Howdy,
I'm a longtime Mazda fan and have posted here quite a bit off-and-on. After putting off a decision on my next car for as long as I could, I finally pulled the trigger on a 2021 RDX A-Spec SH-AWD. I test drove the CX-5 an CX-9 one last time the week before buying and it affirmed that Mazda just doesn't make the right sized car for me. We have a 2-year old and plan to have another, and the idea of having some elbow room on looooong road trips to my hometown was a priority, but a 3-row SUV is just too much car for our lifestyle (and our garage!).
To be honest, when I saw the RDX reveal a few years ago I wasn't impressed enough to seriously consider it. It just seemed like another Acura and the price was out of reach. But on a whim I test drove one at a dealership, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. It really did bring a smile to my face to drive, which put it in rare company with the CX-5. The next thing that won me over was the ridiculous discount I learned you can get on Acuras in some areas, which made it far less of a stretch budget-wise. I managed 17% off MSRP over Black Friday weekend, putting the car under $40k.
First impressions are that the stance and driving position are perfect, complaints about its infotainment trackpad are overblown, the power is great, and Acura/Honda production lines still have poor attention to detail (defective stitching, scuffed parts, etc.), and the sound system is very good. I'm typically drawn to minimalistic designs and think the RDX's interior is not a great fit on the mainstream trims, but the NSX-inspired cues work much better with the sportier A-Spec trim. So I went all-in on the faux sports car vibe with the crystal white exterior with red interior. One of my big concerns with buying the RDX was its average fuel economy, especially with PHEVs and BEVs going mainstream. But I'm averaging 22-23 with suburban driving and this week I'm excited to see how close to 30 mpg I can get during a 1,000 mi road trip back home for the holidays (EPA is 26 hwy).
Anyhow, it might seem strange to post about the RDX here, but after watching online discussion the past couple of years I noticed a lot of folks are in the same "I love the CX-5 but its too small for my family" boat. So I figured folks might be interested in what I ended up choosing. So if you're comparison shopping and have any questions, ask away!
I'm a longtime Mazda fan and have posted here quite a bit off-and-on. After putting off a decision on my next car for as long as I could, I finally pulled the trigger on a 2021 RDX A-Spec SH-AWD. I test drove the CX-5 an CX-9 one last time the week before buying and it affirmed that Mazda just doesn't make the right sized car for me. We have a 2-year old and plan to have another, and the idea of having some elbow room on looooong road trips to my hometown was a priority, but a 3-row SUV is just too much car for our lifestyle (and our garage!).
To be honest, when I saw the RDX reveal a few years ago I wasn't impressed enough to seriously consider it. It just seemed like another Acura and the price was out of reach. But on a whim I test drove one at a dealership, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. It really did bring a smile to my face to drive, which put it in rare company with the CX-5. The next thing that won me over was the ridiculous discount I learned you can get on Acuras in some areas, which made it far less of a stretch budget-wise. I managed 17% off MSRP over Black Friday weekend, putting the car under $40k.
First impressions are that the stance and driving position are perfect, complaints about its infotainment trackpad are overblown, the power is great, and Acura/Honda production lines still have poor attention to detail (defective stitching, scuffed parts, etc.), and the sound system is very good. I'm typically drawn to minimalistic designs and think the RDX's interior is not a great fit on the mainstream trims, but the NSX-inspired cues work much better with the sportier A-Spec trim. So I went all-in on the faux sports car vibe with the crystal white exterior with red interior. One of my big concerns with buying the RDX was its average fuel economy, especially with PHEVs and BEVs going mainstream. But I'm averaging 22-23 with suburban driving and this week I'm excited to see how close to 30 mpg I can get during a 1,000 mi road trip back home for the holidays (EPA is 26 hwy).
Anyhow, it might seem strange to post about the RDX here, but after watching online discussion the past couple of years I noticed a lot of folks are in the same "I love the CX-5 but its too small for my family" boat. So I figured folks might be interested in what I ended up choosing. So if you're comparison shopping and have any questions, ask away!