It has become a sort of ritual for Japanese manufacturers to pit their latest offerings against more traditional, German rivals. The fact that certain cars are the benchmark in their respective segments is pretty obvious when other manufacturers use them as the ones to beat. The latest showing of such a comparison comes from Acura and its new RDX model. In order to celebrate the launch of the car in the US, the company invited journalists to test it against the best cars in its segment, including, of course, the BMW X3.
The guys from The Fast Lane Car accepted the invitation sent out by the people from Acura to go ahead and test their latest RDX against the BMW X3, Audi Q5, Mercedes-Benz GLC and Volvo XC60. The choice of the testing platoon wasn’t theirs as Acura picked these German and Swedish cars to compare against their latest crossover, as they considered them to be ‘the best in the segment’, a statement we can agree with.
If you’re a long-time subscriber, you probably already know that the guys from The Fast Lane Car have an issue with BMW’s gearbox lever and, especially, the way you activate Launch Control, a procedure that somehow manages to elude them every time they test a BMW. In this particular video, Roman complains about the apparent un-intuitive way the shifter works, having you pull back on it to go forward and push it forward to go backwards. That’s just the way most of the automatic transmissions work, I guess.
Speaking about the BMW he also points out that releasing the hood demands two pulls on the lever, a safety feature BMW has been implementing on its cars for years, and other manufacturers are starting to do as well, to protect the drivers. As for the actual comparison between these five cars, as you’re about to see, it’s reduced to personal preference and whichever purpose you want to achieve with your car. Want more luxury and comfort? Go for the Q5 or Merc. Want to be able to go off-road? Go for the XC60. Want to have fun behind the wheel? Get the X3 or the RDX.
Guys, X5 leaked online.
its time for extensive coverage from you guys.
http://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1502908
Link for your quick reference.
We can’t yet. In 5 hrs. We have an embargo to uphold.
But we will have exclusive videos.
wow !!!
Looking forward to it
So Acura put this together? And sent a bright blue top spec to go against dull colors from Germany and Sweden? Ok…
I get the price difference but…
Either way, the new RDX is a solid contender in the looks and price department. Can’t wait to drive it to validate further.
Acura have corporate promos on YouTube presented as consumer tests, think they put their 6 cyl. sedan against 4 cyl. 3 Series. I wouldn’t bother comparing I6 X3 to any of these, of course they bring 4 cyl. to test here.
Just silly IMO
330i vs. TLX still up on Acura corporate youtube page, unsurprisingly comments deleted.
Oh. I am going to watch this later…curious as to why they think it is an effective way of doing business.
We owned a RDX for 7 years without any problems. Most people sell a car because of problems. We sold ours because we just wanted a new car. Of course, all cars are more durable and dependable but when something does fail, some companies vehicles cost significantly more in repairs than others.