Just announced 2022 MDX will have 12.3” display (compared to 10.2" on RDX) , wireless charging, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and there is also Alexa built-in. Hope to see those features in 2022 RDX.
My current RDX 2019 lease ends in November 2022 and my next car has to have wireless charging and wireless Android Auto, no more cables.

 

This would be nice.

However, as much as I really like my RDX, I also like experiencing new brands, and models. Who knows what I wil buy next?

 

I am with you on that, but its really hard to find anything in the market that can beat RDX price for the same feature set. I want to see how GV70 compares to RDX when full spec and price available.

 

Does wireless carplay sound just as good as wired?

 

I doubt it. It would likely be too costly to retrofit some of the listed things into the current cabin. If they did, you'd likely see a price increase as well. I am jealous of the center console layout of the 4G MDX ... it seems way more practically laid out compared to the RDX.

 

I'm pretty sure the engineers had a bit more width to deal with in the MDX vs the RDX. This makes a "big" difference. (Bad pun)

I know it is not going too happen but...Acura...PLEASE get rid of the space robbing drive control knob and place it as a button on the steering wheel. Personally, I think this interior will look very dated in a few years.

 

I haven't paid any attention to the MDX (or any other car) because I'm not in the market for a car and won't be for the foreseeable future. But since everyone was talking about it, I briefly looked at the interior of the MDX. Frankly, it just looks, in general, like an RDX interior. The center divider between the driver and passenger does seem much nicer, but that's because, as JB mentioned, the car and the divider are wider. So it is definitely more elegant to have the touchpad taking up half the space and then cupholders on the other half, but it's not earth-shattering. I think the only "new" thing is the wireless charging and I guess if you want to buy a new car solely for that, that's OK. I think the RDX managed to cram pretty much everything into the car that is on the market today, other than the power-folding mirrors that everyone loves to note. If you're looking for new features, I'm not sure what features those would be.

 

My guess is that the RDX will get some of the features in the mid-cycle refresh. So possibly next year but definitely a refresh in 2023 if not 2022. My $0.02.

 

Agreed that the MDX is wider so it gives it more real estate. I don't dislike the RDX's layout, I just think it could have been tweaked to make it a bit more practical. Even the TLX is laid out better. My main gripe is that finding a place for your phone while it's hooked into the USB slot to use CarPlay isn't exactly the best. The side cubby next to the cupholders, if you have two drinks in there, can be a bit intrusive with the cable poking out and the phone laying against the cups. And getting it into the space under the drive mode selector is a little awkward. Not a dealbreaker by any means, but it's just something I think could have had more thought put into it.

 

I don't ever plug my phone into the middle console USB, but couldn't you put the phone in the rear part of the middle console (the really deep area) and just have the cord come out to the USB? I know you can't shut the lid with the cord, but it would be almost totally shut.

 

Probably, but it'd be equally as cumbersome opening up the lid and taking the phone out if I wanted to change songs/podcasts or taking the phone out with me. It's really not a big issue, it's just something that Acura could have improved on I think. It's not like a curse Acura every time I plug my phone in or anything, lol.

 

It’s surprising that the new RDX didn’t get wireless charging or ambient lighting.

Even my 18 TLX has it.

In regards to wireless CarPlay, I’ll take wired any day compared to the weak Bluetooth quality.

 

FYI wireless Carplay requires bluetooth and WiFi connectivity to function. Bluetooth doesn’t have the bandwidth thus why you also need WiFi for some of the data passing.

 

Space-robbing? What else are you possibly going to put there if not the knob?

I do wonder how well the interior will age. Acura is bucking the trend of horizontal dash layouts and sticking with the age-old vertical stack, but in a way, the uniqueness makes it more interesting.

 

What does a horizontal dash layout look like? When I look at Acura interiors, I think it's more like a divide between European cars that are trying to be ultra-minimalistic and Acura trying to be more flashy with the piano black accents and lots of lighted buttons. I would actually prefer the minimalistic look, myself, but not paying double for it.

 

It’s when there’s a predominant horizontal line across the dash that things are organized around. Variations of the look below, which is seen in BMW, Audi, Mazda, Kia, Etc.







I think Acura does a fair job minimizing buttons and black gloss compared to some of the competition. Some brands, like Mazda, keep putting that gloss stuff on interior door handles, steering wheels, around cup holders, and on other high-touch areas. At least most of Acura’s gloss is up high on the dash. There’s that little bit around the touchpad, but it’s slim enough where a scratch doesn’t stand out too bad.

Anyways, I also prefer minimalist designs and it took me a long while to appreciate the RDX. But once I understood that they were rebranding themselves as a sportier car company, I can see why they went with an NSX-inspired look. But it works best when you commit to the sports look with the A-spec trim.