holografique

After having time to experience my RLX day in and day out since late June, I've come to what I think is my complete list of things I'd like to see improved in the coming revisions.

Exterior:
* Some more rim options for 19' wheels. Provide options for something sportier than the option that comes with the Advanced


Interior:
* Vehicle settings to adjust ambient lighting options. Allow option for footwell lighting timer options and/or allow to choose "always on"

* Rear passenger window sun visors need better padding when stowed away to eliminate rattling. They create a loud cheap plastic rattling sound when driving over bumps or on rough roads.

* Allow the driver to select different seating positions using the 1/2 memory location buttons without the vehicle having to be placed in "park". Single drivers can use the 2nd setting as a preset for a more relaxed long-distance position versus a more upright alert day-to-day driving position. This worked in my old 06 TL and I love being able to switch positions as needed. the RLX has this completely disabled and only allows you to choose the position if the transmission is placed into "park".


Engine
* Eliminate "clicking" sound from engine injection fan. When running idle, the engine constantly sounds like a cold engine with no oil in it (click click click click click click...). A car of this value should not sound like that.


Technology / Navigation
* Entire Navigation/Entertainment systems needs a faster processor. The overall interface, input controls and UI response to input controls is EXTREMELY sluggish for a car of this value. 80% of the time commands take 1-3 seconds to show a response in the UI. This is really my biggest disappointment with the RLX. Very poor design overall.

* Overall UI should be simplified. Too flashy. Keep it simple, elegant, and concise. For example: the entire visual cue of switching modes is completely unnecessary and delays the time it takes to move from one area to another in the UI. Take cues from iOS7, Android or other "minimal" type UI designs. No need for all the flashy 3D objects and background graphic elements. Simplify it with a clean, modern, tactile and useable look-n-feel.

* Unify the look-n-feel of the 2 LCD screens. the two screens lack consistency in the look-n-feel of how you navigate and use them.

* The ability to use the built-in HD for buffering playback of XM/Sirius radio streaming. Having an HD system that can only be used for ripping CD's is useless in this day. CD's are becoming just as obsolete as tapes are, making the HD system completely useless. The HD system should be designed to be used as a DVR type device allowing you to rewind and playback buffered content from any XM/Sirius station. the BMW 7-series has this capability and is a very very nice feature.

* More responsive real-time updates to navigation based on traffic situations. Arrival time or total trip time should be updated based on traffic conditions to show some estimate of the delayed (or lost time) due to the traffic conditions. Google Maps for iOS is a great example of this feature and really helps the driver make better navigation decisions based on unexpected traffic situations or conditions. It can help a driver decide to either stick it out, or make a correction to try and save time.

* Allow option to over-ride safety feature that disables all input commands while vehicle is moving. This is very annoying and makes the assumption that the driver is always solo. It prevents a passenger from being able to use the system quickly versus forcing the driver to have to use voice-command navigation.

JT4

Good write-up, thanks for taking the time to do this.

KeithL

Actually I like a HDD if they allow you to import your media from USB. My Audi has SD slots and I can import the music to the HDD, thus I can have 2 32GB SD plus 20GB of imported music on the HDD. And that allows me to have all my music at 320K, also the Audi supports Apple Lossless so basically 84GB of high quality music files.

victorber

Great recommendations and If I may add:

Fix the Algorithm used in the time estimates when traveling, the arrival time should coincide more closely to the current speeds and traffic deviations while traveling.

My arrival time was consistently off by at least an hour and that didn't take into account crossing time zones..

I believe this could be corrected as stated above, with a faster processor.

I should not have to wait for the 2015 for this to be corrected.

Still hold this vehicle in High Regard...

holografique

That feature would be nice as well. But you can't even do that. The HDD in the RLX is 100% useless for me. I don't even own any CDs anymore. Who uses CDs??

Importing media from a USB device and/or offering buffer-space for realtime streaming of XM/Sirius would be much more suitable.

KeithL

Agreed, I am not sure why they would put the HDD in there for ripping, I assume because they use it for the navi. I would hope in the future they would skip CD/DVD media and the HDD should be replaced with SSD drive so these damn systems can boot up and be usable in under a minute. My Audi takes about 3 minutes for everything to boot and be ready for use, I can be well on my way by the time I can use the Navi of BT phone.

jhr3uva90

Yes, I would prefer flash memory over an SDD. For some reason, gadgets in automobiles seem to be constantly behind the times.

holografique

wow, that's a long boot time. the RLX navigation system boots within 10-15 sec max, that includes the startup logo and startup sound.

KeithL

You get the MMI screen right away, but then it has to make the BT connection to the phone, load the phone directory, load the navi, connect to google, get the voice recognition ready, etc. you can make phone calls in less than a minute, but you have to manually select the phone and the directory entry. Just shows the amount of complex software in these cars. You would think they would have some sort of hibernate or sleep mode,but seems that every start up is a boot up as well.

holografique

gotcha, yea the RLX system is ready to go completely within the 10sec start time, and it's actually a little less than that.

what's this "google" integration you mention? Is that through a smartphone connection or is there built-in google integration into A5 OS/System?

islandbeef

Try using the Tesla electric car as a reference regarding the Google integration.

NotEnthused

More Improvements :

** Move the Blind Spot Monitoring lights to the mirror a-la Mercedes. They are not in a good position to see when looking in the side view. Just too far out of view. Focus on the lights and you can't see the mirror.

** Get rid of the crazy Drivers Side View Mirror. That wide angle only distorts and does nothing to help see things.

** Put a spare back in the trunk. Is it really necessary not to have one ???

** Re-do the suspension. Need I Say More !!!

George Knighton

Does the RLX's NAV/Traffic show traffic on US primary roads, or just the Interstate system?

On my daily driver, I find myself checking my iPhone for traffic instead of the Acura NAV because I only get traffic on the Interstate systems.

George Knighton

Right. It doesn't cost anything extra to have the extra functionality.

They looked at including memory cards in the RLX with Advance, but the focus groups appeared to overwhelmingly favor iPhones and iPods. Since the customers were coming with those devices, there didn't seem to be any reason to develop memory card interfaces.