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When the totally redesigned 2013 Acura RDX goes on sale later this spring, it will have a starting price of $34,320, the automaker said today. The price excludes a destination fee of $885.
That's somewhat pricier than the outgoing RDX, which started at $32,895, but the latest-generation RDX has a substantial increase in features, better fuel efficiency and more performance.
The 2013 RDX comes with a more fuel-efficient and powerful V-6 engine that produces 273 horsepower (33 hp more than the outgoing 2012 model's four-cylinder motor) and should achieve an estimated 20/28/23 mpg city/highway/combined or 19/27/22 mpg when equipped with all-wheel drive. The boost in fuel efficiency is aided by a new adaptive electric power-steering system that replaces the old model's hydraulic system.
Standard features include leather upholstery, heated front seats, a power moonroof, backup camera, 360-watt stereo, passive keyless entry, push-button start and a noise-canceling system. If you compare it with the outgoing RDX, you actually lose some standard features, such as automatic climate control and high-intensity-discharge headlights. Also standard are 18-inch alloy wheels and a more sophisticated rear suspension damping system, comparable to the Honda CR-V (on which the RDX is based).All-wheel drive adds $1,400. The Technology Package — which includes a navigation system, automatic climate control, premium stereo, power liftgate, fog lights, HID headlights and real-time traffic and weather reports — costs $3,700. The RDX tops out at under $40,000.
The new model is longer and wider than the RDX it replaces, and it compares favorably with its competition. The 2012 Lexus RX 350 starts at $39,075 and doesn't include features like a backup camera. The 2013 BMW X3 starts at $37,995, but with its new fuel-efficient four-cylinder motor and standard power liftgate, it is fairly competitive in terms of pricing. The 2012 Cadillac SRX starts at $35,485 and isn't nearly as fuel efficient as the RDX, nor, arguably, is it as well-equipped. The 2012 Audi Q5 starts at $35,600 and is comparably equipped to the RDX. None of the Acura's competition is as fuel efficient as the RDX, however.
Continue reading below for more detailed pricing information.
2013 Acura RDX Pricing (2012 Pricing)
RDX: $34,320 ($32,895)
All-wheel drive: $1,400 ($2,000)
Technology Package: $3,700 ($3,100)
Destination: $885 ($885)
Honda is voluntarily recalling 8,700 model-year 2012 versions of the Pilot and Acura MDX SUVs due to problems with the fuel tank.
An emissions-related piece of equipment could detach from its mounting inside the tank. This could lead to an overflow of fuel or a fuel leak. Both issues increase the risk of fire, but Honda cautions that no fires have been reported.
Honda will notify owners starting in mid-March, and dealers will replace the affected fuel tank free of charge. In the meantime, owners can visit www.recalls.honda.com or www.recalls.acura.com to determine if their vehicles are part of the recall. They can also call 800-999-1009 (Honda) or 800-382-2238 (Acura) for more info.
Here's what we have our eye on today:
Bentley plans on adding to the Mulsanne family with the new Mulsanne Mulliner Driving Specification. Set to debut in Geneva next month, the new version of Bentley's flagship sedan is being billed as a sportier Mulsanne.
The Mulliner Driving Specification uses the Mulsanne's 505-horsepower, twin-turbocharged 6.75-liter V-8 but adds specific 21-inch alloy wheels, Bentley Flying B design wing vents and a new Sport setting on the driver-selectable suspension system designed to enhance grip and steering accuracy.
Inside, the Mulliner's cabin is swathed in diamond quilted leather. Two new options are now available across the Mulsanne lineup: a large tilt-opening sunroof with color-matched Alcantara fabric cover and an electrically operated bottle cooler with hand-blown and hand-cut lead crystal champagne flutes.
As with other Bentleys, Mulliner Driving Specification customers can choose from more than 100 exterior paint colors, "a virtually limitless" choice of interior veneers, according to Bentley, and 22 cabin leather options.
Today marks one year since Cars.com bought its long-term 2011 Nissan Leaf. We've racked up just over 7,000 miles, which is below average for a normal car but appropriate for a battery-electric model with a limited range intended for commuting and short trips.
Owning the Leaf has been uneventful to the point of mundaneness. Having avoided any mammal-induced drama like our Chevy Volt's rodent attack and collision, the Leaf's tenure has been marked by just three service appointments: two for software updates and one to repair a faulty Carwings cellular system. (We'll report on the Leaf's and Volt's maintenance histories and costs in a future post.)
After a year of sharing the Leaf, our editors have some likes and dislikes — but mostly likes.
We like its quick acceleration and nimble feel. Never having to stop at a gas station just doesn't get old. Unlike the Volt, the Leaf has a three-passenger backseat. Though filling this seat is rare, the lack of a center console is more accommodating for child-safety seats.
While we don't object to the drive motor's high-pitched whine, as some owners do, the Leaf allows a lot of ambient noise to penetrate the cabin, definitely more than the Volt does.
But we have one major complaint, and it's an old one: The car doesn't reliably predict its range. As we reported, the first software update seemed to improve the computer's accuracy as intended, but even so it averaged merely 86%accuracy over the ensuing month. Its best performance during the test period was 100%, and the worst was 49%.
Our second software update, conducted last week, wasn't specifically intended to address the trip computer's accuracy. However, the Random Range Generator, as we call the dashboard readout, seems to have changed its behavior a bit. Rather than dropping disproportionately after just a few miles of driving, in some recent trips it has increased instead. We'll keep an eye on its accuracy in the coming weeks.
We don't know if this degree of variability will be an unavoidable aspect of EV ownership. On one hand, the car can't predict how fast you'll drive, what the terrain will be like or how much you'll use the climate control. On the other hand, our Volt has proved to be highly accurate at gauging its electric range under the same conditions. We can theorize that the Volt's thermal management of the battery pack is the key because the Leaf lacks this provision, but we'll probably have a better idea once the BMW Active-E and Ford Focus Electric get some time on the road. Like the Leaf, these two are battery-electrics with comparable ranges, and their battery packs use thermal management similar to the Volt's.
Of the 11 editors who have shared the Leaf, seven live within 20 miles of our office in Chicago, and four of those live within 10 miles. The farthest is 43 miles, and only this editor has suffered range anxiety. Should he have, in a car with an EPA-estimated 73 miles of range? The problem is we don't know. The Random Range Generator could be misrepresenting the remaining range, but not knowing is as much cause for anxiety as anything.
What we've proved is that the Leaf is viable for people living well within the expected range. We charge it fully at the office every day, so a lack of home charging isn't a problem for most. However, editors who live more than 30 miles away wouldn't feel comfortable if they couldn't charge on both ends of the journey. The car has an estimated range of 73 miles, and once you throw in cold weather, highway driving and an unreliable range estimator, the anxiety eclipses any of the advantages of electric motoring.
Just when I think I have this whole parenting thing figured out, the game changes. With my oldest daughter preparing for middle school next year, I feel like I have a pretty firm grip on the perils of upper elementary: limiting the amount of makeup worn to school (lip gloss and mascara only) and teaching my daughter how to be responsible with her first cell phone.
What I'm not prepared for is the reality that marijuana use is at an all-time high among eighth- to 12th-grade students and that one in five teens admits to have driven after smoking marijuana, according to a teen driving study released by Liberty Mutual Insurance and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions).
While parents seem to have done a fairly thorough job instilling in our kids the importance of not driving after drinking alcohol -- only 13 percent of teens have driven while under the influence of alcohol -- apparently we've been slacking off a bit on relaying the dangers of driving after smoking pot. Nineteen percent of teens have driven while high, the study says.
Teens appear to have become desensitized to the dangers of marijuana over recent years. Seventy-eight percent of teens described their marijuana use as "very" or "extremely" distracting to their driving, according to a 2009 study. However, in the most recent study two years later, the percentage of teens who felt that level of concern declined to 70 percent.
In light of these findings, we obviously have our work cut out for us as parents, but it should be pointed out that teens in this age group are highly affected by peer pressure. Ninety percent of the teens in the study said they would stop driving under the influence of marijuana if asked to do so by a friend. While we can start talking to our children early on about abstaining from drugs and alcohol -- and, even more importantly, about the life-and-death consequences of getting behind the wheel while under the influence -- we also need to encourage our kids to talk to their friends about these issues. Apparently, a friend with enough courage to speak up is motivation enough to keep a teen from driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and it can save lives.
What other steps parents take to help ensure our teens' safety in cars as they experiment their way through adolescence?
Although it's a while out for us yet, I plan to use my daughter's Nearparent network to give her an easy out. This app on her phone allows her to press a single button and send an alert to every parent, step-parent and grandparent in her preapproved network. We can see where she is on a map, and which one of us is the closest "nearparent." That person can then send a reply that he or she is on the way to help out.
What other plans have you and your family implemented to help keep your teen and his or her friends from succumbing to the temptation of driving while under the influence? Share your ideas with other parents in the comments section below.
Though the 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport is an ultra-small crossover, it handled our child-safety seats surprisingly well. This five-seater is nimble on the open road and in tight parking lots, and its higher ride height offers a good view of the road.
For the Car Seat Check, we use a Graco SnugRide 30 rear-facing infant-safety seat, a Britax Roundabout convertible child-safety seat and Graco high-back TurboBooster seat.
The front seats are adjusted to a comfortable position for a 6-foot driver and a 5-foot-8 passenger. The three child seats are installed in the second row. The booster seat sits behind the driver's seat, and the infant seat and convertible seats are installed behind the passenger seat. We also install the infant seat in the second row's middle seat with the booster and convertible in the outboard seats to see if three car seats will fit. If there's a third row, we install the booster seat and a forward-facing convertible.
Here's how the 2012 Outlander Sport did in Cars.com's Car Seat Check:
Latch system: The two sets of lower Latch anchors stick out from between the back and bottom seat cushions. The Outlander Sport has three tether anchors. The outboard seats' tether anchors are midway down the seatback; they're difficult to use because there's not a lot of clearance under the tether bar. The middle seat's tether anchor is at the top of the seatback.
Booster seat: Our high-back booster seat sat flat against the second row's seatback. The seat belt buckle is on a stable base, but it's recessed between the seat cushions.
Convertible seat: Both the forward- and rear-facing convertibles fit well in the Outlander Sport.
Infant-safety seat: Thanks to a flat seat bottom cushion, the rear-facing infant-safety seat also fit well in this crossover. We didn't have to move the front passenger seat forward to achieve a good fit.
How many car seats fit in the second row? Two
Editor's note: For three car seats — infant-safety seat, convertible and booster seats — to fit in a car, our criterion is that a child sitting in the booster seat must be able to reach the seat belt buckle. Parents should also remember that they can use the Latch system or a seat belt to install a car seat.
Toyota will unveil a slew of hybrid and hybrid concepts next month at the 2012 Geneva International Motor Show. The models include a production-ready Toyota Yaris Hybrid — which isn't coming to the U.S. — and models already seen here, like the NS4 Plug-in Hybrid Concept.
A new concept at the show will be the FT-bh sedan. The model hints at a future four-door compact dedicated hybrid hatchback ... maybe even the next-generation Toyota Prius? An initial sketch of the concept (shown above) shows an extreme wedge look and separated hood and front fender housings. The hood and grille seem to come to a point, and the headlights lay prostrated on top of the wheel housings. It looks like something straight out of "Tron: Evolution."
Toyota says the model is 30% more aerodynamic and spews 50% less carbon dioxide than other subcompact vehicles on the road today.
Another new release for Geneva will be the FCV-R hydrogen concept. The vehicle, which looks pretty much like the NS4 concept, can accommodate four passengers and features Toyota's latest generation of fuel-cell technology.
Despite the recent surge of interest in electric vehicles, Toyota is committed to a hydrogen future. It plans to have a practical and production-ready hydrogen vehicle for sale by 2015.
Both vehicles will be shown off to the public on March 6.
Honda has announced it is recalling about 45,800 Odyssey EX-L and Touring minivans from the 2008 and 2009 model years because the power tailgate struts may fail.
The gas-filled struts, which help raise and support the power tailgate, may be prone to early-life failures, Honda says. If a strut fails, the tailgate may close unexpectedly under its own power, increasing the risk of injury.
Honda will start notifying affected owners in mid-March. Dealers will replace the two power tailgate struts free of charge. Owners can also visit www.recalls.honda.com to find out if their vehicles need repair or call 800-999-1009 for more info.