Michael Roback

My wife wants the new 2013 RDX. She had thought that she wanted the base model without the tech package or awd. We had a dealer holding such a car for a couple of days. We went to get financing arranging and the morning that the salesperson was off, the car was sold! She is looking for the forged silver color with a black interior. So we have been waiting for the color combo that she wants for another one, but I have been thinking about maybe going for the tech package, which is much easier to find, or maybe even the awd as well. Can anyone share any experiences or opinion on whether the tech package and or the all wheel drive option are useful. We live in southern california, but would may take a trip or two to the snow in the next year or two. I hear the all wheel drive is good, but not as good as the all wheel drive on on the 2012. What are peoples experiences. Is it worth the money to get the tech package and the all wheel drive? Thanks in advance for all of your input. Hope you are having a nice day .

mrgold35

I have an 08 RDX with tech and sh-awd.

The 07-12 sh-awd system provided traction in bad weather AND improved handling on good days with its torque vectoring "super Handling". The "sh" would have to be pushed pretty hard for it to kick in (like doing 55mph on a 35mph on a tight curve of a hwy on ramp). In normal driving, I’ve noticed the “sh” very rarely engages. I’m pretty much breaking the law speeding just to have fun with the super handling. Even during hard straight line acceleration, the sh-awd was usually about 70-90% fwd depending on how much power I needed.

I live in the NM and travel year round to So Cal, AZ, NV, UT, CO, TX. I get very little to no use from the awd. We take our son skiing in Pagosa Springs and Steamboat Springs in CO. Some of the mountain passes are at +11,000 feet and snow/ice covered, Resorts also have a plenty of snow/ice. There are just as many fwd Toyota Camry and Honda Civics as BMW X5 and Volvo XC90 in the parking lots. Good snow or all season tires, good driving skills, and chains as back-up will get the job done every time.

The only thing I’ve noticed with awd is more tire wear because the rear tires are also powered compared to being dragged like an fwd vehicle. I will not see the rated 50,000 miles from my tires compared to my fwd TSX (same tires on both vehicles).

I get daily use from my tech package compared to the sh-awd, if I had to pick one over the other living in the south west.

BlackDogRDX

As far as the AWD and Tech I'd pose one question each.

For AWD - where do you live? Generally speaking the AWD may only be useful a handful of times for the average vehicle equipped with it. And since you even asked, I'm going to guess you don't need it. But... (see my own situation below)

For Tech - how long do you plan on holding on to the car? You're not going to get very much return on investment when you sell but there are some nice features such as fog lights, xenon, GPS, bigger screen, improved sound system... to name a few.

I have a AWD non-tech and live in suburban New York. I will openly admit I don't need the AWD but ended up with it because the fuel economy difference from FWD isn't substantial with this system and the FWD availability is very limited. So basically I grabbed what was on the lot. I didn't even consider the tech because I'm not a big stereo guy and I don't ever use a GPS.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Definitely get the tech model. AWD, however, is not needed in your area. This is not SH-AWD so you won't see any performance gain. Your car will be a couple hundred pounds heavier though.

C0rrion

AWD - I got it for the same reason that you're considering it: I go snowboarding every year, and would like to bring my car still even if roads require AWD with chains. From what I read, it also helps a little with hard acceleration, since 25% of the power gets transferred to the rear wheels, and I'm a "very spirited" driver.

If you didn't go snowboarding, I would have recommended that you stick with FWD. However, I feel that it didn't cost much more to get AWD, so I went with it.

Tech - this one's really tough. There are only one or two things that I wanted out of the Tech package, but paying $4000 for them seemed a bit much. I decided to go with it (with no regrets), but I could have easily went the other direction.

weather

Micheal....As others have already stated here, the AWD in the RDX this year is not as good as the SH-AWD and if you don't plan on driving in the snow too often, I would think that the AWD is not a necessity. Keep in mind however that the AWD will HELP in the rain as well but the SH-AWD gave the RDX a FUN experience as well.

As far as the Tech or no Tech...that boils down to whether or not you can afford it and if you are a techy kind of guy. The HID and fog lights are nice and the ELS is good, although not as a good as in my 2012 TL. For me, I am of the opinion that if you can afford it, why not get it. I had bought a 2009 TSX back in 2008 and opted to not get the Tech package because financially, I didn't think it made sense....I regretted the vehicle within 2 or 3 months after getting it....but I love the gadgets and toys so thats just me

Best of luck.....and hope you can get one soon They are fun vehicles to drive thats for sure.

Read this thread, one person posted today on how he regretted not getting the tech package just a short while after getting his RDX....this fits with what I went through with my TSX.

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-rdx-2013-2018-404/thoughts-about-tech-package-861049/

Colorado Guy AF Ret.

Michael....I lived in So. Cal. for 23 years. If you go to the snow country once in awhile....with AWD you will be better off than those that only have FWD...that's a given. The system that's in the RDX is the same one in the '12 Honda CRV. I had 3 CRV's. The system has been upgraded just a little....but, even in the yrs. I had them....07,09, and '11....I had no issues in the snow and ice here in Colorado.

One person mentioned extra tire wear....but, he has the SH-Awd system of the previous RDX's. Most of the time you will be using the fwd part of the system. One upgrade they did make was....when pushed hard the rears will kick in a little, even on dry conditons. Or, as Weather said...on wet slippery streets it would be good to have.
AND...I KNOW from living there....when it does finally rain...the roads are slick. Don't get washed off enough.

Personally...I'd probably get the AWD. And, as far as the Tech. model....like weather...if you can afford it....then you'd be sorry later if you didn't get it and if you are a real "techy guy." For me I could have lived without it....and I would have bought the fog lights.....the rest I could have lived without.
You get blue tooth without the Tech pack. so....the rest...for me...is just non-essential extras and extra cost.

My wife loves our AWD Tech RDX....Pearl white/parchment. I haven't driven it in over a week!!! I get to clean it though!! LOL!! She drives it every day. And she loves our '12 Accord Cpe, V-6 that is very sporty and is fun to drive.

Mikey Dallas

I bought the base fwd non-tech. My thoughts after two months. I live in Dallas so they don't even have many AWD on the lots. Don't need it. The tech is a tougher nut. With my trade-in, I had just enough cash to not have to finance. If I got the tech I would have had to take out a loan, so I went without. What do I miss? Well, really just the look of the fog lights. The sould system on the base is really quite good. I know my city well and have an I-phone, so did not need NAV. The headlights seem fine to me as well. So, although I have gone back and forth with this, I would make the same, base model call again if I could do it over. I may still add the fog lights for the look, however...

GRDX

I think it was kind of dumb for Acura to remove the fog lights from the US base model. It would have added less than $200 to have included them and simplified the production line.

Domm

It just makes it that much more tempting to get the tech package.

FWAcura

I live in NE Indiana where we can get a fair amount of snow, so I went with a non-tech AWD. I previously drove an '06 Honda Civic, and while I loved the car, I avoided driving it on snow/ice if I had the choice. When I bought my new car this summer, one of my top criteria was something that would handle well in our winter conditions, hence the AWD.

If I lived somewhere that winter driving wasn't an issue, then I'd have probably gotten the base model or maybe the FWD with tech.

And for what it's worth, I frickin' LOVE the RDX. I've only had it for 8 days but I'm in love with it.

weather

Join the club!! No wonder this thing is such a huge hit for Acura!

TampaJack

Yeah, an automaker puts a tremendous amount of thought and research into what will entice customers to upgrade to a package but without losing those customers who can only afford the base model.

Sounds like Acura did a great job in deciding on the Tech Package features seeing as how this forum is pretty evenly divided between Base vs. Tech.