>> Acura perhaps does the most of any car maker to put technology forward. So when they release a car that has the word technology in its name, we're interested. Let's check out the 2007 Acura RDX Tech.
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The RDX Technology includes just about every technology. The package is comprehensive with only a couple of things left out. I'll talk about those later. Let's start with the big show. Up here on the LCD screen, it's a large screen. It's set back into the dash, good color saturation, a lot of adjustments for brightness and contrast. Wasn't hard to get it to look good. It's not a touch screen even though it's relatively close. Instead, you would enter an address this way, using Acura's proprietary control system which includes a large knob that has a turning ring as well as a jog button on the top and an enter right on the center. Here's where it gets annoying. You've got predictive going on here, so as I start to type in San Francisco, it guesses what the next letter will be. But ironically it makes you click over even non possible, non active letters. That makes no sense. Once you do get your destination though, the system is extremely clear. The actual icons are large scale, so they're not hard to look at. There's no squinting here. Now but the car in reverse and the hits just keep coming on that big LCD. You go to the automatic backup camera view that's built in as part of the technology package. It's fairly simple. There are no guidelines, distance markers or trajectory markers, just a view out the back of the camera. The audio system in this car is an upgraded Panasonic unit, branded ELS in conjunction with Elliot Shiner, the legendary recording engineer who they work with on some of their components. This system has a lot of surround ability because it can digest DVD audio disks, hence the surround label. It can also eat up regular CDs, MP3 CDs, WMA CDs. No movies, it doesn't play DVDs in any form in the front or in the back of the cabin. You can put an iPod adapter in this vehicle, but that's a dealer installed option for about 250 bucks. There is however a standard auxiliary jack down here. We applaud that.
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Now moving the RDX is a 2 point 3 liter inline four, dual overhead cam, Vtech variable valve timing, gasoline engine, pretty basic Acura Honda stuff. Until you get to the turbo charger. Now that's a variable volume turbo. It starts off using valving built into it as a small volume turbo allowing it to spin up with minimal resistance. Then as it gets up to speed, it opens up and moves more air into the intake. Clever technology and the whole idea is to reduce turbo lag. It works okay. Somewhere in here though is a laggy power train. You step on it and you get the feeling that things are, are spinning up, even despite all that turbo technology. Now the Acura RDX technology is actually missing a number of technologies. You can't get active steering headlights. You can't even get automatic headlights. You've got to turn them on and off yourself. Same thing goes for the key. No keyless entry. You've got to actually stick it in there and turn it to start the car. It's like going back to the Stone Age. You also have to go without a power passenger seat or memory buttons for the driver's power seat. So let's talk price. The Acura RDX Technology model included everything we showed you in this review. The only options you might add would be the iPod adapter for about 230 plus dealer labor to install it and the front and rear park distance sensors, about 550 plus labor. Otherwise, this car is 36495 plus destination, about 37100.
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