First generation Acura RDX: What do we know about these things?

I'm talking about the pre-Ugly Grill, factory turbocharged ones.

My boss had one. It was pretty darn nice in a cost-effective kind of way, like all Acuras of that vintage are. It seemed plenty peppy and handled decently. It was a little stiffly sprung for his taste but I didn't mind it. But he drives a lot of interstate mileage. He had it about 3-4 years and put more than 100,000 trouble-free miles on it. He traded it for an MKC, which is clearly modeled after the RDX and similar cars.

Plenty of room for 4 adults and some stuff. 5 was a squish.

Basically a tarted up Honda CRV.

I do know that the 2.3L 4cy turbo calls for premium fuel and delivers a disappointing mpg of 17/19/22.

Only the 3rd factory-turbocharged Honda, after the ER CVCC-II Turbo in the Honda City Turbo and Turbo II and the C20AT V6 in the non-US Honda/Acura Legends.

my buddy brought one to an autox once (how they let him run in an SUV I'll never know). We were all kind of disappointed by its performance compared to what we thought based on its street driving manners. This was a few years ago but I seem to remember that it was supposed to be AWD (it was auto) but on the autox course it really felt only FWD.

EDIT: according to the googles, the track is Front: 61.9, rear 62.6, height 65.2. So I guess it is close to the static rollover resistance 1:1 ratio.

240hp, 3950lbs.

I drove one when they were current. It was nice with a good interior. The owner was disappointed with the mileage so I was trying to drive very gently but I was unable to keep it out of boost. It seemed plenty peppy at part-throttle. But poor mileage seems to be the theme.

In reply to Robbie:

3950? The AWD CRV is 3500. I guess the turbo and luxury stuff adds up quick.

The early ones liked to eat turbos. So much so that even though we got daily deliveries from Honda we kept one on the shelf. The first year's campaign touted "V6 power with 4cyl economy".... we liked to say "4 cyl power with V6 economy" because it was true. THe much larger 3-row MDX got 1mpg less. 1500-lb towing capacity is a joke. The later FWD versions were fun to burn the tires off. Interior to me always felt cramped, even for front seat passengers.

All in all, I'd suggest a CRV or Element over one of these.

I have a 2007 RDX that I bought late last year. It's a nice car, but the gas mileage stinks. The best I've done in mine so far is 23mpg.

If you can live without the little extra umph from the turbo motor, get a crv with the leather/heated seats and you're at almost the same stuff. I do like the RDX interior more than the crv, though.

In reply to Spoolpigeon:

You must have been trying really hard!

I dont see the CR-Vs similarities ...

I've had one since new, 2008 with Tech package. It has 175k miles.

Only problems were an AC clutch I changed myself and the center console leather cover that ripped. Otherwise tires, oil and filters. I also had to change pads and sparkplugs, regular maintenance stuff.

I change the transmission fluid religiously at around 25k miles. I can change engine, transmission and rear end fluids without jacking it up.

In reply to Bobzilla:

I was! I tried to stay out of boost and keep it under 75mph. I have a line on a used Hondata ECU and that's supposed to help the gas mileage a bit since they run so rich under boost.

The RDX was always my nemesis car when I had my Protege5. Any time one was in my rearview I just got over and let them do what they were going to do. Which was tailgate whoever was in front of them.