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2024 Acura RDX is another model dropping front-wheel drive

After Acura made small changes to the RDX for the 2022 and 2023 model years, Honda's premium arm is carrying the 2023 version nearly unchanged into 2024. There's a familiar drivetrain tweak that we've covered across the automaker spectrum, though, with Acura dropping the front-wheel-drive option that had been available on the base, Technology, and A-Spec trims. For now, every RDX comes fitted with Acura's Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD). The effect is also familiar: Compared to 2023 RDX pricing at launch, the minimum price for the entry-level base and the Technology trims is up $2,300, the A-Spec price climbs $2,000. MSRPs for the RDX lineup including the $1,195 destination charge, and their changes from 2023 launch pricing, are: RDX Base: $45,245 ($2,300) Technology: $47,895 ($2,300) A-Spec: $50,895 ($2,000) Advance: $53,045 ($500) A-Spec Advance: $55,045 ($500) Now for the small print. We specified launch pricing because the 2023 RDX has already gone up in price by all but $100 of the increases noted above. Meaning, if you wanted to configure a 2023 RDX on Acura's website instead of a 2024, you'd only save $100. Also, the automaker didn't put out a press release for the coming model year, but it did publish a fact sheet. The first footnote of the fact sheet explains, "Destination & Handling charge for sedans (excluding PMC Edition) and SUVs (excluding PMC Edition) is $1,400." At the time of writing this post, destination charges are still shown as $1,195 on the 2024 Acura RDX Build & Price page. Take this as warning that the brand's cars could get at least $205 more expensive soon. Every RDX is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 272 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, shifting through a 10-speed automatic and sending power to both axles. We've had nothing bad to say about the RDX, praising its gutsy engine, responsive chassis, quality interior, sharp styling, spacious interior and plentiful standard features. And even with the price bumps, the RDX remains either much less expensive or notably more powerful than the luxury competitors Acura wants to challenge with the RDX. 

Acura spotlights NSX pace car at Pikes Peak

You can't just have any old street car setting the pace at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, can you? Of course not. For that task, you'd need a supercar with exceptionally high performance capabilities. Something like the new Acura NSX, for example. Fortunately that's just what the organizers of the annual Race to the Clouds selected to serve as official pace car this year. Honda's new hybrid supercar, set to be built in Ohio, donned a unique livery, a senior PR rep behind the wheel, and a smattering of GoPro cameras to speed up the 14,110-foot mountain. Naturally the twin-turbo V6 engine, nine-speed, dual-clutch transmission, and three-motor Sport Hybrid Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system formed an integral part of the package as well, even if its output hasn't been officially released more specifically than the "over 550 horsepower" we've been told to expect. The Japanese automaker also placed another couple dozen cameras along the 12.4-mile route and its 156 turns. Which is a good thing, considering that most of us weren't there in Colorado to see it make its run up the mountain, and nobody was there at each corner as it passed – except, of course, for the driver, Sage Marie. The rest of us will want to check out the minute-long clip Acura has released to see the NSX gun for the sky.

2019 Acura RDX First Drive Review | Boringness banished

WHISTLER, B.C. — Things have come full circle for the Acura RDX. The compact crossover launched in 2007 with an all-new turbocharged four-cylinder engine and an all-wheel-drive system that was sophisticated enough for the brand to affix the Super Handling designation to it. It was a fun, sporty vehicle in a sea of boring competitors, and we liked it enough to write a eulogy of sorts when the second-generation RDX ditched the fun turbo engine in favor of a V6, and dumbed down its optional all-wheel system so much that they dropped the Super Handling name. Acura's mainstreaming of the RDX for its second generation turned out to be a smart play. Sales jumped 94 percent in 2012, the first year that the redesigned RDX went on sale, leapt another 50 percent the following year, and have stayed over the 50,000 mark for the past three years. It may sound surprising, then, that Acura is flipping the playbook back a few pages by swapping its V6 engine back to a turbo four and reinstalling Super Handling All-Wheel Drive. We think it's a smart move. The 2019 RDX is both sportier and more upscale than the model it replaces. It does more than just check boxes. It's interesting, boasts some cool technology, and offers a strong value proposition. The 2019 RDX's all-new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine delivers 272 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque. That's down a negligible seven ponies from the old 3.5-liter V6, but up 28 lb-ft, and it's tuned to provide the bulk of that torque in the heart of its powerband — peak torque plateaus between 1,600 and 4,500 rpm. An equally all-new 10-speed automatic transmission sends that power to either the front wheels, or, as was the case with the vehicles we tested, all four wheels. Jumping into a 2019 RDX for the first time, our main powertrain concern was that the 10-speed automatic would generate a ton of unnecessary, and distracting, shifts. This proved to be an unfounded fear. The gearbox does shift quite often under hard acceleration, but does so quickly and without any undue jerkiness. The sheer number of gearing options — the old six-speed auto had a 68 percent narrower spread of ratios — and the torque-rich engine combined to provide excellent straight-line acceleration in any real-world driving scenario we could conjure. The rest of the time we didn't really think about the transmission at all. We did, however, lament the push-button transmission interface.