I do know that if you MANUALLY start the car, it continues whatever prior heated seat and ventilation settings were in place before. But when the heated seats come on using the REMOTE START, I think it goes by whatever the sensed outside temperature is (everything is "auto"). So most people would experience their heated front seats at 3 (max) and (I think) no activation of the rear seats, as far as I can tell. I stopped using the remote start two years ago because it seemed to me that using it was really tearing through my gas mileage. I don't know if anyone else has noticed that.

 

I leave the seat heaters on auto. Works for us.

 

If it's on auto what temperatures does it activate each seat level at?

 

Depending on the outside temperature the seat heaters will come on anywhere from 0 to 3 red bars.

 

There is another strange behaviour with the auto starter. The manual says you can fob a 2nd 10 minutes but, in reality, only if you wait till the 1st 10 minutes is over. The 2nd auto start does not add time to the 1st auto start if the engine is still running. At least with my car. This is different than my previous 2007 RDX which would extend the 1st auto start by 10 minutes. I would be polite to say the electrical system of my RDX is idiosyncratic. At least the car, in Canada, comes with fob auto start and you don’t have to sacrifice a key.

 

Why would you need to remote start your car for more than 10 minutes?

 

I saw this post earlier, and I was pretty sure my rear seat heaters didn’t stay on after a restart, but I had confirmed that 2 years ago, and wanted Tom confirm. I just did a quick store run, and I put the rear seat heaters on. When I got out of the store and started the car, the rear seat heaters were off.

 

Ten minutes doesn’t defrost or melt much at zero F. With 20 minutes the engine is producing greater heat and the defrosters are defrosting. Also the warmer the car is the easier to get ice and snow off.

 

How much does the heated steering wheel cost? I didn’t realize this was possible, but yesterday I wished I had it. Also considering the auto-hatch upgrade.

 

I understand and obviously you're free to manage your car in any way you want. But the way I would see it is that the remote start is intended to make your car warm enough to be comfortable. After 10 minutes of defrosting, you're right that the windshield may not be clear of ice, but usually it's loosened enough that you don't have to do major scraping. If you want it completely clear of ice, yeah, you may just be sitting there for 20 or more minutes.

On the Acura website, at initial build, the heated steering wheel is listed at $523.

 

I haven't noticed it or tested it recently because I rarely have 2nd row passengers anymore. But when I first got the car in February 2019, we used to shuttle my MiL around and she would often leave them on and they stayed on. Although, at some point, it stopped happening and I just assumed she turned it off when I asked. She died in July 2019 so, like I said , I don't have passengers much anymore.

One thing I notice about the heated seats on remote start - they don't get very warm on their own, unless and until there's an ass on them. I guess that's a safety feature. Other people I know with heated seats in other brands tell me the same thing.

Seats take a few minutes to get warm but for those who don't have the heated steering wheel, it gets warm FAST!! 30 seconds and the wheel is warm.

 

Thanks. Is it cheaper to buy the part and DIY? I initially wanted to get the motion activated hatch but I think it was close to $1000 for a dealer option. Now I'm wondering if it's cheaper to do it myself or bring it to my mechanic.

 

Because the wife dawdles and doesn’t get herself out when she says she will. So, easier to tack on another ten than to start in on her.

I’m sure I’m no prize either, from time to time.

 

It would make more sense to just start the car for the first time 15 minutes after she tells you she'll be ready.

 

As a man in a situation much like Madd Dog, using "sense" isn't the best way to go. He's got a system which I agree works pretty well.