neuronbob

I received a snail-mail mailing from Acura yesterday recommending a visit to acuravideo.com/RLX.

There, they have three videos discussing a) steering wheel controls, b) multi-view rear camera, and c) ACC with low-speed follow-through. They then invite you to see more videos on the Acura owners' site, but I saw none there on my cursory search.

Just posing for general info, and it might be helpful to the newer folks with RLXs.

George Knighton

That was an expensive thing for them to do.

neuronbob

It was a postcard in a very nice envelope and something a company purporting to be a luxury automobile manufacturer might do.

So, yeah, I agree.

George Knighton

So you saw the wisdom of it.

After I looked at it, I sort of wondered why they did it. I mean, it looked good, and clearly cost a lot, but it wasn't much in the way of new information for somebody who'd already owned his car for a while.

Maybe it was just a "We're here if you need us" reminder.

All direct mail is controversial now. A lot of people who have to pay for direct mail don't really believe it does a lot of good any more.

But it's also looking like television is dying as a good medium, too.

Commercialism of all kinds has bordered on the ridiculous, recently. YouTube. Smartphone applications.

And why the hell do I pay $211.00/month for Xfinity Blast and still have to look at commercials on cable shows?

:-)

Malibu Flyer

I got my mail piece yesterday but haven't yet gotten an opportunity to go the look at the videos.

In my mind it is clearly an attempt to build their brand image with RLX owners since many of us have found fault with the way Acrura has handled almost everything about their new "flagship". While there have been some issues with the actual car, it has been their poor, inconsistent marketing and numerous TSB that have damaged the Acura image. Most purchasers of the RLX, at least the ones posting here have been long time Acura customers. We are their biggest asset. If they lose the loyalists, particularly the ones who can spring for their highest priced car it will take a long time to restore the brand.

My take on this is that it is a small step I the right direction. It encourages me to see even a small outreach to us.

neuronbob

I looked at the videos on the site I linked above. The ACC/CMBS videos are a MUST WATCH. The series goes through how the system works and even gives a little technical info. For example, they state that when you set the follow distance, the following distance dynamically changes with speed. At "long" (three bars), the distance is 154 feet at 50 mph and increases to 200 feet at 65 mph.

COOOOOOOOL.

To find the rest of the videos, you log on to your owners.acura.com account, then select "Instructional Guides and Videos". The videos have been done or redone since I last bothered to check over six months ago.

Dig in! I just watched how to set up Aha and I finally bothered to do it. Weather and Fuel will be handy on my next road trip.

George Knighton

Maybe it was worth the postage and printing after all!

:-)

Malibu Flyer

I just watched the new videos. I did learn ONE thing I didn't know ..... what happens when you hold the scroll wheel either left or right [rather than just clicking in]. You can scroll through the stations on the radio. Good to know.

The mailer also got me to look around at the Acura website. It was interesting to note that in while I found that there are software updates for the TLX and MDX listed on the site, there are none for the RLX. Seems strange to me.

pgeorg

That software update is only for the 2015 MDX and TLX only. The 2014 MDXs had the same fate as the 2014-2015 RLXs, no update.........Very disappointed since i also own a 2014 MDX, and that software update corrected a lot of the infotainments shortcoming and bugs:-(

Malibu Flyer

I can't figure out why they they are leaving the 2014s out. A software update is simple to do and install. Why hurt us early adapters/beta testers??

It doesn't make any sense to me.

holografique

I received a letter from Acura indicating there is a navigation system map update available at a discounted price of $99 (MSRP $149).

Part me of wants to buy this update. The other part of me wants to boycott paying Acura another single dime until they fix the damn system first before asking me to pay for an update.

Malibu Flyer

This "update" will only add a few new streets and cities to the nav. I doubt it does anything more than update the data base. That is not the kind of software update we need.

Just my

pgeorg

You are correct Malibu Flyer, this "update" is the same for the 2014 MDX also. I bought it for my MDX, and it just updated the maps, and added a couple of more options to the "Routing and Guidance" menu:-(. It was not worth the money in my opinion, but i wanted to see if they had included any system "updates".....
The kind of update we need, usually needs to get done by the dealer.

George Knighton

What was added to the menu?

pgeorg

People over at the MDX side mentioned that the 2015 MDX and TLX have different internal hardware (infotainment system), and that is why they were able to receive the "system upgrade" software.......

holografique

I wasnt implying this was the update we need to fix the actual infotainment issues. I was just stating that before I pay them to update the "maps", they need to release an update to fix the "system" first before they get another cent from me.

We're saying the same thing

pgeorg

This.....

"Many toll roads across the US and Canada only utilize the ETC system. Users may now choose to 'minimize' or 'maximize' routing on these toll roads under the SETTINGS->ROUTING AND GUIDANCE options. The default setting is set to 'minimize' ETC, which means the system will try to avoid ETC only roads. Users who have registered with their local ETC highway agency, and have a valid transponder in their vehicle, can choose the 'maximize' setting to ensure they are routed on these ETC only highways."

neuronbob

So what folks are saying is that I could have a $65,000 computer that can't (or won't) be updated. Not so cool given the bugs we keep reporting. It can't be impossible to upgrade our system software, but there is obviously some kind of issue not allowing it to occur in a timely fashion.

pgeorg

Correct! The 2014-2015 RLX - RLX Sport Hybrid owners, and the 2014 MDX owners are not important enough.....talking about the infotainment system of course.....Maybe things will change in the future.....

holografique

The 2014 RLX infotainment can be updated. I had mine updated from v2.00 to v2.02 not too long ago. So the hardware in these models can be updated.

The problem is Acura hasn't done anything to acknowledge the bugs and release an update that actually fixes them.

flagship

It could also be a legal dept. or safety dept. request related to educating on the ACC and related. Note the same website is there for mdx, tlx etc. if you change the URL. The first and last videos are like disclaimers for ACC. It seems to be showing and teaching more than selling and most cars have the backup camera but all good. just a guess.

neuronbob

^^^^^^^
That's an interesting point. I still have CMBS on despite the warning about it. I've even tried setting it off given we have some areas here with guardrail right next to the roadway, in curves. No bueno (thankfully). It must take some extenuating circumstances to go into a full lock braking event unexpectedly.

Love the warning about using ACC in heavy traffic. Of course, that is when it is most useful--on the freeway, during rush hour.

Colin

I think those videos were a part of our pre-launch training. Of course, that was a while ago ...

Malibu Flyer

Is this now a precursor to a "new" launch with the 2016 Sport Hybrid? Perhaps the second time around Acura will get the bugs worked out internally before a re-launch. Here's hoping.

I just saw the May sales figures. It seems like, other than the RLX, the Acura brand is doing fine. Now if they can get their flagship in line with the rest of the brand us beta-testers can feel proud of the RLX and the Acura brand.

George Knighton

It's possible that Acura needs to move farther from Honda for people to consider them for cars at 60 grand and up.

Maybe people moved from the TL to a BMW or Mercedes without ever stopping to consider the RLX, which is a very conventional car, outwardly, compared to other choices like an E-something or a 5-something.

Maybe.

I'm still okay with the choice of an RLX Sport Hybrid; however, I can see that the car was on the cusp of further technological breakthroughs that my car is missing, and I'm also concerned over this forum's wide range of fuel economy reports, which don't make a lot of sense to me.

The 5G RLX is probably going to be like the 4G TL: Nobody knew how good it was until they stopped making it. :-)

Like you, I still have CMBSS turned on and I view it as an important piece of technology.

It seems to be a little aggressive with the CMBSS warnings and a little mild with the ACC interventions, if that makes sense. The same radar causes the CMBSS to flash the "Brake Now!" but when it does that you realize that you've been watching and waiting for the ACC to have started to slow you down, and it hadn't.

This can alarm passengers.

Knowing the car well, you know the ACC is going to intervene at an appropriate moment, if a rather late moment.

Left to human beings, we are going to want to take our foot off the accelerator and begin to slow a lot earlier than the ACC will want to do it. This makes the human's analogue control of the car much smoother than the digital control of the ACC.

It also makes our control of the car far less alarming to passengers.

My ACC is always set on 3.

CMBSS seems too important a part of the technology to turn it off, even though I recognize that it is a little aggressive with the warnings.