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Planning a +1200 miles round-trip to Las Vegas, NV, this week. Wanted to give the 19 MDX Hybrid a rest from road-trip duties and take the RLX (just the wife and I). A lot of open country and 1-2 hours from a decent tire shop at 80 mph on a good day if I get a flat on the road (probably a few days wait for a replacement tire).
Just for grins and laughs, I decided to see if my full size RLX spare with OEM tire I have in the garage would fit in the donut spare place AND it does. I have the hybrid spare tire kit for the RLX with the extra safety bar for the battery, I didn't have to deflate the tire, and I had to remove the foam thing-of-a-bob that held all the tire tools and compressor. The full size spare sits up about 2-3 inches taller (less in the back and more towards the hatch). I really thought I would have to deflate the tire to make it fit.
The screw to secure the dount isn't long enough for the full size spare; but, it is a pretty snug fit with the PSI set to 42.
All the tool, jack, glove, and my Ryobi air compressor:
Trying it out with the cargo tray and might leave it at home for this trip.
The only thing wrong with the SH-AWD, besides the obvious outdated tech that plagues all RLXs, is the small trunk. Other than that, it's almost perfection!
I did my 1600 round-trip to Las Vegas and didn't have any issues with the full size spare in the rear. The RLX trunk was pretty tight with a 28" hard suite case, 20" hard suite case, and my Osprey hiking backpack. Probably could have squeezed in more if we used soft sided type suite cases for everything. No noticeable drop in combined mpgs for the trip with 28.20 mpg for the 6 days (miles divided by gallons method). I had a high 31.48 mpg 326 miles all hwy and a low 24.91 mpg for 299 miles with mixed driving of a few days in Las Vegas and a stiff headwind leaving towards Kingman, AZ. Mostly ACC set to 80 mph on I-40 and 70-75 mph on the Las Vegas/Kingman road. Felt a lot better having the full size spare because the interstate and Las Vegas roads had a lot of pot holes and a crap load of broken/cracked/uneven surfaces. I hit a few potholes that made me nervous and switch to the TPMS display to make sure I was A-OK.
This is really our first road trip in the RLX because of the lockdown other than when we flew out to Sacramento to purchase back in 2019. The wife and I compared notes and prefer the 19 MDX over the RLX traveling because of the MDX's electronic dampers, more room in the hatch, more supportive seats in the MDX, and improved visibility being a SUV. The Valet loved the RLX and some would commented on how good it looks. They even parked it out front sometimes instead of underground to show it off next other Corvettes, McLaren's, and a Ferrari they valet parked near the door.
Side Note: Our son and his fiancé flew in from Vancouver, WA, to hang out with the old folks. The son and I went to the Las Vegas speedway and booked a session with Dream Racing to take some hot laps in exotic cars. I did the Acura NSX and 911 Porsche 992 GT3 and my son did the Audi R8 V10+ and Ferrari F430 F1. I did pick the Lamborghini Huracan as my second car; but, being 6'3" and size 14 shoe just didn't let me fit inside. We rode along in a few hot laps in a Maserati Levante GT with a professional driver to familiarize ourselves with the track twists and turns. I'm willing to bet that Maserati Levante GT would make the MDX Type-S feel like a Honda CR-V in comparison. Our better halves just wanted to watch at first and didn't want to participate; but, the racing bug took a bite out of them also. They did a racetrack drifting session in a Hemi Dodge Charger and had so much fun drifting sideways at top speed around the race track.
Gotta say, the Acura NSX is one hell of a track car. Unimaginable grip and the electric motors+3.5T makes it a tq monster to get it up to speed in a hurry in track mode. It sound, drives, shifts, and handles just like what you expect an exotic supercar should do at full throttle and close to 1g in turns. Other than the gauge cluster, the damn NSX interior is so underwhelming compared to the other exotics. Our old vintage style 2013/2014 RLX interior would have been an improvement.
One of the corollaries of Murphy's Law is: If you make a special effort to have a full size spare available...You definitely won't need it. If you have no spare tire... you are certain to get a flat.
Regarding the track time... should we inform all of the Formula 1 teams of your availability???
One of the corollaries of Murphy's Law is: If you make a special effort to have a full size spare available...You definitely won't need it. If you have no spare tire... you are certain to get a flat.
Regarding the track time... should we inform all of the Formula 1 teams of your availability???
Not ready to give up my career as a IT Specialist just yet; but, my son is really into Formula 1 racing. He really loved the trip and driving the exotic cars (he normally drives a 16 Honda Civic LX). We might make this a regular father/son thing from now on.
01-30-2023, 11:32 AM
