2019 Acura RDX Review
For all the advances realized by the completely new 2019 Acura RDX, the automaker’s agenda to remake it from a popular but dynamically unremarkable vehicle into a genuinely sporting one can be distilled down to one ostensibly minor and optimistic detail: The default setting for the RDX’s Integrated Dynamics driving-mode system is Sport. (Those so inclined can dive deep into the submenus and change the default mode to Comfort.) Realized with a simple software tweak—or a relabeling of the switch, for the cynics among us—the decision to proactively bias the luxury compact crossover’s personality carries significant weight. Signaling not only a tangible attitude adjustment from that of the previous RDX, which defaulted to Comfort mode, this also plays into Acura’s attempted spiritual reawakening initiated with the return of the NSX.
The first RDX to be entirely designed and constructed in the United States, the third-generation 2019 model is larger than the outgoing car in nearly every respect. The wheelbase grows to 108.3 inches from 105.7, the overall length expands to 186.8 inches from 184.4, and height is up slightly to 65.7 inches from 65.0. The engine, on the other hand, shrinks in both displacement and cylinder count, with the previous RDX’s naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V-6 having been replaced with a smaller but torquier turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four. The turbo four’s 272 horsepower clocks in just seven ponies shy of the outgoing V-6’s 279, but the new engine tromps the old one in the torque department at 280 lb-ft to 252. Gear swaps are handled by a version of the corporate 10-speed automatic transmission that has been popping up across the Honda and Acura universe since it first appeared in the 2018 Odyssey, bringing with it the now familiar buttons for gear selection. The RDX is available in both front- and all-wheel-drive configurations; the latter employs Acura’s Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) for a cool $2000 upcharge regardless of trim level.
Read more: https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...
If there are any issues related to copyright, please feel free to contact [email protected]
Subscribe: / @motortv9269