I picked up my 2019 RDX A-Spec last July and it's a car I love but also a car that's more "really good" than "great" and I wanted to dump some thoughts on that out here figuring there's some conversation to be had about it. I hope Acura addresses the issues I've run across (and others have) in their 2022 refresh as this could be a class leader car rather than a competitive car.

Stuff I love: Terrific motor (for a 4 cylinder it sounds great), lots of room (lack of the hump in the rear is awesome), great looks, pretty spot-on for sportiness (more on that later), right quality of luxury (the pano roof is terrific), great seats (fits me perfect, my wife less so), Sport+ mode is the real thing when I use it, and 10 speeds(!). SH-AWD works as advertised - drives far closer to a RWD car than a FWD car - drives close enough to a sport sedan that I don't miss my sports cars THAT much.

Stuff I'm disappointed with:

• Build quality is pretty terrible for a Honda/Acura. I've been in for the squeaky brakes (still not resolved), a squeaky tailgate, a seat that never returns to its saved position correctly (unresolved), squeaks abound, and a very flaky infotainment system (choppy CarPlay, regular crashes. My RDX has been to the dealer for non-regular service in 1 year more (3 times) than my 2007 TSX has been in 10 years of ownership (twice). While some folks have had no problems, it's pretty clear that this RDX is not up to Acura's reputation. I sure hope the 2021s are more consistent.
• That brake pedal. How did a car with otherwise such dialled in controls launch with such a terrible brake pedal - long pedal travel that's far too soft making it difficult to modulate well. I'm not asking for Porsche pedal feel but how about something firm with consistent modulation. This is an economy car brake pedal. A nice firm pedal with smooth modulation would really tie together the "Precision Crafted Performance" tagline.

Stuff that I'd like to see improve beyond what's noted above (and which can be realistically improved):

• Sport mode isn't really sport mode. It's too close to Comfort mode and too far from Sport+. I'd like to see a touch heavier steering and slightly perkier controls. Also next point...
• The automatic is too conservative. In Sport and Sport+ it should know to downshift into corners so I'm in the right gear coming off it. The programming does notice when I pick up the throttle early off a corner but often holds the gear too long. Manual downshifts are too slow to be useful (it's kinda hard to ask for 4 downshifts in under a second though). Between the brake pedal, conservative Sport mode, and the automatic programming it's hard to be smooth when I'm driving briskly.
• The damping on the shocks could be better, it's just a bit too brittle on the high frequency stuff - the heavy wheels (35lbs!) don't help though. Spring rates and roll control are good for the class of car.
• Those shitty Eagle RS-A tires!!!! OMGWTF. What terrible tires. Noisy, no grip in any conditions. A nice set of tires would go a long ways to making the A-Spec a truly sporty car.
• Bigger volume knob. I don't use it much but it's silly to place it so far away and have it be so small. Put it down next to the touchpad (like in the new TLX).
• Dial down the fake engine sounds. I like the tone but it needs to be a touch quieter - stop stuffing a sock into your Jockeys.
• A bit more sound insulation. A CX-5 is quieter than a RDX and that's not good. Big pano roofs reflect a lot of sound so a bit of extra noise management is useful.
• Minor thing: Slightly lower ride height - would be great if the A-Spec came in 20-30mm lower like the TSX A-Spec did.
• Reclining rear seat - if the CR-V has it the RDX should also have it. These are great for comfort especially when my wife wants to nap on longer drives.

All in all, I'm really happy with the purchase and it's served me and my family really well. I don't think there's anything else out now that I would have liked better especially for the money (or thereabouts) - I think only a BMW X3 M40i would beat this but that's a heck of a lot more money. I've had my TSX for 10 years (handing it down to my in-laws next) because it's just a stellar car - one of Acura's best, and the RDX comes up slightly short of the TSX's standard. My fingers are crossed that the 2022 refresh addresses a number of the issues that make the car mostly a "really good" car instead of a great car.

 

for the brake pedal issue, did you ever apply the TSB? I had it done and it was an improvement. still not great, but it brings it up to acceptable.

 

I generally agree. But I do think Honda/Acura unintentionally demonstrated the risks inherent in a first year redesign, especially with so much new technology. It feels like a lot was fixed in the second year.

It is a very good car, but for the cost, it's closer to great for me. [YMMV; Current at time of printing]

 

I agree with most above.
A few suggestions:
1- like mentioned, get the brake TSB. it improves the braking immensely
2- use your paddles. don't let the mediocre timing of the shifting pattern dictate your fun. If you are having fun around a corner, the car has no idea where the best time is to shift. it does the best it can. also, see #3 below.
3- Get a ktuner or hondata tune. It brings the car to life! does a better job of shifting also.

 

I just ordered a late-build 2020 Platinum Elite.

I hate the wheels so I did something bold - I negotiated to have Blizzak WS-80 snow tires come on the car instead of the stock tires. Now I don’t have to waste the crap all seasons that come with them.

I’m eyeballing a hot set of Enkei silver-on-black wheels that come in at 27.5 lbs in 20” size, and a set of Michelin AS3. I had read online that the stock 20s on the A Spec were 30 lbs. I’m curious if you have a good source for 35lbs? If so, it’s 3 times the weight savings I thought I was buying!

I think wheels and tires will make a huge difference in a number of your areas of concern, and I can’t wait to find out.

On another note, I have the same transmission on my Accord 2.0T and though the paddles are not as sharp as the ones in my previous BMW 8-speed, they are far from useless in my opinion. You CAN pull it 4 times for 4 quick downshifts, and though there is a slight delay I find it predictable enough to work with. YMMV, and mine is a much lighter vehicle that only drives 2 wheels so it might feel different.

 

• Brake feel:
  Same as everyone said. The TSB improved the feedback significantly on my car, and really transformed the car handling-wise because it is easier to shift weight to the front of the car during braking, which in turns improves front bite. The performance of the stock brake system is similar to competitor's fixed caliper setup, after the TSB.
• Sport mode not really sporty, automatic not aggressive enough:
  Hondata/KTuner Stage 2 is the remedy. I have Hondata Stage 2, which has a lot of low-end torque and gives crispier throttle/transmission responses. The extra response/power comes in super handy when torque-vectoring out of a corner. You can do amazing things in corners by slow-in, power-out guideline. It elevates the driving experience because the driver has more control of the car's behavior, as long as you know how to explore the capability of the car. (Which I know you probably do from your experience.)
• Damping
  Yeah, same observation as yours and the high-speed damping on A-Spec has plenty of room for refinement. The engineers could do much more, but cost concern prevented them from doing so. With the high volume of RDX, maybe an aftermarket vendor will take notice. I think if the weight of the wheels is reduced by 5lbs each, the ride quality on A-Spec would be greatly improved. On the other hand, I noticed that the suspension becomes a little more compliant after some quite spirited drivings that I did recently. So maybe you can try tossing the car around for a week, and see how it feels afterwards....

 

Yeah, I had it done though my car is listed as outside the affected VIN range. It helped a bit but I still find it the most underwhelming part of the car. I will likely try to make small improvements like better pads and stainless steel brake lines but they'll be pretty incremental.

Someone here put their A-Spec tire and wheel combo on their bathroom scale and it came out to a shade over 67lbs - the tire is listed at 32lbs according to Tire Rack so that leaves 35lbs for the wheel (https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-rdx-.../#post16363649). My winters are significantly lighter - they are Fast FC04s at 19x8.5 and are 20.5lbs. With those on the car drives dramatically different - car feels like its lost a few hundred pounds. I'm likely to swap out the stock wheels for Enkei TSR-X which are ~22lbs at 20x8.5 and 23.5lbs at 20x9.5 come next spring. Along with better tires (Continental Extremecontact DWS06) I imagine performance will be much better.

I'm hopeful that nice set of Koni or Bilstein shocks/coilovers eventually come around - a 1.5" lowering with better shocks would be awesome for performance, looks, and easier ingress/egress. Combined with much lighter wheels it could really liven up the car. Thanks for the tip on Hondata/KTuner - will have to take a look and think about it more seriously

 

In Canada, all trims come with the acoustic windshield so there's no sound difference between trims. I don't think it's bad by itself - it's quiet enough but I would like to see a bit more work on that front especially as a CX-5 is quieter than it is. Another 20lbs of padding in the wheel wheels and floorboards would be welcome.

 

Originally Posted by DJA123 [img]images/maestro/buttons/viewpost.gif[/img]

• A bit more sound insulation. A CX-5 is quieter than a RDX and that's not good. Big pano roofs reflect a lot of sound so a bit of extra noise management is useful.[Probably trying to steer people toward the more insulated Advance. Mine is very quiet.]

I'm always surprised when someone says this, we have the Advance and on many of the roads in our area the road noise is almost deafening. It's the only thing about the car that we're not happy with. I've been back to the dealer and they couldn't find anything unusual about our car so we've been living with it for now.

 

Thanks for sharing. I looked ALL OVER the Internet for the weight of those wheels and couldn't find anything.

The sub-25 lb. wheels are tempting, but most of them just aren't as nice looking as the 27-28 lb wheels, at least the ones I've been looking at. I could have a 25 lb Enkei Performance wheel for less money.

For months, I was stuck on not getting the RDX because I couldn't get both the Platinum Elite and A-Spec features. BMW would gladly sell me both luxury and sport on the same X3, albeit for C$13k more by the time you add mSport, adaptive suspension, Harmon Kardon, Driving Assistance Pack (acc not standard!), etc. What struck me as strange is that almost every vehicle they had in their inventory region wide didn't have the driver assistance pack, adaptive suspension or HK stereo. I'd need to factory order, and then you lose a lot of their promotions. The cinching factor is my wife did not find the seats comfortable, and I have to agree the RDX seats are just a lot softer, more adjustable and more comfortable. So before I could think about it any more I just pulled the trigger.

Every time I see an RDX on the street that catches my eye, it's ALWAYS an A-Spec. But my wife wants the surround view camera, and after getting spoiled by my Accord, I don't want a car without an adaptive suspension. I'm finally on board with all the chrome. Either my tastes have changed, or my resistance has been worn down. Either way, I decided to find a wheel that complimented the chrome without being ridiculous. I saw some pics on here of a Gunmetal Grey RDX with the Diamond Cut 20" wheels. Those wheels are much nicer than the stock ones, but I still don't love the shape, especially for the price. And I bet they are just as heavy as A-Spec wheels. Anyway, so I went looking for an attractive wheel with the same silver-on-black look.

These are the wheels I'm currently considering: https://enkei.com/shop/wheels/performance/phantom/

I was going to go with DWS06 as well, as I did on my last SUV (2015 X3). I was very happy with those, and last time they saved me $300 compared to the Pilot AS/3. This time, strangely, the DWS06 are only $7 less for the set ... /shrug. I guess I'm "splurging" on Michelins for the first time.

 

Same is true for US models, but our top level Advance adds acoustic side glass in the front doors and thicker carpet and/or padding.

I'm equally surprised. Considering that this is not a dedicated luxury vehicle, I am very pleased with noise isolation. To know that you consider the road noise "almost deafening" seems very odd to me.

 

I found it quieter in my test drives than the X3, though I attribute at least some of that (and probably all of that) difference to the awfulness of runflat tires, which would have been the first thing I replaced had I bought that car. RFTs are a curse. When I got rid of them on my last BMW, it was like I cured the car of cancer.

 

I am extremely happy with my 18 month old 20,000 mile RDX Advance FWD. Rather than gripes, I have a few things I would improve:

1. I slightly agree with GW208... the road noise (on some road surfaces) is a tad bit higher than I would have preferred, but I disagree that it is deafening. Tires do make a big difference in road noise, and IF it was a top concern for me I would research quiet tires and see if I could find a tire store that would work with me and let me try out a set on a known "noisy" road. BUT, I will wait until the current tires are worn, as the road noise (for me) is not enough to justify the cost of replacement tires before these are significantly worn out. Perhaps a trip to a good auto radio shop would be worthwhile, where they do the dynamat installs? The RDX is much quieter than our new '20 CR-V...which is quieter than our departed '18 CRV. (different tires on the '20 vs the '18 could be the difference?) During my road test phase before buying, the RDX was noisier than a few of the competition. Obviously, I picked the RDX and do not regret my decision at all. We have a stretch of interstate highway near us that we travel on weekly. The road noise changes significantly over two different stretches of this road where the pavement type changes. It is quite obvious.

2. I have always leaned slightly toward fuel economy vs. acceleration, so, while I knew what to expect regarding fuel economy, it always is a thorn in my side when I fill up, and I see (lately) 24 mpg (A/C use here 100% this time of year, vs maybe 5%% Oct-May). My lifetime average has now dropped to just under 27 mpg, with the worst tank full at 22.87 (calculated). Having come from the '18 CRV Touring FWD that was getting mid 30s, My wife now drives the '20 CRV, where she is getting high 30s on her surface road commute, I do miss those numbers. BUT, the acceleration when I want it or need it is amazing in the RDX. I would say you can't have it both....well, maybe with a Hybrid or electric car, but at what initial cost?

3. Infotainment system is often a mess...for many...while I rarely have a significant issue, there shouldn't ever be an "issue" at all. From what I hear, even Kia and Hyundai have better infotainment systems, but that isn't the heart of the vehicle. Three or four years from now, which vehicle will have had less repairs and will hold the highest resale value? MY biggest issue with the infotainment system is Android Auto often takes plugging in an re-plugging the cord before it "takes". Sometimes it starts right up, other times it takes 3 attempts before it is stable and usable....once you get used to the change in the operation of the touch pad... I am grateful that they finally added the long promised Android Auto, and suspect that the pandemic has slowed the recent development and updates. Hopefully we will get another "big" update to resolve many of the issues some owners are having.

4. Brake pedal feel.... Was bad at first, and I knew it during several test drives of different examples and bought anyway. TSB made it as is should have been from the start.

Bottom line? I love my RDX. EVERY time I get behind the wheel I get a smile on my face. Every time I push the accelerator pedal firmly, that smile just turns to laughs and a "whoa!" comes out of that smile. Not quite the "WHOA" I got when I drove my friends Tesla Model S recently, but that is whole other subject. $100,000 on a car??? Not going to happen in my garage. And the build quality? ROFL There isn't another competing vehicle I would rather have anywhere without spending a MINIMUM of an additional $10,000-$15,000 on purchase price, and risking reliability issues, and poor resale value.

 

Ah, didn't know that was a feature. In Canada it's not available (https://images.honda.ca/models/A/med...416.1593836572) - score one feature for the US that Canada doesn't get.

 

Oh, wow. So now it's only 25 - 1 in favor of Canada for unique features. We're catching up! 😏

 

There are several brands that have surpassed Honda/Acura in terms of build quality. Since selling my 2013 RDX I have logged in here occasionally and the ongoing theme is owners complaining about rattles, road noise, suspension issues, fitment issues, complaints about the infotainment system, lack of features compared to other brands etc. About the only thing Honda/Acura has going for it is resale value and I don't see that being the case much longer if the company doesn't wise up soon.
Honda build quality? LMFAO!

 

I seriously considered the Lincolns before I decided on the RDX. Biggest concerns? Much higher initial purchase price, much lower perceived reliability and resale values. Even though I was the owner of two 3rd Gen Escapes, with excellent reliability, and the best dealer I have ever dealt with, but ultimately, I felt the lower resale value would be a deal killer for me as I always plan on trading in 3-4 years...If I do is another story.,.. The RDX is much more of a driver's car, and I like the handling. The Lincolns, much more isolated from the road. There are times I prefer both.

I have not had the issues others have complained about: rattles, road noise, suspension issues, fitment issues, lack of features...

At the end of the day, we each choose what we feel is the best choice for us. Many make the right decision, some do not.

OH! And my reference to build quality was about Teslas.

 

It's a car forum.

People are either new, die-hard fans, or, most likely, just looking for a place to ask questions about issues and vent about bad experiences.

If you judge a car's reliability by it's forums, just about every car is awful.

 

! belong to several car forums and there are owner complaints on all of them. They are disproportionate on this one.

 

I truly wanted to like my Acura but it was an epic fail of a vehicle so I sold it after 18 months of ownership. I'll take the hit on resale and enjoy my Canadian built Lincoln for the next several years. With regard to perceived reliability, Lincoln came in seventh this year and Acura once again below average at 18th in the JD Power 2020 new vehicle dependability study. So there's perceived reliability and there's actual reliability.
On a positive note I still own my first Honda, 51 years and counting.




1969 Honda Z50. Restomodded some 15 years ago. Power upgraded from 2.8 HP to around 10 HP with a big bore stroker kit.

 

This. If you go back to older threads from 10-15 years ago you don’t see nearly the same amount of negativity and complaints. Either the new cohort of Acura owners have higher expectations and more discriminating tastes, or the quality has taken a step back. Based on what I’ve seen through the 7th-10th gen Civic forms, 8-10th gen Accord forums, Piloteers, and AZ, it definitely seems more like the latter than the former.

My FIL is a hardcore Honda man (owned nothing but Hondas since 1985), but after his experience with the 8G and 9G Accords, even he said that his next car is going to be a Camry.

 

I don't think it's arguable that Honda has lost its way in the past decade+ as a brand prioritizing quality and reliability. Honda itself, in the person of CEO Takahiro Hachigo, has acknowledged this, and is making structural changes in an attempt to stop the damage.

How far they've fallen is arguable, but those who say Honda is not what it used to be aren't wrong.

https://www.autoblog.com/2019/12/10/...-streamlining/

 

Mr Hachigo's email addreas in case you have a question...
takahiro.hachigo@honda.com

 

I sure wish you could take a ride with me in our car and see if you think the noise is about the same as your car. I'm beginning to think this is just maybe a personal perception or an unrealistic expectation on my part as I don't imagine there can be that much difference between individual cars. Earlier this year before I took the car back to the dealer to ask about the noise I installed one of those decibel apps on the phone. The RDX had an average of 77db and a max of 85 while my 20 year old Dodge diesel on the same route had an average of 78 and a max of 85. This morning using a different app the car had an average of 60 and a max of 75 and the truck was at 63 and 75. So much for the accuracy of decibel apps.🤔
In the truck most of the noise is from the wind and engine while the RDX is almost all road noise.

JB is exactly right in that the noise is totally dependent on the road. On some surfaces the noise is very low and not an issue at all and on others my wife who is a bit hard of hearing and I will look at each other as if to say OMG, are you kidding me, this is awful. Unfortunately we have more of the latter in the bay area and CA. I don't know if it's because of the moonroof or some other design feature of the car but we both find the noise on the RDX to be more uncomfortable than our other vehicles for some reason. I do intend to try a different set of tires sooner rather than later because overall we really like this car and want to keep it.

On another note, my friends wife is shopping for a new car and the RDX is one of the cars on her list. I told her of course to pay particular attention to road noise on her test drive as that was our only complaint. She called last week to let us know she took a test drive and the only noise that jumped out at her was the engine noise as the car accelerated through the gears. So go figure, that's a noise that my wife and I have never even noticed.

 

I have no scientific evidence, and I haven't tried to crunch numnbers, so I'll be the first to admit that we will never settle this ...

I have owned a few cars, all of which I've really enjoyed overall, but if you read the forums, you'd think they were all awful.

2008 Civic Si? No way you could enjoy that, given that half of the threads on the entire forum were complaining about the "3rd gear issue." Admittedly, I had this issue, and it was a minor annoyance once a month when a shift into third didn't go off smoothly. Still, loved that car.

2010 Mazda 3 for my wife. TERRIBLE gas mileage. Dozens of people saying they'd never buy one again. I put summer tires on my wife's, and it was easily the most fun I've ever had in an "economy" car. My wife did average 14L/100km in a car with a 2.5L NA 4-banger, but hey, at the end of the day, we loved that car!

My 2015 X3? No way you could enjoy that, given the number of people who were complaining about rattling pano roofs or a $1500 wastegate repair that shouldn't have been necessary. Still, loved that car.

My 2018 Honda Accord 2.0T Touring? Well, it's a toss-up between 1.5T owners telling me that I'm an eco-terrorist who loves burning gas and racing Civics off the line at every red light and "jerky transmission" issues (which were definitely real, just not nearly as wide-spread as you'd think, and didn't affect me). To this day, I own and love that car.

I have been around this forum for quite a few months (I was right about to buy a car, pre-shutdown). I realized two things - half of the complaints actually come from the same half-dozen or so posters who rehash their gripes in every thread where it's even slightly relevant, and that most of the issues are similar to what I'm used to living with in my imperfect, but still lovable, Accord (mostly infotainment bugs). I hope to love this car!

 

Perception of noise and volume of sound are two different things. An 80-decibel low frequency sound might not bother you at all, and a 65-db screech could annoy the hell out of you.

Definitely try new tires, ensure they are aligned right, etc., I hope you find some relief.

Could it be an fixation/anxiety thing? I know that when my wife fixates on something she doesn't like about a car, she can't stop noticing it. Like, she found the driver seat position in my 2015 X3 slightly odd, and every time she had to drive it she was acutely aware of it. It seemed so minor, something about having to lift her heel to go from gas to brake, and I couldn't quite figure out what was so different about the positioning compared to her car, but she complained so much I sold the car ... /shrug.

 

^Agree with the wind noise, its disappointing. This is my first Acura with this bad quality overall, my previous TSX, TL & MDX does not have these quality issues, squeaky brakes & struts, are you kidding me!

 

I have about 17k miles driving it for two years. I like brake feel - in fact I think it is fantastic. It is soft allowing modulation in traffic and very strong when you press harder. I could have master cylinder reprogramed, since mine is eligible for that, but I don't want to. Some people say transmission is lazy while other people complain that it is too aggressive switching gears too often. I think it is just perfect. It is dual clutch transmission (like two separate transmissions for odd and even gears) that is capable to drop up to 4 gears down instantly, without sequencing like most transmissions. That it doesn't shift down at the turn? It not supposed to. You don't want sudden torque changes when car is turning. In the press release they even stated that car was designed purposely to prevent gear changing at the turns (big advantage).
Volume knob too large? I don't even use it - lever on steering wheel is more convenient - fine enough and quick. Reclining back seats might be important, but not to me. Most of the time there is only two of us. Lower ride? Why, on earth, anybody asks for that in a SUV, especially in one that drives like passenger car? I agree with road noise, but with Continental tires on Advance it becomes loud only above 70mph. At the same time I appreciate zero wind noise and very low general noise at lower speeds.

 

I have 27k on my Advance, in 15 months. I'll check in later with my list of likes and not likes.

But one thing for the record--the RDX 10 speed is a conventional planetary gear full automatic transmission, NOT a dual clutch transmission. No DCT that I've heard about can downshift (or upshift) more than one gear at a time, and rarely do you hear of a DCT that is anything but butter smooth changing gears (Ford may have an exception, but that's another story)

 

I also remember reading somewhere that the RDX's 10 speed trans can drop 4 gears at once...hmmm

 

I'm gonna add a couple of thoughts that I didn't write in my post #13 in this thread.

1. I have mentioned this before, and it bears repeating, at least in my mind...(and when I do repeat it in my mind, I tell myself, "remember, it wasn't a deal breaker!")... I do not like the blind spot indicator lights on the inside pillar, I much prefer them on the mirror themselves. If they must be on the pillar, then they should be brighter. We get a lot of bright sun here in the desert, and they are just not bright enough to catch my attention when I am looking to make a quick lane change. I often don't even see them, but I always do in my wife's '20 CR-V, where they are located on the mirror glass. Perhaps it is not possible to have them on the mirror glass and also have auto dimming mirror glass? Fortunately, I always use my turn signals when lane changing, (and turn my head as I was taught many years ago) so if I do miss a car in my blind spot, I get the warning beeps.

2. This one is on me...I knew the RDX FWD Advance I was considering when I was shopping did not come with a spare tire. I never considered any other trim level. I did NOT know some of the other trims DID, and that the spare tire and associated items where available as an accessory. Had I known, I would have negotiated it in with the purchase. I have had other cars without a spare, so it didn't seem so "wrong"...I didn't find out about being able to add it until I really got into this forum. Thanks guys! LOL

Again, I still love driving my RDX!

 

AFAIK 10AT has 2 clutches and one dual-action clutch (whatever it means). It might not be a "dual-clutch" design, but it is fast and can drop 4 gears down instantly.

From Press Kit:

"The 10AT is designed to be lightweight and compact. It features four planetary gear sets that work together to provide an exceptionally wide ratio spread of 10.147:1 compared with 6.041:1 on the previous-generation RDX’s 6- speed unit. The 10-speed also has substantially faster upshift and downshift performance than the previous generation 6-speed transmission. For greater responsiveness, the 10-speed transmission can make 4-gear direct downshifts: from 10th to 6th, or from 7th to 3rd."

It is not clear to me is why they mentioned only 10-6 or 7-3 downshifts, or perhaps it was just an example (otherwise it doesn't make sens)

 

I found more info on 10AT transmission:

https://gearsmagazine.com/magazine/p...ts-in-a-honda/

 

Yep. The first thing I do when leaving my residential neighbourhood is to toggle the transmission from D to S mode.

I don't put it into S mode right away because when the engine / tranny is cold, it is so reluctant to upshift that even with gentle throttle inputs it won't shift unless you're above 5,000 rpm... people walking outside are staring at you wondering why you're redlining your car going 15 mph.

After 5 min of being too aggressive at holding lower gears, the tranny recalibrates and starts acting normally, making S transmission mode what D should have been, especially for Sport driving mode.

 

Thanks. Interesting article; interesting site too. It's fun to read about engineering, even though much of it is beyond my comprehension.

This was interesting from another article:
"Honda built their own transmission with planetary gearsets, which is a big step considering the only transmission built with a planetary gearset in the past was their CVT, and it was only for reverse operation."

Sounds like Honda left their comfort zone with this in-house 10-speed build. It could be that their experience with the ZF 9-speed factored into this decision to just make it themselves.

 

Coming up to 1 year as well with my Aspec. Some common complaints I have.

-Fitment and quality materials can use improvement. I sometimes question myself If I should have splurge on german luxury
-Infotainment is still glitchy. Various bugs pop up time to time. I don't wanna get into it cause its just pisses me off.
-City gas mileage is 16mpg. I live downtown maybe thats why.
-Roas noise. Guessing Aspec is noisier with the larger rims but they can definitely improve on it
-LKAS lacks confidence

Besides that I have no regrets on the purchase. I love the looks, stereo, engine, tranny, SH-awd and specious room. Theres no competitor that checks all the boxes at this price point.

 

I am approaching 1 year too, like the car in performance and handling areas. Like how it looks too.
the little disappointment in quality issues and fitment of body panels. Its all comes down to price/value, if you have high expectation for perfection you need to move up the chain and pay more money. RDX is an entry level luxury CUV that starts at 30k... I think it delivers good value for the money.

 

I got my SHAWD Advance 16 months ago. From our home in mid-America she has taken us as far West as Arizona and as far East as the Atlantic Ocean as well as North to Michigan and south to the lower states. She has seen hot Summers and some very cold Winters. I really can't complain about how she has performed. I did have the front brake squeak and while it did take then some time to get that ironed out, its gone. As for body noises or poor fitment or shifting roughness, I have none of those issues at all. My car was built in March of 2019 so it wasn't a early build so maybe they had better QC or something by then. For economy I get pretty close to what the sticker told me. Of course I can get "spirited" and drop it down but I have never seen some of the low numbers some complain of here. I have noted that economy is controlled mostly by my right foot and what speed I wish to drive. On the highway I have seen as low as 23 MPG while driving fast in the mountains to as high as 33 MPG on the flat lands. Normal for me for mixed driving, mostly highway, is something like 24.5 to 28 MPG, again, its all up to me and my foot.

I have driven a lot of cars in my life, especially since my livelihood was in the auto industry. Not seen many, if any, perfect cars. It seems that like most things in the world price is a big factor in how good the product is. As for value I have to rank my my RDX pretty high. You can get quieter, smoother or whatever but it will cost you. I look at the over-all package with the car and feel my RDX suits me better than anything else I looked at...and I looked at a lot of competitions.

As for complaints found on car forums: I see many complaints on most every car forum I have ever visited. Seems some expect perfection and will settle for nothing less....but don't want to actually pay for it. Some people do have legitimate issues. Complaining on a forum doesn't really help much. Work with yore dealer, the car company and as a last resort, your local Lemon Law board.

I still love my Advance and can't really say there is another car in that price range that would off me any more than this one would. That said, everyone has different tastes in cars and each of us have our own criteria for judging vehicles. I once knew a lady who evaluated cars by their ashtrays. She was a big smoker and wanted big ashtrays everywhere! Some look at cup holders (yes they do!). Some think the audio system is the most important part of the vehicle and will make their buying decisions based on that. (a bad move if there ever was one!).

Cars are complex, its hard for he average person to sort it all out. I guess you just have to find what suits you and go with it. Me, I liked my CR-V's but since having the RDX I have no desire to go back to the CR-V, and I don't care what the fuel economy is!

 

I think the hardware design might actually be quite good, but the software / programming lets it down. Might be the same programmers who worked on the infotainment system

It might not be Honda programmers either. Some companies outsource / offshore developers to IT companies with an army of programmers based in lower labor cost regions like India, Eastern Europe, or Mexico to save money.

In a former life, my company did the same thing, and I would say that the supposed cost savings weren't worth it. Had to spend more time getting them to redo stuff or fix things multiple times, as in their haste to close tickets or move tasks to the next stage, they didn't do it properly.

 

Around a year for me too, and I really like the car overall. The one thing that I dislike about the car is the hesitation to accelerate after braking.

There are a few other minor nitpicks, but none of them really bother me. I like the infotainment system, and fortunately, it has rarely ever acted up on me. Had to wait for Android Auto, but it was worth the wait. Rock solid for me.