I honestly don't see the value of P-AWS. The only time I'm aware it's there is when I make a tight right turn at low speed (such as to pull onto a busy 2-lane road), and then it oversteers a bit and I have to manually steer it back straight before proceeding.

For my money, Acura could have saved that expense and complexity, and instead put in something more useful, like a heated steering wheel and cooled front seats, for instance.

Does anyone here really, really think P-AWS is the cat's pajamas?

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Without P-AWS, the RLX is basically a really nice Toyota Avalon with an Acura badger.

 

I also was hard-pressed to feel any difference with it on a test drive. Of course here in FL most of our roads are pretty straight anyway. It took a very sharp turn onto an interstate entrance ramp to notice it. If it were an option I could do without it.

 

All that P-AWS does is reduce understeer in harder driving situations.

It affects the attitude of the car in a way that causes me to appreciate it.

In the dry and in normal wet conditions, I like the way it improves the car's handling.

On the ice, of course, I found myself missing the SH-AWD of my former TL 6-6.

 

Here's that video again. I thought the RLX's P-AWS attitude was pretty good considering it is a huge FWD sedan.

 

I definitely feel P-AWS in my every day driving. But I attribute most of that to the fact that I live in an area of North Atlanta (Roswell) where most of the roads in and around the area are very windy hilly roads. So it makes for a more interesting "spirited" drive where you can definitely feel the benefit of the car's handling with P-AWS. It's definitely different from when I drive around in my wife's ILX. Granted most of these roads are 35-45mph zones, I still get to have some fun

I also tend to feel it on the interstate at higher speeds when I get a bit more aggressive in passing other cars or exiting on an off-ramp with sharp runs, another place to have some fun.

FYI, dual heated/cooled seats with heated rear seats are in the Advanced model. That along with all the other tech options (LKAS, ACC, CMBS, Forward / Rear Parking Sensors, etc) made the Advanced an absolutely must for me. Sorta that "if I'm going to spend this much money, may as well go for gold (not broke)" approach.

 

I suppose this is one of those things that depends on where you live and the type of driving that you do. Our RLX is in Southern California and is close to the coast where there are lots of great twisty roads to drive around on. Here, the P-AWS makes a noticeable difference in the handling characteristics of the car, allowing for a more neutral character after a bit of initial understeer and allowing a 2-ton sedan to feel like a car several hundred pounds lighter.

 

I think I could feel and appreciate the SH-AWD in my 2006 RL a lot more than I do the P-AWS in my 2014 RLX. And if I had the choice I'd rather have SH-AWD.

I didn't like the reduced trunk space in the 2006, but as a useful device SH-AWD wins for me, since it comes into play in a lot more situations.

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Couldn't agree more. With the addition of engaging Sport Mode, my RLX get's pretty close to feeling like my old 3G TL 6-speed manual when navigating through the roads here in North Atlanta/Georgia, not quite, but pretty darn close.

 

I have to wonder if the effect isn't more psychological for you or if your driving style has perhaps adapted to the characteristics of the SH-AWD.

Aside from possible low traction situations that need AWD, the super-handling effect is only in play when you are on the throttle. Anytime you are off the throttle, the SH-AWD is not doing any side to side apportioning of power and allows for plenty of understeer.

P-AWS, on the other hand, is always active and always making adjustments, requiring no throttle inputs to be effective.

I think that for the majority of buyers, who couldn't tell the difference between RWD and FWD to save their lives, the P-AWS actually delivers much of the same benefit as SH-AWD in the majority of day to day driving situations without the added cost and fuel economy sacrifice of the extra hardware.

 

We just returned from a 2.5 week trip to Las Vegas, Denver and Idaho and when we were driving through multiple "Blinding Blizzards" (I'm not exaggerating, these were full "Whiteouts" with 50+ mph crosswinds, were you could not see the road surface whatsoever and I had to have my wife note my location on the road to make any corrections.
Thank God I had CMBS and LKS along with P-AWS, because these were the only systems that allowed us to make it out of the Blizzards. CMBS kept us from rear ending another vehicles and LKAS saw the road edges and kept us in the center of the lane.
We both had to change our shorts after we got out of these storms...

I also must thank WYDOT and CODOT for the "Rumble Strips on the road edges.


During this part of the trip we saw many vehicles upended and overturned.


These technologies saved our butts....


I am a firm believer in these systems, and you get what you pay for!!!!!

 

After 5700 miles now, so am I. :-)

Good to hear a success story. Thank you.

 

Too bad it couldn't save your underwear....My they rest in peace

IN all seriousness, that was good to read and glad the technology worked well and kept you safe.

 

After 15k+ miles, I've been a believer

Glad you're safe Victor!

 

Glad were safe also, but there were a few moments when we looked at each other and said "Was this the smartest thing we have done"....
We have almost 18K on the RLX and people still stare and make comments like "Sure is a great looking car", we say thanks, we love it!!

 

I get that, too.

Which is of course ironic considering how many people in the enthusiast media pick on its looks.

 

Agree. I'll admit I was a little skeptical about the headlights at first, but now I think the RLX looks very elegant from the front. Kind of has a tuxedo look, as opposed to a sport coat.

The tail lights, though, still don't quite bring out the love in me. They're just too big and wide-eyed, in contrast to the squinty front lights. Did separate styling studios do each end?

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I was down in Florida this weekend visiting and meeting future in-laws (got engaged last christmas), and all I got were compliments on my RLX. One of them coming up to me and saying "you know what, I got you figured out now, that's your Acura RLX isn't it?" That turned into a 3-hour long conversation about Acura's direction, past, and future from one enthusiast to another. (currently drives a 3G 2006 TL) and he was ga-ga over the RLX. Without mentioning it he commented on how he and his son were both turned off when the 4G TL came out and couldn't figure out what Acura was trying to do. He called it the "batmobile". I smiled Older gentlemen too, but hip and up on cars.

Said his son got him hooked onto Acura and was gonna flip out when he found out he got to test drive the RLX. I let him to take it for a test-spin and he couldn't believe what Acura had done with the car.