RDX sales numbers are great! Glad to see Acura had a 2% increase from last July.

 

I'd love to have one right now, but then I suppose that would make me stupid. I always find it funny when people are stereotyped because of the car they drive. Like a guy who owns a BMW and also happens to own a Subaru. When behind the wheel of the BMW, he must be a prick. When behind the wheel of the Subaru, he must be a lesbian.

 

Throwing rocks from a glass house...it's almost as if some of you don't know what Lexus, BMW, MB, Audi, etc. owners think of Acura owners...

 

I have no idea what they think of Acura owners, but it can't be worse than what Acura owners think of Acura owners, lol.

 

Too funny. I used to tease one of my bicycle racing buddies that he drove a lezbo mobile ( Subie ). So he got a manly pickup truck instead. Said he needed it to "haul stuff". But still no gun rack in the back window, last time I saw it.

But there have actually been studies that document drivers of expensive sporty cars are more likely to drive like A-holes. Which raises an interesting question about causality: would the same individual drive like a d*ck if he were driving a shitty Chrysler minivan?

And we really shouldn't discount the aggressive potential of the fairer sex, irrespective of their sexual orientation. I've been cut off just as effectively by a young princess, I'm just a little less likely to go apeshit about it.

 

It is annoyingly humorous that so many "experts" gripe endlessly about the infotainment system. Consumer Reports rags on it. The more I use it, the better it gets. The thought of screen-touching (like many cars we test drove) seems so inconvenient in comparison.

 

I don't have to be an "expert" to know that I dislike how the "true-touchpad" functions, especially in Apple CarPlay. And it has had more than two years to try to seduce me.

Sadly, I don't find it much ( any? ) better than a touchscreen for trying to find my target when the vehicle and my arm are following slightly different chaotic trajectories as we bounce along pothole ridden roads. YMMV

 

True Touch is fine for certain things, like selecting favorite radio channels or going to the next track of music. But it's terrible for other things, such as scrolling and zooming around in a map. Basically, as I've said before, it gets worse and worse as the buttons you need to "hit" get smaller and smaller. And the more buttons you need to press to perform a function, the worse it gets. Like to interact with the map, you need to hit the "explore" button in the middle of the map, for some unknown reason. Just that one additional step is irritating. Then, if you want to zoom in or out, you need to target the small "+"and "-" buttons at the upper right, which is almost impossible. That being said, I don't think you're intended to do a lot of this while you're driving, which is unsafe, so I cut them a lot of slack. But even when you're parked, it's a little irritating.

That being said, I don't think a touchscreen would be that much better because then the screen would have to be closer than arm's length and doing a lot of fiddling around with it while driving would be pretty dangerous. In older vehicles, we only had a power button for the radio and a tuner and volume knob and that was pretty easy to use while driving. The problem isn't really the infotainment system or the touchpad, it's that everyone wants to be doing a lot of stuff while they're driving, which they shouldn't be doing. If you stick to the basics, the True Touch is fine.

 

After two years, the only thing better about it, imo, is that the touchpad is closer, and doesn’t smudge the screen. I think it takes almost as much attention as a touch screen.

 

I think the only reason it’s closer is because the screen is so darn far away. For cars with the big tablet like screens bolted to the dash, I think those are actually closer to the steering wheel.

It’s also a PITA for my passengers to control the radio since they have to reach all the way across their body unless they’re a lefty. At least with a touchscreen they don’t have to reach over nearly as much. Same complaint as in the Lexus systems.

 

I only got one complaint about Infoteinment, why the hell it takes 3-4 steps before you can access sound settings for low/high equalizer. It should be one click away. Stupid.

 

If this was a touchscreen system, the smudge marks would be driving me insane every day. I see some peoples' phones and I have no idea what they're touching. It's like they run their hands over a tub of lard before they start using their phones.

 

I also do not miss having a touchscreen. This is just one more personal preference, but for me, once I have my position set on the TouchPad, it's just a quick side glance to confirm highlighted icon. I feel the argument that a touchscreen causes less diverted vision is unfounded.

Without having tried every other UX, I can still say I like this design. And I still believe the unconventional "true touch" approach used by Acura causes initial unfamiliarity and criticism from many limited use reviewers. It's more valuable to hear from longer-term users; pro or con.

Not having fingerprints to clean is also a benefit.

 

Not sure if I agree with that. Touchscreen is great when you have a screen mounted nice and close to the driver and are parked or stationary at a traffic light / stop. But when driving / in motion on roads that are not perfectly smooth, touchscreens are more frustrating to use as you play the game of which button will I actually hit as the screen moves an inch away from the button you intended to press at the last second.

 

There are good and bad ways to implement a touch screen. Tesla has shown everyone how to do it right. Have you seen any complaints about Tesla's touchscreen? The others are on the right track but they need to work a few things out.

 

I personally haven't read a Tesla forum, so, no, I haven't heard good or bad about Tesla's touch screens, although I think have read in a review somewhere that you have to use the touch screen to adjust mirrors, etc. Not confirmed.

 

The common complaint is that there is too much minimalism, e.g. even adjusting the AC vents is done via the touchscreen, but nobody complains about the usability/UI/responsiveness of the system which are common complaints with other touchscreen infotainment systems.

 

This sounds like more of a self-perpetuating myth about how everyone loves Teslas, when it's not true.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/24/2...gation-model-s

 

Even though having almost everything controlled solely through the touchscreen is annoying, I think it's actually much more overblown. For instance, how often will you ever adjust your mirrors? It's all linked to the driver profile anyways. And for AC, most people just set it and forget it; I can count on one hand the number of times I've adjusted my HVAC settings in the past 5 years, other than to turn on the defroster or turn on recirc when I drive by a sewage plant. I suppose turning on and off the heated seats could be a little annoying, but you can just say "my butt is cold" and it will turn on the heated seat for you.

 

The German courts also apparently don't like how even a windshield wiper requires touchscreen control.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53666222

 

Here's a lawyer who claims that 620 lawsuits were filed against Tesla last year and a current class-action lawsuit against their touchscreens is pending.

https://thelemonfirm.com/2020/07/14/...hscreen-units/

 

The above are about defects/failures, not usability. You could have such defects even with a non-touchscreen system.

This one is a usability concern and is in line with what I said about over minimalism.

RDX doesn't use a touchscreen, but I find it extremely distracting to use when driving, so I really don't use it if the road conditions warrant attentiveness.

 

I use my hvac everyday. I dont need the AC in the morning. Afternoon I blast it for 5 mins then lower the fan speed while driving. Vice versa in the winter with the heater.

im very finicky with my HVAC. Am I doing it wrong? I dont use the automatic settings.

 

The fan speed should change based on your temperature. If the temp you set is much higher or lower than the current temp, the fan speed will be high. As it gets closer, the fan speed drops accordingly. And as for the AC setting, on a lot of modern car it's able to determine whether to turn on AC or not. If it finds that it's too humid, it'll turn on the AC to reduce the humidity, and otherwise it will keep it off. I used to control the HVAC settings myself manually as well until I realized that newer cars are smart enough to do what I was doing for me.

 

Right, and you're not supposed to. That's why most peoples' complaints about the RDX system are irrelevant. But I can tell you that I'd be much more aggravated at having to access basic things like my headlights or windshield wipers via a touchscreen. It's like how everyone got mad at the absence of a volume knob in some cars. Tesla literally forces you to use their touchscreen for no reason. That's a terrible system.

 

Is it smart enough to turn down the fan speed when I'm trying to make myself understood at a fast food or pharmacy drive-thru? Or sense that my skin is beginning to boil in the afternoon New Mexico sun? I give Acura big points for discrete physical climate control and seat heater/ventilator buttons.

As for "shouldn't use the infotainment system when the road is bumpy", yeah right. Next.

 

To your first question, actually yes, on a lot of new HVAC systems the fan speed does turn down when you try to use voice commands or are on a bluetooth phone call. To your second question: sort of. On my Volvo at least, it will automatically close the panoramic sunroof's sunshade if the car is parked and it senses that it's getting too hot based on what my last temperature setting was.

 

Well, if I connect to the drive-thru attendant via bluetooth I guess it's covered. If I just talk out the open window, not so much.

I'm aware that if you interact with the infotainment system via voice, RDX will reduce fan speed to improve intelligibility. That goes back at least a few years in AcuraLand.