Compared to the crossover released eight years ago, RDX had a turbocharged 2.0 engine replaced with a 3.5 V6, a torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive swapped with a simpler system, a stiff suspension abandoned in favor of a much smoother setting, and a futuristic style which made room for a set of lines which look more conventional and more imponent just as much. While the first car had everything to be a success in Asia or Europe, North-Americans have different preferences. Despite they’ve changed a lot in the past ten years, they’re still very attached to big cars with big engines which are capable to impress from the outside and give a feeling of power when being driven. Tastes like these will probably never change.
Having all that in mind, it is true that the current RDX has lost some of the “technological appeal” for which its first generation was known. However, what Acura really wanted to do was to adapt the vehicle to its customers, rather than improving or worsening it. The sales performance this crossover has achieved ever since is the best possible proof of how important can this strategy be. When it comes to the current time, considering that things have gone so well, it’s totally understandable that Acura wanted this facelift to nothing more than making everything remain as it is. There isn’t anything trying to put it in a new market position, to target new customers, or to change its image. The company wants people to think of it as the same RDX, only better.
The most noticeable execution of this intention lies at RDX’s front: the crossover now features the futuristic, multi-LED headlights which Acura calls “Jewel Eyes”. They will divide attentions with an upper grille which uses three-dimensional layout to make the company’s corporate design look more elegant, and with a lower section that counts on stronger, deeply-sculpted creases to give a bigger sense of sportiness. At the rear, the bumper was designed in a way that reminds of the front one, specially near the reflectors. The lights, in turn, carry more light-emitting diodes. Besides that, you’ll find new wheel designs and the same good taste with chrome inserts: they’re easy to locate, but there isn’t a single angle from which to look that they could seem too much.
Since selling this car is far from being hard, Acura decided to change its interior even less. The biggest addition is AcuraWatch, a bundle of electronic safety programs which include adaptive cruise control, forward-collision alert with automatic braking, and a system to help you stay on your lane or to warn you if you’re leaving it without having such intention. This package comes as standard in the new, upscale Advance trim, and as optional in all the others. If you open the hood, the 3.5 V6 will appear once again, but in a stronger version: it’s now good for 279 hp and 252 lb-ft. When it comes to traction, RDX’s AWD stays away from the Super Handling system once again, but Acura claims the current one was improved. This vehicle will go on sale in the next few months.