Today I’m down in southern California with one of the best small luxury crossovers available in America, the 2022 acura rdx.
For 2022, acura redesigned the front end bumper to look a little bit more like the mdx we have a slightly wider grille than before same sort of multi-module led headlights that we’ve seen in the past it’s a very distinctive design with d.
It is one of the larger options in the compact luxury segment, which pays off when it comes to rear seat accommodations.
We have more legroom than just about everything else out there, as well as a very large cargo area in the back.
If you want to take your small luxury crossover a little further off the beaten path, the rdx also offers 8.2 inches of ground clearance, which is a little bit more than some of the other luxury options out back.
There have been several speculations of a type s model entering the lineup, but no information have been released as of yet.
I wouldn’t be shocked if we saw one next year, but acura might also wait till the rdx is completely redesigned.
This is a 2-liter turbocharged engine that produces 272 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque.
This engine is mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission and your choice of front-wheel drive or acura’s super handling all-wheel drive system.
The super handling all-wheel drive system will reduce fuel economy to 23 mpg if you want fuel efficiency.
Compared to the infiniti qx50, the volvo xc60, the lexus nx, or the options from lincoln and cadillac, this vehicle can send more power to the rear axle even when slip is not detected, and it can torque vector across that rear axle sending 70 percent of engine torque to a single rear wheel.
The amount of back seat legroom that we discover in the rdx continues to be a big selling feature for this vehicle in terms of total legroom, even when you start considering some mid-sized two-row crossovers the front seats easily adjusted for me We have a lot of room here, an almost flat floor in the back two air vents in the back usb charge only points heated rear seats in this vehicle full down center armrest with two cupholders but the rear seats don’t recline they simply fold or unfold rear seat headroom is excellent as you can see I have about half an inch of rear seat headroom left even though this vehicle does have the large panoramic moon roof and that definitely is more room than we find in so many other vehicles Looking under the load floor, we have one large storage compartment right up front, which helped the rdx earn a 9 out of 10 on my exclusive trunk comfort index.
There’s also some additional storage right behind it, including a small square storage area where you could probably fit a case of wine and an area for the tire inflator.
Except for the fact that you can now mix the advanced trim and the a-spec trim so we have sporty interior touches along with luxury touches that you’d expect for a car that costs over a thousand dollars, the great majority of the interior of the rdx has not changed for 2022.
In this model, the back seats are heated, and the front seats are heated and ventilated.
It also includes the optional orchid leather hue, which has a fake suede insert in the middle and the finest quality of leather possible in a current Acura vehicle.
Moving on to the front doors, these chairs include extended thigh cushions and inflated side bolsters.
We have a high level of materials quality over here the vast majority of the materials are the same front doors to back doors we have some soft touch materials on the upper section of the door the same sort of faux suede insert right there in the middle of the door in that sort of darker color and then we have some stitched goods below matching the seats down there at the bottom we have a large bottle holder you can see that this model has the optional up level els studi you can see that this model has the optional up level els The driving modes as well as the adaptive suspension system settings are controlled by this dynamic mode button.
On the left, there’s an engine start-stop button, a button to disable the automatic start-stop system, and then we have the somewhat controversial track pad controller for the infotainment system, which isn’t quite as difficult to use as the one in modern Lexus models, but it does operate a little bit differently depending on whether you’re in regular modes or apple carplay mode.
If you’re using Apple CarPlay, you can slide your finger about as if it were a mouse pad, but if I’m using the native Honda interface, I can place my finger over here in the top left to get the icon.
If I want the option down here on the lower right, I’d put my finger down here on the lower right.
This section is a scroll area behind the touch pad.
We have two large cup holders, a storage area for your smartphone, and one USB input that works with the system if you don’t want to use wireless card play.
This employs the same trim as the dashboard, and on the doors behind that, we have a very wide center armrest that can be opened to expose a relatively substantial storage compartment, and then we have acura’s new key design, which is this one right here.
This trim’s steering wheel is one of Acura’s latest flat bottom designs.
We have the a spec logo right down there at the bottom of the steering wheel, perforated leather on the sides and non-perforated leather at the top, paddle shifters on the back of the steering wheel, adaptive cruise control system controls down over there on the left, heads-up display controls up over there on the right, and multi-function color lcd controls over here on the right side of the steering wheel The best way to describe the rdx is that it’s well-rounded.
It’s not going to be the best handling option in the segment, and it’s not going to be the fastest accelerating option in the segment, but it does everything pretty well, and I like the way that acura has tuned the steering, transmission, and so on.
This 10-speed automatic transmission is a little slower shifting than some of the rear wheel drive options out there, especially that alfa romeo that’s probably There are some odd road imperfections that can make their way into the cabin, but overall this is one of the more comfortable suspensions.
If you want something more comfortable than this, you’ll have to go with an air suspension, which is only available in a small number of vehicles.
It’ll also be quite a bit more expensive.
While I’m on the subject of lcds, the infotainment system is a little smaller than the competition and is located farther away from the driver, making it seem even smaller than its 10-inch size would otherwise be.
We get paddle shifters on the back of the steering wheel, which can be useful when going downhill, but we won’t get as much engine braking out of this engine as we would with something like the two and a half liter in the genesis or some of the larger engines found in the competition.
Finally, I wish acura would give us a hybrid system or a plug-in hybrid system in the rdx because we are starting to see an increasing number of hybrids and plug-in hybrids Many luxury car companies charge about two thousand dollars for all-wheel drive, but the vast majority of them do not include a torque vectoring rear axle for that price.
If you want additional features like navigation, the els audio system, rear parking sensors, and a quieter cabin, you’ll want the model with the technology package, which will cost 41 950.
The a-spec package is the sporty aesthetic version; it won’t offer you any more power or handling abilities, but it will give you blacked-out features like fog lights and ventilated seats.
That’ll set you back $44,950, and it’ll include everything in the technology package as well.
Unlike many luxury automobiles, I believe the greatest value in the rdx series is found in the higher trims.
The advanced trim costs 49 300 dollars.
All-wheel drive is now standard, as are rain-sensing wipers and the adaptive suspension system, which is certainly an option I want in my future rdx.
16-way power front seats, heads-up display, heated back seats, and soundproof rear glass are all options I want in my next rdx.
The acoustic rear glass makes the interior much quieter than the other trims.
The lower end trims only have acoustic glass in the front, while the advanced trim has acoustic glass all around.
The rdx will be available for the first time in 2022 with a combination of the advanced package and the a-spec trim, so if you want all of the features found on the inside of this model combined with the sportier styling of the a-spec trim, you can get that now for 51 300.
But that’s not the most expensive version of the rdx for 2022; there will also be a hand built version called the pmc edition that will be limited to just 200 models, so The rdx is just one of the more practical choices here, providing enough of back seat legroom and a sizable luggage capacity when compared to some of the other options, and I believe it also looks better than the new Lexus nx.
Let me know what you think in the comments section below, and would you be willing to pay a few thousand dollars more for the rear wheel drive driving dynamics that we find in something like the genesis gv70 that is definitely going to be more dynamic than this even though it doesn’t have a torque vectoring rear axle it also has a longer warranty but some people have complained about the genesis dealer experience and I think the acura dealer experience is better.
I’ll see you all next week.