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I don't necessarily go by what Acura Client Relations says as the "gospel" or confidence-inspiring as definitive in the answers they respond with.
They're just a customer service help desk or clearinghouse for questions about this, that, or the other, and depending on how they frame the question or problem to the so-called experts at the back-end, the answer back, at least in my experience, has been weak, inaccurate, or at best, only partially correct. I'm talking about what I've had to deal with with issues related to my '17 in the 2 years I've had it.
One example is how navigation would just go berserk randomly, showing me driving across neighborhoods, bulldozing over houses, streets, bodies of water, telling me to turn on non-existent streets when i'm going 65 MPH on a freeway with no ramps in sight. Once it was saying I was driving in the Potomac River and its estuaries and inlets (like a duck boat, I guess) and going over little islands and forested areas. They still haven't told me why that happens nor have come up with a permanent fix, even though they've "talked to so and so experts," who still don't have a clue as to what's going on.
MANY times they will tell me what the problem was on something only to find out later it wasn't at all what they said it was.
They may be right on this one, but I tend to understand how a couple of reviewers described the light beam itself as being bent somehow, coming out of the curved headlight casing when the steering wheel is turned, hence the "adaptive" description.
Call me a skeptic...lol.
Last edited by birdonamission; 08-20-2018 at 05:41 PM.
...but I tend to understand how a couple of reviewers described the light beam itself as being bent somehow, coming out of the curved headlight casing when the steering wheel is turned, hence the "adaptive" description...
I've yet to see any reviews mention this feature at all - do you have a link to those you're referring to?
That is just a reference to the, I assume, same IIHS report that prompted this thread so nothing independent.
You can take it how you want to take it. IIHS has a lot of credibility with their safety ratings and have been doing it for years and all the automakers covet the 2018 TOP SAFETY PICK+ award. Do you think the IIHS will risk their reputation by putting out bogus information, and don't you think BMW, Audi, etc., would be all over the IIHS and Acura about this "inaccuracy" by now?
Why in the world would Acura send out a press release touting the Advance's achievement if it wasn't the Advance but the Premium Elite only that has this feature? The headline in the press release says "AMERICA," not "CANADA."
Note the following in the press release, and I quote: "To earn the 2018 TOP SAFETY PICK+ award, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests and an acceptable or good rating in the passenger-side small overlap test. It also needs available front crash prevention that earns an advanced or superior rating and available good-rated headlights. The RDX's base headlights are rated good. The curve-adaptive headlights equipped with the Advance trim are rated acceptable."
Last edited by birdonamission; 08-20-2018 at 06:31 PM.
I'm not taking it as I want to, I'm taking it as it was written.
Anyhow, since the IIHS says one thing and Acura another (nowhere does Acura say, claim, assert, or imply that the US version has adaptive headlights) I've just sent the following to IIHS.
In a recent vehicle review of the 2019 Acura RDX (specifically headlight performance) your report indicated that the Advance trim level had 'curve adaptive' headlights.
According to Acura this feature is only available on the Canadian Platinum Elite trim and not on the U.S Advance trim. How did the IIHS report come to show this as being available on the US model?
I'm not taking it as I want to, I'm taking it as it was written.
Anyhow, since the IIHS says one thing and Acura another (nowhere does Acura say, claim, assert, or imply that the US version has adaptive headlights) I've just sent the following to IIHS.
In a recent vehicle review of the 2019 Acura RDX (specifically headlight performance) your report indicated that the Advance trim level had 'curve adaptive' headlights.
According to Acura this feature is only available on the Canadian Platinum Elite trim and not on the U.S Advance trim. How did the IIHS report come to show this as being available on the US model?
Thank you in advance,
Did you read my last post in its entirety? What Acura said in its press release? About its own car? And it was something someone else said about their car. What "independent" thing else you want to read? That reviewer is independent from Acura and IIHS -- and it's his job to challenge something that's "inaccurate" but neither he nor has any other writer have yet to say it's inaccurate, not even the big auto press of the Motor Trend ilk, which has also reported on the TOP SAFETY PICK+ award.
Thank you for looking into this, unfortunately your answer has created some confusion. While you state the feature is only available on the Canadian Platinum Elite trim Acura's own press release says "The curve-adaptive headlights equipped with the Advance trim are rated acceptable."
Thank you for looking into this, unfortunately your answer has created some confusion. While you state the feature is only available on the Canadian Platinum Elite trim Acura's own press release says "The curve-adaptive headlights equipped with the Advance trim are rated acceptable."
Please let us know what ACR tells you because it would be quite interesting to hear their "explanation" since what they said before flies completely in the face of what corporate Acura told the ENTIRE WORLD. The press department works for the C-suite and they better have their stuff together before a "press release" goes out.
ACR contracts out the people that answer the phones, maybe? (Nothing wrong with contractors; just saying they're probably far removed from authoritative sources compared to the press department's access to accurate information.)
Like I said, I'm not very up on the quality of the information I've received from them based on my own experience with them.
If it’s being debated this heavily, with Advance owners saying they can’t tell the difference, involving eclipse glasses and wives on the hood to see if they’re working, my money is on they’re not active on the US version. It shouldn't be that subtle if it’s a safety needle mover, at least it hasn’t been in variants of other manufacturers I’ve driven. They aren’t marketed on the US Advance version on the website, they are for Canada. The IIHS press release says they are. One thing is for sure, one piece of information Acura has put out (or didn’t market as part of the US Advance features) is in error.
Birdonamisson is throwing some serious shade here...
I don't know what the heck to believe. In that case, my default response is to believe my eyes. And my eyes saw a module in the dash of my USA spec 2019 RDX Advance SH-AWD that matches the description in Acura's technical document for an adaptive lighting controller. Is it inactive because something went south during final testing and certification? Did IIHS get a pre-production vehicle to test? Dunno. Very strange.
If it’s being debated this heavily, with Advance owners saying they can’t tell the difference, involving eclipse glasses and wives on the hood to see if they’re working, my money is on they’re not active on the US version. It shouldn't be that subtle if it’s a safety needle mover, at least it hasn’t been in variants of other manufacturers I’ve driven. They aren’t marketed on the US Advance version on the website, they are for Canada. The IIHS press release says they are. One thing is for sure, one piece of information Acura has put out (or didn’t market as part of the US Advance features) is in error.
Acura very clearly said in a press release dated August 18, 2018 the Advance trim is equipped with curve-adaptive headlights. What more do you people want? You believe all their other press releases.
The IIHS, which is to car safety like Good Housekeeping is to your George Foreman, and which probably have had stable of 2019 Acura RDXs in their possession for months, going through batteries of tests, said the base non-adaptive headlights are good and the Advance curve-adaptive headlights are only acceptable.
I don't know about y'all, but I'm not confused any more. I was, absolutely...until I read said press release and saw that part that addressed the $64,000 question. ACR? Well, you know my thoughts...
...Is it inactive because something went south during final testing and certification? Did IIHS get a pre-production vehicle to test?...
Any number of scenarios are possible. Let's assume for the moment that what you saw is in fact all the hardware for the feature (no reason to doubt that).
- It might be that when the IIHS testing was completed Acura decided they wanted a rating better than 'acceptable' so they disabled it in order to get a 'good' rating. (But for some reason the published results didn't reflect that.)
- Or it may be as you alluded that some 'glitch' was found so it was disabled (but that raises the question "Why not in Canada?").
- Or it may be that Acura is going to make it available in '20 to justify a price increase and has all the hardware in place now to keep future logistics simpler.
- Or it may be that the feature is actually there (and ACR doesn't know about it) and it's performance is marginal enough that it's not obvious to the owners.
- Or..........
- Or..........
- Or..........
Whatever it may be it's all speculation at this point and I seriously doubt any of us will ever know the full story, at least in the next few months.
They may be right on this one, but I tend to understand how a couple of reviewers described the light beam itself as being bent somehow, coming out of the curved headlight casing when the steering wheel is turned, hence the "adaptive" description.
Call me a skeptic...lol.
I'm not sure if the reviewers were invoking gravitational lensing as a mechanism for adaptive lighting, or simply suggesting that the distribution of light is changed by recruiting a different subset of the available independent lighting sources.
But FWIW there is something different about that 5th "jewel eye" element in my Advance: it has a reflector on the medial side of the lens ( the side closest to the midline of the vehicle ). If anyone with a USA spec Tech or Base trim is following this spirited rambling, could you shine a light into the housing and see what you see? Sunglasses optional. No hood surfing required. ( With due credit to the hood surfing "chicken" scene in the movie "Cry Baby" ).
5th "Jewel Eye" LED element counting from outside toward midline. Lens is not corrugated like other elements. USA spec Advance trim. Note the flat reflector. Viewed from off-axis laterally.
BTW, I finally got around to reading that latest Acura press release. That is a strange way to brag about a feature of their top trim, which they somehow neglected to mention at all in previous press releases or specifications.
The IIHS, which is to car safety like Good Housekeeping is to your George Foreman, and which probably have had stable of 2019 Acura RDXs in their possession for months, going through batteries of tests, said the base non-adaptive headlights are good and the Advance curve-adaptive headlights are only acceptable.
So recruiting that 5th jewel eye for the “adaptive” makes them worse performing, going from good to only acceptable, or is there a different threshold of success for those models that are equipped with “adaptive” headlights?
BTW, I finally got around to reading that latest Acura press release. That is a strange way to brag about a feature of their top trim, which they somehow neglected to mention at all in previous press releases or specifications.
So recruiting that 5th jewel eye for the “adaptive” makes them worse performing, going from good to only acceptable, or is there a different threshold of success for those models that are equipped with “adaptive” headlights?
Probably the first thing to say here is that the Advance's curve-adaptive headlights are not bad headlights -- light years ahead of HIDs. They're still very good headlights to the normal Joe that nitpickers whose job it is to nitpick (like IIHS, which basically says what, and everyone accepts, are the de facto standards for how safe this or that car is under all driving conditions) say are acceptable, a.k.a. adequate. I know, acceptable and adequate still sound like warm milk or room temperature water, but they do the job of lighting the way to see and be seen.
From a safety standpoint, they think the other trims' regular headlights are better than the Advance's curve-adaptives. If we read that without emotion I'm pretty sure we won't be thinking, "Oh, no, I think going to crash as I go around this bend because my Advance has only 'acceptable' headlights according to the IIHS."
From what I've been reading, headlights are often the deal-breaker preventing a car from being awarded a TOP SAFETY PICK+ and only getting a TOP SAFETY PICK (without the "+"). Didn't happen with the RDX.
I wouldn't worry, guys and gals -- especially since the car came with more than just headlights...
Out of curiosity I dug into the IIHS test results a bit. (2019 Acura RDX) The report itself details how the tests are performed and ratings determined, although it does not go into much detail about the rating process.
What I found is the adaptive lights outperformed the non-adaptive in every category except one - the 'straightaway high beam left edge' usable light distance.
The adaptive system was worse in the amount of glare experienced by oncoming vehicles, significantly so in the right curve, right edge test. I suspect that's the reason for the acceptable versus good rating since usable light is better in all but one test.
Here's a summary of the pertinent data for those that don't want to read the IIHS report. (Distances given are in meters.)
OK, what we need is an intrepid owner of a US spec advance with a wife who is interested in experimental science, a pair of eclipse glasses, and a mess of duct tape.
OK, what we need is an intrepid owner of a US spec advance with a wife who is interested in experimental science, a pair of eclipse glasses, and a mess of duct tape.
That shouldn't be hard to find! They should be crashing the AZ server with this post momentarily...
Just tried on my adv. The outer 4 led led lights up for low beam. And the inner 2 led lights up for high beam. I don't see the 5th led lights up when the car is stopped.
After reading the other responds on this thread. I did another test. I stopped in front of a store window at night. I took pictures of the headlights on my RDX adv from the reflection of the store window. Note, I'm taking picture of my passenger side headlights as viewing from my driver seat. On the left, it's a picture of the low beam. It shows 4 hot spots. On the right, it' picture of the high beam. It shows 6 hot spots. That's what let me to believe that the 5th led didn't light up. However, when I got out of the car, I see that the 5th led was in fact light up -- it just didn't show up on the reflection looking straight on. And then I moved around to see if I can see the reflection of the 5th led. Lo and behold, I was able to see a clear reflection of the 5th at a 30-ish degree angle (see diagram below). I tried to take another picture of the angled reflection, but my phone wasn't able to focus on that one.
5th LED reflection angle
So I can confirm that the 5th LED is not on for low beam on the advance trim and the 5th LED is pointed at an angle. I cannot confirm whether the 5th LED will turn on or not with the proper speed / steering input.
After reading the other responds on this thread. I did another test. I stopped in front of a store window at night. I took pictures of the headlights on my RDX adv from the reflection of the store window. Note, I'm taking picture of my passenger side headlights as viewing from my driver seat. On the left, it's a picture of the low beam. It shows 4 hot spots. On the right, it' picture of the high beam. It shows 6 hot spots. That's what let me to believe that the 5th led didn't light up. However, when I got out of the car, I see that the 5th led was in fact light up -- it just didn't show up on the reflection looking straight on. And then I moved around to see if I can see the reflection of the 5th led. Lo and behold, I was able to see a clear reflection of the 5th at a 30-ish degree angle (see diagram below). I tried to take another picture of the angled reflection, but my phone wasn't able to focus on that one.
5th LED reflection angle
So I can confirm that the 5th LED is not on for low beam on the advance trim and the 5th LED is pointed at an angle. I cannot confirm whether the 5th LED will turn on or not with the proper speed / steering input.
If you go back and read my post #21, you will see that I describe the same exact thing as you......
^^ This really only shows that when in hi-beam mode, the fifth LED is not angled straight ahead, but off to the side for a broader beam pattern. This might be considered adaptive if that 5th LED (and not the 6-7th when highbeams are off) came on when driving faster than 25mph and turning the steering wheel.
[...] The only other explanation I can think of is that IIHS had a Canadian model, and believed it had the same features as a US model.
It's not a bad thought, but this wouldn't explain why the headlight assemblies for the USA Advance trim have unique part numbers, not shared with the Tech, Base, or A-Spec trims.
My current opinion is that the USA spec 2019 RDX Advance does have the "adaptive" feature of casting a beam from the "5th element" into the ditch upon demand, but it's not glaringly obvious to the driver.
These guys have been around since the ‘50’s and have been testing and rating cars for safety decades before many people on here (not me, though...lol) were born.
All of a a sudden they forgot how to do their jobs and can’t tell the difference between Canada and America? Bet they had fun on a 15-minute break playing around with those power-folding side-view mirrors.
It’s a modern day miracle they haven’t gotten tripped up and hopelessly confused by the 12 different versions of the X3 and Q5.
Last edited by birdonamission; 08-23-2018 at 04:49 AM.
Just a quick follow-up on my follow-up emails to ACR and IIHS regarding the inconsistency of availability of the adaptive headlights on the US Advance trim: I'm still getting deafening silence from ACR but just got this from IIHS.
(I'll follow-up on this follow-up of my previous follow-up if there's any further information to follow-up on. )
Hopefully nobody has yet strapped their significant other to the hood and driven around after dark.
Our contact at Acura confirmed that the adaptive headlights are on the Advance trim in the US and the Platinum Elite in Canada. He doesn’t know why they don’t show the feature for the Advance trim on the US website. I hope this helps.
Our team would like to further into this. You will receive an email from us once we have information pertaining to this matter. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.
08-20-2018, 05:32 PM
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