Acura RDX

On 9/9 I drove my new bronze pearl tech RDX out of the Courtesy Acura dealership.   I shed just a couple of tears as I said goodbye to my beautiful Xterra.   I don't think I'll be taking down the Xterra flag in the garage just yet.

After two days of dealing, I finally decided to eat the payments and take the trade-in before I lose any more value.  It's time that I had a new car.  Seven years is a long time for me and I didn't want to end up with a miniscule amount of  equity.   To get this good of a deal, I would have had to wait till Sept 2008 when the new '09s are hitting and I just didn't want another year with the Nissan.  The visits to the garage to find the mystery leak were starting to get on my nerves.

This car is more than cool in so many ways, where do I begin?



The Drive: 
We initially questioned the 4cyl Turbo and pondered why Acura would choose this over just a plain 6 cyl.  As it turns out I really like the kick I get with the turbo, and I get the kick when I need it.  For most of my driving, I never really punch it so it's like driving a 4 cyl and better on gas mileage.   When I want that extra power I can lean on the gas or engage the sport shift.  Great for highway driving which I don't do too much of.

A note on the "sport-shift", although I probably would never change the shifter into the ful "S" mode, I can use the downship paddle while the shifter is engaged in "D".  This ability to downshift while approaching a light is really helpful and the automatic transmission automatically takes over when you step on the gas.  Very cool Feature.

The ride has a nice tight suspension and with Acura's "super-handling" all the time-4 wheel drive, the car turns like a dream.  I've never driven a car that feels like a performance machine, it's pretty neat.  I don't miss my truck at all like I thought I would.

Interior:
My RDX has all leather seats in a light taupe.  I was a bit hesitant on this color thinking it might be harder to keep clean.  However, it's worth any potential extra effort because it's much cooler (temp) than the dark interior.  The MDX big sister has dark guards on the door sill that hide shoe marks, but my RDX is taupe with no guards so I have to be very careful getting into the car or else face lot's of cleaning.

The locking center console is so large, mom commented that you could fit a baby in it.  It can be used for beverages, a laptop or purse. This was a key feature in what turned my eye from the FX35 to the RDX.  Mark says the back seat is tight, true he is tall and there isn't a tremendous amount of leg room.  But I can fit in there just fine and for a person 5'9 it's not so bad.  The back seat also has a pull down center console with cup holders. Very nice.  The cargo space is roomy I can fit both my skating and toastmasters bags with plenty of room to spare.  Plus the rear seats fold down flat for extra space. 

Technology:
The RDX has complete voice command integration for the navigation, entertainment and phone systems. I can say a command like "CD play disk 2 track 11" and viola it's playing,  Another really cool feature is the back up camera that pops on automatically when the car is in reverse.  The tech package also comes with a 10 speaker stero system, that's right 6 just isn't enough anymore.

Mark made some comments about not having the touch screen or integration with a phone so you can download contacts-both apparently features of Dave's Lexus.  I admit it would be very nice to add my contacts and have the hands-free and nav system capture those phone numbers and addresses.  But alas, aparently I have a better voice command center than the Lexus. 

Another really cool feature os the traffic updates that I get via the XM sattelite link.  We used this already coming home from Disney when we could see a traffic incident right non I4.  It was correct and real-time. 


In Summation, I LOVVVE my new pretty car.