#ForcedInductionFamily - Project AWD Boosted Honderp

[WRXtranceformed]

So we pulled the trigger tonight, for the second time on a new vehicle without even seeing it in person or meeting the sales guy. I have been shopping around for a while for a replacement car for Rachael's Elantra. It was a fantastic car but after reading back through the contract we needed to get out of the lease before they shred us. We needed something we can put some miles on, is reliable and better for us to take up to the mountains to see her family and to our farm in VA. And it would be nice not to have to borrow a friend's SUV/truck when we need to pick up something big. Rachael's only requirements were that she can adjust the seat so she can see out of the windshield, it drives "fun" and has leather seats. I needed AWD or 4WD, comfortable MEMORY seats (see short wife) and long-term reliable since I think we are closing the revolving door and paying it off (for once).

We looked at a WIDE range of stuff...trucks (Tundra, F150), Grand Cherokees (we liked this the best but Jeep dealers and their customers smoke crack for how much they value those things used), RR Evoques, Q5s, CX-5, MDX (my favorite next to the GC) and what we ended up in...a b00sted CPO 2012 SH-AWD RDX! :mrgreen:










So why the pre-facelift RDX you say? We actually test drove a 2014 and for a couple of specific reasons actually:
- It's certainly not winning any beauty contests from the front but it looks the best in black and the rear end looks MILES better on the 2012 than the newer models
- The interior subjectively feels nicer too for some reason. The seats in the newer models are harder / less supportive and the leather feels thinner than the 2012. Also wife's #1 requirement couldn't be met for some reason in the newer models but she had no problem adjusting the seat to where it needed to be in the 2012. shrug!
- SH-AWD was the big winner for me over the facelift. After 2012 Acura plopped a detuned version of the MDX motor into the RDX for more power + better fuel efficiency even over the boosted 4 banger, but in doing so also switched to a conventional AWD system used in the new CR-Vs to save weight. The torque vectoring SH-AWD I have read is vastly superior (same system on the MDX & RL) and we really want that extra insurance for the trips to WV. Having been stuck in a freak blizzard crossing the mountains from WV to VA last year in Rachael's car and only barely making it out thanks to my rarely used but still capable snow driving skills, this was paramount for me. With snow tires this thing would be beastmode
- Because turbo. The car puts a huge grin on your face, it really does. The most fun to drive out of all of the SUVs we test drove, including the 2014 model which felt softer and less responsive. It has a stock boost gauge built into the cluster? My Subarus didn't even have that! Yes Hondata has a tune for it and there is a suprisingly healthy aftermarket. Yes I have already been looking :lol:

We opted for the Tech package in black because the UI is vastly superior (that is an understatement, the base UI looks like my alarm clock), better sound system and nav which is whatever. Car has just over 31k miles so I hope for a long productive life out of it. The dealership is actually up in Hoodbridge so we are heading up Friday night or Saturday morning in wife's car to trade it in and see the family

No big plans yet other than tintz because million degrees in the south and dunno how I feel about the chromed wheels but not super worried about that. OEM step rails would be nice. More pics to come once we pick it up!

[JPolen01]

Looks like a nice pick up. My cousin has one and loves it. Should be a nice daily.

[Jake]

Looks good! Always thought it was an odd-but-neat choice to have a turbo-4 in there given Honda is so anti-FI for whatever reason. I dig the wheels and interior. Wheels remind me of 4th-gen TL A-Spec wheels. Hopefully it'll be good to y'all for a long while.

[ScottyB]

nice grab! always wondered how those were to drive what with the rare honda turbo action. i love, and am not at all surprised, that you've already started checking out the aftermarket for it :lol:

[HAULN-SS]

[Jake]

How much power does this thing make stock, and what can a tune do for it?

[Kaan]

I approve of this purchase! My coworkers wife runs hers 100 miles a day and hasn't had a hiccup yet. though he bitched about the price of tires lol

[rherold9]

How much power does this thing make stock, and what can a tune do for it?

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Also, this was a bit harder to find (about a minute) so here's an actual link:
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Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[SlimKlim]

:lol: Haven't seen that site in a while.

[Evan]

nice CR-V

j/k I dig it, boost is nice.
I think Lorena has an exact twin of that car

[WRXtranceformed]

Haha @ the Angry Bird. Thanks guys! Jake, 240hp/260tq stock, a tune with no other mods gives it an extra +26hp +33tq. Would probably be a seat of the pants improvement, and a lot of the reviews I read said it made the power range a little broader. And you're right those do look like the A-spec wheels!

The car itself actually made #1 on a multi-source journalism comparison for cars that will last until 250,000 miles. I hope that is the case with this one. I mentioned I liked the MDX more but I'm happy we compromised on this one...it's definitely more fun to drive and comfy although not quite as comfy.

I will say I was able to work out a great deal with Karen Radley dealership especially with the lease situation but most of the Acura dealers I spoke with weren't willing to really negotiate much which surprised me. I think it comes down to the fact that they hold their value so well and they sell SO many cars without having to budge much. The Hendrick Acura in Charlotte told me they sell 300 used cars alone every month, not sure about their new car sales.

[WRXtranceformed]

Picked up the new beauty and got a few hundred miles in over the weekend driving around nova and back home to Charlotte. The buying process at Karen Radley was super smooth especially since we did all of the negotiating over the phone. They could have renegged on their trade in offer since we were missing a key but they didn't which was awesome.



The car itself is really good, I would give it a discerning 7 out of 10 after seeing it in person. I learned while shopping for used SUVs that most of them are mommy-mobiles and it blows me away how few females actually care about the condition of their vehicles. I guess I got lucky marrying a car girl. Ours was indeed owned by a female and there are a few deep scratches and some significant ones along the driver door after taking it through the carwash here in CLT. I may pony up for a correctional since we are keeping this for a while. Fortunately the interior was mostly well taken care of and there are no glaring scratches or flaws where you are always going to see them. The passenger side headlight had a broken seal and some condensation that wasn't visible on the pics I had seen, but this apparently was common for this generation and is covered under warranty. The big negative was that it smelled like someone smoked in it. I THINK this may be due to a tech we saw cheefing a cigarette and jumping in it before we got there because I didn't notice any burn marks or discoloration in the headliner. The smell seemed to be mostly gone by the time we got home but we'll hit it with some odor neutralizer here to kill it off.

The first thing we did was remove the front license plate holder because we don't live in a communist state, and whatever retard attached it in the first place drilled right into the bumper even though it was designed to wrap around it and screw in from behind so it doesn't leave any marks. So there are two screw holes that are somewhat noticeable, less so when we put the black screws back in. My OCD probably won't allow that so I may or may not pick up some unpainted Bumper Plugs to fill those in since the company is based in Matthews. A few things after driving the car home:

- The engine, drivetrain are rock solid, the car pulls surprisingly hard for an SUV! Very torquey...with a tune this thing would be an absolute sleeper. The suspension is a little stiffer than I would prefer out of a long trip cruiser but it definitely makes it nimble...with the AWD it oddly feels like a sports car when you toss it into turns. The MDX suspension is much cushier / Cadillac-like and still would be my first choice if I was driving it most of the time, but I am not so I am definitely glad we ended up in this.
- I did notice a slight vibration at higher speed on the test drive, unfortunately Hoodbridge is a red hot disaster of construction right now so there wasn't anywhere I could really open it up. Vibration was very noticeable on the highway, my guess is a bent or unbalanced wheel(s).
- Sound system is very good, although even with the upgraded ELS system apparently there are issues with the speakers blowing. I think the front passenger tweeter is on its way out. They are only $20 each and covered under warranty anyway so I will be having the local dealership look at each one along with the vibration and headlight
- Averaged 27mpg all highway! Nice
- So many thoughtful things in this car. Huge deep center console with customizable shelves, fantastic place to store a pistol as it has a lock on it. Built in pen and coin holder into the lid as well as a built in USB cable. Ergonomically designed and sensibly laid out controls per most Jap cars. Voice controls actually seem to work unlike those on my old TL-S. Memory settings for each key are super awesome.

Despite a few unforseen negatives, of which there wasn't much I could do since we were there to buy that car, I'm pretty stoked to add this to the stable. We got it for a great deal and with such low miles on it I hope it gives us many long years of use. Only immediate extracurricular plans are tint on the front two windows, some TLC on the interior and a leather treatment to keep the seats in good shape, a sunshade and I think I am going to scoop an updated nav disc since they are on sale for $99 and this one is current for like 2011. But we all know how that goes :lol:

[Apoc]

I guess I got lucky marrying a car girl.

Rachael's only requirements were that she can adjust the seat so she can see out of the windshield, it drives "fun" and has leather seats.

:wink:

You know it's a requirement to start having babies once you get an SUV, right?

[WRXtranceformed]

I guess I got lucky marrying a car girl.

Rachael's only requirements were that she can adjust the seat so she can see out of the windshield, it drives "fun" and has leather seats.

:wink:

You know it's a requirement to start having babies once you get an SUV, right?

Well she was shopping for an SUV not a sports car. This is the girl who grew up helping her grandpa restore classic cars, and was upset when she found out I sold the ole Mustang to help pay for her ring :wink:

[WRXtranceformed]

Dropped the car off for the warranty items this morning and picked up OEM all weather mats, touch up paint and wheel locks, because chrome honda rims seem to me to beg for that car to end up on blocks. Protip: usually dealerships will match best online prices for parts if you are already bringing your car in for service, this one did for me Nav disc and Weathertech Techshade are on the way, tint scheduled for next Wednesday. I may have the tint shop wrap the headlights in a clearbra / laminx as many of the used RDXs we saw that sat outside a lot started to have the UV coating peel from the top of the headlights...it looks awful. Ours are still in good shape and I would like to keep them that way. So making moves already!

They gave us a 2015 RDX loaner and it completely reaffirmed the decision to go with the 2012 instead. The seats and ride are softer in the newer one but everything else feels just slightly worse. You definitely sit down in the cockpit of that car differently than our generation; the 2013-2015 feels like less of an SUV and more of a car. I had some massive fun taking our car to get a haircut the other day; I was behind a C6 vette on one of the back roads to SC and was keeping up with him in the turns! Neither one of us was really pushing it but I'd say we were both driving at about 50% and I think I surprised him a little!! What a great little SUV, I'm loving it more every day.

[WRXtranceformed]

Snagged some Xpel headlight / foglight film for the RDX and threw in a set for my car as well since Autoanything has a coupon code for 20% and free shipping. Probably should have done that a while ago on the Jag but whatever. Tinting appointment for tomorrow got rescheduled for next week since the tinter hurt his knee or something...I was going to do the headlight film myself but judging from the gaps and struggle I had doing it on my old Lexus I might just let the pros do it this time for a better fit. Also picked up some LEDs for the license plate light from VLEDs as I have had good longevity with the ones I got from them for the Jag. It sounds dumb but I have a real thing against yellow dull license plate lights :lol:

I was playing these videos for my wife and tried to convince her that the stock recirc valve sounds cool with the CP-E intake. I am not sure I have won that battle yet.

[youtube]Cph8BClZHhM[/youtube]
[youtube]qzWMdscH8W8[/youtube]

[WRXtranceformed]

Still waiting to get the tint and Xpel installed as my normal tint / custom shop is down their best tinter with some kind of knee problem. Found another place that is highly rated that I may take it to instead since I don't really want to wait and risk delamination of the headlights. Also it's crazy hot here now and that tint would be really nice.

LED license plate light install was a little trickier than most cars but done in maybe 10 minutes and a huge improvement.
Before:

After:



Loving this car more and more with ownership, it really makes me miss my old Type-S. I'm kind of surprised nobody in this forum has gone after them...you can find good examples for $15-18k now.

Dunlop SP Sport Maxx tires on it tho? For real? There is no reason this tire should be on this car, not sure what the previous owner was thinking. We might get two more oil changes out of these especially since they were feathered badly from having been out of balance. Will probably make the switch to Nitto Motivos based on the reviews I am reading. Should get a lot more life, very very good dry / summer performance and very good winter / slush / snow performance.

[HAULN-SS]

Lighting up the license plate as a favor to the comrades in your state running your digits????

[Jake]

Loving this car more and more with ownership, it really makes me miss my old Type-S. I'm kind of surprised nobody in this forum has gone after them...you can find good examples for $15-18k now.

$15-18k for a Type-S or a RDX?

If I needed a super-reliable, comfortable sedan, a 3G TL-S in Kinetic Blue with three pedals would be at the top of my list.

The RDX is cool with the turbo and all but wouldn't satisfy any needs I have. Can't tow, not big enough to haul much, etc. If I were getting something RDX-sized, I'd end up in a hatchback I think.

I get the appeal but it doesn't work for me is all.

[WRXtranceformed]

Loving this car more and more with ownership, it really makes me miss my old Type-S. I'm kind of surprised nobody in this forum has gone after them...you can find good examples for $15-18k now.

$15-18k for a Type-S or a RDX?

If I needed a super-reliable, comfortable sedan, a 3G TL-S in Kinetic Blue with three pedals would be at the top of my list.

The RDX is cool with the turbo and all but wouldn't satisfy any needs I have. Can't tow, not big enough to haul much, etc. If I were getting something RDX-sized, I'd end up in a hatchback I think.

I get the appeal but it doesn't work for me is all.

For the 3G TL-S. I found a mint one with like 39k miles the other day for $21k...talk about holding its value well! (Rex and I were talking about it so I looked them up out of curiousity). You can also find older RDXs in that price range.

And I agree with the second statement, it's definitely a niche car which is why the 2007-2012 didn't sell in huge numbers. It was made for people exactly in our demographic and life situation...DINK (OINK in our case) with the possibility of kids in the future, appreciate the driving experience, need something more practical for long distance cruises to places with questionable weather, need light utility for domesticated trips to Lowe's/HD. We don't tow nor haul around lots of stuff but love all of the other aforementioned things about it.

If this was MY primary car, we would have ended up in something bigger and more powerful. Something retarded like an SRT8 Jeep or a 4 door Raptor.