SAN FRANCISCO – This is what happens when you give automotive engineers too much caffeine. You get a Picasso on wheels, a technological marvel that answers a burning question, opens our eyes, but in doing so raises issues and weaknesses that we probably were not even aware of. Ah, art. It is so imperfect in its perfection, no?
Consider the 2007 Acura RDX. Here sits the first-ever Honda turbocharger, the answer to the question many an enthusiast has pondered: when is Honda gonna build a turbocharger? They are, now, and it’s a good one too: no noticeable lag, sweet and smooth power – just thinking about driving it makes us want to steal an RDX off the truck here in San Francisco and drive it home. A chance, yes. A risk -- certainly. But a colleague says that PR folks don’t do math very well, and many don’t even count the cars – or they forget – so maybe…Besides, just think of the stories, the drama my new pinstriped bunkmates would appreciate. And just imagine the headlines. “Crazed Journalist Steals Acura RDX.” They’d be calling me “Fat Chee” in no time. Those hillbilly cops out there would not expect to see an Acura get 240 horsepower and 260 lb.-ft. of torque. The film would be great, racing down the 5, whizzing by all those cows, hitting corners hard -- thanks to that wonderful SH-AWD. That would buy me some time, and make Sgt. Wilbur smack his head and call for help. We got ourselves a custom import crossover here, get me some back up. There ain’t no way a crossover is making that turn… It would be exhilarating, a great ride right up to the moment I run out of gas – the RDX doesn’t get great mileage – and get slammed inside the back of Wilbur’s cop car. Heck. It would be fun anyway. And fun is what the RDX is all about, with sleek lines and an aggressive snout that tells people you mean business about a good time. It’s the new luxury, the new thing people will soon be focusing on as a full time pursuit. After eight long years spent thinking about families, terror, wars, and religion, it’s time to have some fun, darn it, so climb on in and crack open this turbocharger. It’s better than a six-pack in the parking lot of a NASCAR race, and goes almost as fast, too. Built in Marysville, Ohio, on an all-new dedicated truck platform, Acura takes a little of the TSX sport sedan – the 2.4-liter, four-cylinder engine – and a little of the Acura RL – namely a revised version of its Super Handling AWD system and its five-speed automatic transmission – to create a crossover with a peppy engine, and five-speed automatic transmission with paddles, a thing that thinks it’s really a car when it sees a corner...but looks suspiciously like an SUV. That sounds like some pretty serious fun to us.
For a price tag between $32,000 and $38,000, the 2007 Acura RDX proves that fun can be had at an entry-luxury price, while the new 2007 Mazda CX-7 – a very similar vehicle – shows that fun can be had for even less. Imagine – sensible fun – as if there were such a thing. Of course, Acura would rather you not consider the less expensive CX-7. The nearest luxury competitor is the BMW X3, but that’s slower, making it not so…fun. We all know how well the X3 sold, after all. But that was then, when we were serious. This is now, and now is Fun Time – forget stupid serious stuff like cargo room - with few things as enjoyable for 30 grand as a turbocharged luxury crossover with F1-style paddle shifters and your favorite Bruce song blaring over the surround sound system. Yes. It’s time to party.
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