I have not been around for a while but would like some of your impressions, opinions and recommendations. I am and long time Honda/Acura devotee (1984) currently driving an MDX and want to go with something smaller and more up to date. I am close to pulling the trigger on the RDX and have it between the Tech and Advance model since I can get great deals this month.. The biggest draw for the Advance is the adaptive dampers, the stereo, HUD and seats. I have done alot of research regarding the reviews and test drove both.

However, there is limited performance comparing the Tech vs. the Advance ( only A-Spec). So I figured i would ask those with the most experience since my question is if Advance model is worth it and particularly do the adaptive dampers enhance/improve the handling/ride. Thanks for your help.

 

I did extensive testing of Tech / A-Spec vs Advance. I ended up going with Advance. It was significantly more comfortable overall, not to mention heated steering wheel is part of the package (a must for me) vs an option.

 

I also went back and forth and ended up with the tech.

The sound system on the advance is better. But for me, the tech was excellent since I am no audiophile and often do not play any music. XM sucks quality-wise. DRAW - for me, maybe major for someone else.
The seat is more adjustable, but having had a 22 way seat in my prior car, I realized that once properly adjusted, you are done adjusting. For me, the tech seat was comfortable and didn’t need the adjustment. DRAW - for me, if you need that thigh support, could be major.
I do not have a HUD in any car; have driven some with them, think it is worthwhile, do not miss not having it, know that if I do have it, that will become a base requirement for future cars. ADVANCE major WIN.
The tech wheels and suspension was fine for me. IMO, the advance wheels are ugly, but the ride is slightly better. ADVACE slight and qualified WIN
The advance is slightly quieter. ADVANCE slight WIN.
Rain sensing wipers are cool to have. ADVANCE WIN
Kick open tailgate is cool to have. If there were a mom with kids to drag shopping, this would be more important to me. ADVANCE WIN

So, it was close. For me, there was not enough of a benefit, and I would not miss what I don’t have in the tech. If the advance also included folding mirrors, I would have gone with the advance. It sounds dumb, but we kicked the wife’s Accord up from an EX to an EX-L merely because the L had memory seats. We were fine with everything else. Everyone must decide for himself which differences are important, and how important.

 

I have an Advance. I never drove the Tech, but did have an A-spec loaner, so comments below compare that:

1. The adaptive dampers are cool in that switching between Comfort>Sport>Sport+ makes more significant changes in the Advance vs. the other models. That said, I felt that the A-spec ride was very comfortable and more predictable/linear. I much prefer the feel WITHOUT the adaptive dampers. I didn't test drive other trims before I bought and I should have. The adaptive dampers would also be more useful if a personalized drive mode could be configured (e.g., Throttle Response=Sport, Dampers=Comfort, etc.), but unfortunately that's not available. In retrospect, I don't think this feature is worth anything, but the car still rides well with it.

2. I think the seats are a big deal. For me, the Advance seats are more comfortable. I think the thigh support is not as much of a difference as you might expect. I'm tall, but it doesn't add a ton to the equation for me vs. the other seat. Where the Advance seat shines for me is bolstering and adjustability. The other seats weren't bad at all, so I'd really take a long sit in both to see if they make any difference to your body type and preferred driving position. The tech package lacks ventilated seats, which I love, but not everybody cares about those.

3. The "upgraded" camera system isn't great on the Advanced. I have found a few uses for it where it helped, but for the most common situations, it's actually a downgrade. I would try to use this in the dark on a test drive. It's basically a useless feature for me and the 2" backup camera screen on my old Toyota was more useful.

4. The HUD isn't perfect, but it is great. It allows the display between the gauges to be less cluttered while still having access to the information. I didn't much care about it when I bought the car, but it has ended up being one of my favorite features.

5. The heated steering wheel has been great as it's gotten colder. Value to you is probably dependent on climate.

6. I don't think the wheels on the Advance are as bad as most people seem to think. I think the issue is that it's the most expensive trim and the wheels just look like any other wheel. To my eye, they are less attractive than all of the other available wheels, but they aren't ugly to me. I think we're just used to seeing companies picking wheels that are clearly the most desirable for the top trim and Acura didn't pick the right ones in this case.

 

I bought an Advance but my RDX is currently in for repairs so I have a Tech loaner. I can say that I seriously miss the heads up display, the heated steering wheel (it's currently 12 degrees here) and also the surround camera for parking.

 

^Just chiming in to say that I also love the Heated Steering Wheel.

 

Thanks...I understand the heated steering wheel, i got into my MDX this morning after a night below 20 F and the steering wheel was like ice. D you see any difference in the ride between the 2 cars?

 

Tough call, Hondo, but they are both excellent vehicles with lots of features. It comes down to how you value the features and how you feel about the extra cost of the Advance.

I'm human, so therefore I'm irrational. The Technology has a very good stereo, but the Advance has a few additional speakers. I thought - perhaps irrationally, of course - that since we were spending so much money we might as well spend more and get the best stereo available. If I listened to the Tech and Advance stereos back to back, could I tell the difference? To be honest, perhaps not.

The acoustic side glass and adaptive suspension are similar. They probably improve the noise level and ride, but I don't know that I could discern the difference in the ride between the two models.

We did think the heated steering wheel would be nice, so that favored the Advance. And when it is cold out, it IS nice. As for the HUD, I thought it might be fun but it is one of my favorite features. We have the vehicle speed and speed limit showing on the display, and the directions when we are using navigation. Having the directions on the windshield is really nice, even though the navigation system isn't the best. And when you change satellite radio stations with the steering wheel control, the station and song name briefly appear. Is that worth big bucks? No. But we enjoy it.

Good luck and happy motoring!

 

For me personally:

• ventilated seats - must have - for me, the heated steering while very nice, can easily be solved by wearing gloves... but when you're stuck in a traffic jam and the sun is beating down on you in the middle of summer and your back is hot and itchy and your "undercarriage" is sweaty, there isn't much you can do about it unless you have ventilated seats
• HUD - must have

• 360 camera - would have been a must have, but the resolution is fairly low, so I downgraded it to almost must have
• adaptive dampers - would have been a must have, but comfort mode is not quite as soft as I would have liked... otherwise it is pretty good... although, will probably be more expensive to fix if / when it breaks
• acoustic side glass - almost must have - need this along with the adaptive dampers to be competitive with the X3 and Q5 in refinement IMHO

• better stereo - nice to have
• heated steering - nice to have
• Milano leather w/ contrast stitching and piping - nice to have
• handsfree power tailgate - nice to have (although the RDX doesn't sense the kicking motion 100% of the time)

• extra seat adjustments - don't care (I guess I would care if the seat wasn't comfortable for me as-is... would depend on how your body fits with the regular seats)

I personally like the wheels, although would have preferred the A-spec wheels if it was offered on the Advance / PE trim

There are a lot of "nice to haves" that aren't really that essential, and probably not worth the extra $ if you think about it, but sometimes we make choices based on emotion / wants, and that's okay.

 

HUD - i used to think this would be a gimmick, but i've come to regard it as a must-have. having the digital speedometer and the speed limit next to it, near eye-level, is very useful. It keeps my eyes on the road more, and keeps me more aware of where i am relative to the speed limit.

360 camera - i love having it. it is low quality and often hard to see. but the little that it does is super useful. it's great for seeing if you're parked inside the lines in a parking lot, or to see if you're clear of a red curb, or if you're not blocking a driveway. i used to get out of the car to check these things in the past. not anymore with this feature.

Adaptive dampers - this one is hard to judge because i can't really tell what its effect are is on its own (since i don't have another rdx to compare to). all i know is that this car rides well and handles well.

Acoustic side glass - it works pretty well. i can have a loud semi-truck next to me, and not notice anything sound-wise. one quirk about this is that it's only on the front side windows. so sometimes when there is noise outside, it leaks in from the back windows. i always get concerned thinking i have a back window open, and fiddle with the windows until i realize that's just the way it is.

Sound system - i'm a little bit of an audiophile, so this is a must for me. it's a pretty good system. definitely worth it if you're into audio.

Heated steering wheel - i live in a warmer area, so i rarely make use of it. but the handful (pun-intended) of times that i've activated it, oh man, it's a treat.

Ventilated seats - they're fairly weak, but i still appreciate the little that they do. Would still much rather have it than not.

Heated rear seats - my passengers have definitely appreciated this.

Power tailgate - definitely appreciate this feature. it's great for opening it when your hands are full. and you don't have to put your hands on a dirty tailgate to close it.

Seat adjustments - the side bolster adjustments alone make this a worthwhile feature for me.

Rain-sensing wipers - i had this feature 2 cars ago. my last car didn't have it, and man did i miss it. i'm glad to have it back. it gets rid of a source of distraction when driving in the rain.

Wheels - hate them.

Overall, i feel like this set of feature gives this car the premium feel. I miss being in this car when i have to drive somebody else's car.

 

I recently purchased a 2020 w/ the Advanced package. All the additional features listed by other members were more important in my decision-making than the more sporty motif/layout of the A-Spec. I tend to keep my cars for the long haul, and usually prefer to have as many bells and whistles on it-- the HUD, panoramic camera, 3D ELS audio, and seating weighed heavily in my decision. The only accessory I feel bad skimping on was the Remote Engine Start. The AcuraLink process works ok, but over time, it would've been cheaper to just get the remote start key fobs I think. The one option I wish they had that they don't is wireless Apple CarPlay. Oh well, maybe by the time I'm ready to buy again in another decade they'll have it. Haha.

 

If only advance had aspec like wheel, I would get it.

 

I see opinions on the Advance wheels hasn't changed. People hate them (or don't love them, couldnt care less)

 

Tech owner here. I thought about the Advance but honestly I couldn't justify the price. The adaptive suspension was the one standout feature, but reviews didn't make it sound like it was all that important, and I didn't notice it much when test driving. All the other bells and whistles seemed great, but not necessary. And $5000 buys a lot of other nice things.

I do sometimes wish I had the 360 camera, but that's only because I'm not quite used to parking my RDX yet, and sometimes have a hard time parking it just right, but I'm sure once I get used to the size it'll be fine.

 

Hi Folks -

New to the forum and just bought a new 2020 RDX Advance SH-AWD (White with Espresso Interior). I love almost everything in the car, but the wheels! So much so, I am considering getting the wheels Powder coated (is that the right term?). Have no idea what that costs but just thinking about it! As far as the car, I did not look at any other version but sure loved the A-SPEC. The reason I did not buy that was I really wanted the 360-degree camera! I am coming from a 2015 Infiniti QX60 and before that a 2011 Nissan Murano and both vehicles had that! To be honest, It was kind of weird that Acura did not make that feature standard on all trims...

3 days now, and I do love the car! It's not perfect, and has me learning (and un-learning) ways to do things. With the end of year discounts, the pricing was good that made the Advance palatable.. otherwise I probably would have gone a different route!

Regards,

Sri

 

Tech owner and first time Acura owner. Coming from GM vehicles, I almost bought the base RDX. The Tech was not much more expensive but had all the safety and comfort features that I wanted. . I would have regretted purchasing the base model with the pleather seat material and lower quality audio system. My decision to not go with the Advance was primarily appearance. I just preferred wheels and the interior chrome accents in the Tech vs. the wheels and wood trim on the advance. If its any help to you, here is what Edmunds says about the RDX: "The Technology package is the sweet spot for the 2019 RDX. In addition to this package's leather upholstery and premium audio, it adds navigation, parking sensors and additional driver assistance features. We recommend the all-wheel-drive variant for those drivers looking for improved handling and enhanced traction". I am a swap driver for Cadillac/Buick/GMC. Without a doubt, the RDX is so much more fun to drive than anything from GM, including the GMC Acadia and Cadillac XT5. My take on adaptive suspension is, its costly to replace the dampers ( about $1,200) and you won't miss what you don't have. Heated steering wheel? I have vehicles with them and while it is nice, I honesty don't miss it in my 2019 RDX Tech. I aim the air vents at my hands and keep the HVAC system on bilevel. Keeps my hands warm just fine. I drive many different cars every day, Chrysler, Jeep Grand Cherokee, , Buick, Cadillac, GMC, Mazda 5. Nothing even comes close to the enjoyment I get from the RDX Tech.

 

What is a swap driver lionel464? Do you test compeitors and report findings back to GM?

FWIW, the GMC Acadia was the first SUV I test drove before eventually buying the RDX, as originally, I wanted a 3 row that could fit in my small garage, and it was pretty much down to the Acadia or Sorrento until I decided to sacrifice the third row (which only gets used occasionally) to open up my options and get something that would be better for the 85% of the time that I don't need a third row.

 

I would not get another vehicle without heated steering wheel, I live in the north east and have went from a vehicle with one to one without.

So I think the post above summed it all, you need to review the features and see what's important to you and whether the price is worth it. Many cite 4k difference but that's MSRP, the real delta is about 2k, 3k at best. For the additional acoustic glass, heated steering wheels, and HUD, I think it's worth it.

To each their own.

 

Swap drivers are used by car dealers to transport vehicles between dealerships. Customer visits a dealership and requests a specific configuration (color, options, engines, etc.) but the dealer does not have that specific car in stock. So he negotiates with another dealer that does have the exact car the customer wants. Sometimes the other dealer does not want anything we have in inventory so we just send two drivers, one in chase car, and the other to drive the car we want back to our dealership and we jus purchase the car from the other dealer. I have delivered a GMC Sierra pickup and brought back a Buick Encore. It's what ever the other dealer needs or thinks he can sell and gives up the car we want. In fact, the Acura RDX I bought was not available at my local Acura dealer so I went with their swap driver to pick up the one they bought from a dealer in Long Island. We brought out an MDX and picked up my RDX. Just wanted to make sure their swap driver treated the car professionally if you know what I mean. I have gone distances of 400 miles to pick up a car. I can't figure out why people have no problem buying a brand new car with 500 miles on it. You would think dealers would just pay a transporter to put it on a car carrier for a long trip like that, but they dealers would rather pay a swap driver 30¢ a mile to drive a car back for them. Go figure.