Some of you might be familiar with the previous RDX, with its chinless styling, fancy turbocharged engine, and pseudo-sports-car personality. Acura designed it for young, aflluent male buyers who, as it turned out, had absolutely no interest in it whatsoever. The majority of RDX buyers turned out to be empty-nesters who were downsizing from vehicles like Acura's own seven-seat MDX, followed by couples without kids. So rather than try to forge new demographic ground with the new RDX, Acura switched to another proven corporate strategy: Give 'em what they want.
The result is a thoroughly pleasant vehicle, inoffensively styled and enjoyable to drive. If it sounds like I'm damning the RDX with faint praise, well, that's really not my intention. Reviewing Acura vehicles has been a frustrating experience these last few years as their products have become more and more bizarre. My family and I are ideal Acura candidates; we've been buying Hondas for years because we like the way they drive, we like the way they're designed, and we like how long they last -- and yet we've been put off Honda's luxury brand because of their strange designs and complicated interiors. So to find an Acura that I really like is a nice surprise... and a big relief.
