2018 Acura RDX Review: Best Compact SUV Yet, Give Or Take The Touchpad

The third-generation RDX faces three challenges. A touchpad on the console, called Acura True Touchpad Interface, replaces a center stack knob for controlling infotainment. Acura’s dreams of market dominance will rise, or fall, based on acceptance of TTI. The basics of selecting an application are easy, but the drill-down features have a learning curve. Also, the rear seat is roomy but the cushion is low, and blind spot detection is not on the entry trim line. Those are the only significant shortcomings of the new RDX. Step inside the new RDX and you’re in a world of softer-touch surfaces, finer materials, comfier seats, acoustic glass, and active noise cancellation. This is the Acura Precision Interior concept of the 2017-2018 auto show circuit brought to life. It’s a big step up in refinement. So, too, is passenger space front and back. This being a compact SUV, there is no third row seating, notwithstanding the Nissan Rogue.

The 279-hp V6 engine of the second generation is gone in favor of a heavily modified Honda Accord/Civic Type R engine, returning the RDX to its first-generation, four-cylinder-turbo roots but with better gas mileage. Four cylinders is the norm for the compact-SUV market, four and a turbo on the premium compacts. Producing 280 pound-feet of torque and mated to a Honda-designed 10-speed automatic transmission, the car is quick when you stomp the throttle, about 6-1/2 seconds to 60 mph. Fuel economy for all-wheel-drive RDXs is 21 mpg city, 27 mpg highway, 23 mpg combined. For front drive models it’s 22/28/24. The sporty A-spec is 1 mpg lower on the highway number. The previous RDX offered all-wheel-drive; this one has AWD with Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive, or mechanical torque vectoring for the rear wheels. Acura’s SH-AWD uses a rear clutch pack to distribute up to 100 percent of rear axle torque between the left and right wheels creating outstanding control and agility. Additionally, we deploy Agile Handling Assist, a feature which uses the anti-lock brake system to individually brake either the left or right front wheel to improve corner traceability and balance.

While the roads outside of Vancouver, BC were dry for the test drive, Acura set up an off-road course with loose dirt and gravel to test SH-AWD. With SH-AWD off and most of the stability control curtailed, the RDX fishtailed under heavy throttle and turning (as it should). Enabled, the car tracked nicely through corners. SH-AWD under throttle sends extra power to the outside wheel in a turn, effectively forcing the car into the turn. On the highway, driving the A-Spec and Advance versions, the RDX was extremely quiet. The 12- to 16-speaker audio system, developed by the recording engineer and producer Elliot L. Scheiner. It was delightful, with clear separation between the instruments and vocals on several songs. Because ELS Audio comes as part of all but the entry trim line, you can’t directly apportion a cost to it. But it doesn’t appear significant. The thing is low key: a smart guy with a lot of Grammys and a couple associates, quality manufacturing by Panasonic, and virtually no coloration induced to give the audio a different flavor.

The head unit is Android-based. RDX inner and outer steel door rings provide rigid load paths for more stiffness in a vehicle with a big sunroof, allowing Acura to meet or exceed front, side, and rollover crash targets. The safety suite works well. The 2019 incorporates Acura telematics, called AcuraLink, using AT&T. 89 per year for security services such as crash notification and roadside service. 110 a year. The service includes onboard Wi-Fi. The 2019 Acura RDX center stack from the top: 10.2-inch display, dedicated HVAC controls, transmission selector, True Touchpad Interface, padded wrist rest. The older 2013-2018 Acura RDX controller. With the 2019 RDX, Acura is switching from a control knob on the angled center stack (inset) to a touchpad that mimics your finger manipulating a touch screen. The challenge using True Touchpad comes when you want to go beyond the basics. Some commands and gestures you’ll know from tablets and smartphones.

The home screen has up to eight pages, and you swipe left to show them one by one. If you swipe right, rather go the other way through the screens, you bring up an all-apps menu. Flick or drag your finger up/down to scroll through long lists. Drag with two fingers, not one, to reposition the map. To see the menu for any app, you press and hold rather than tap. You press the top of the secondary pad to answer; press the bottom to ignore or end the call. On the top-line RDX Advance, you can press the steering wheel’s left roller wheel to the right (“right swipe dat,” as in Tinder), to the left to ignore or end the call. You press the Home button, swipe right to see all apps, then press and hold (don’t tap) the icon you want on the main screen. The 2019 Acura RDX’s True Touchpad.