The Goldilocks crossover
Auto_082012_cover_GHNS_7.qxp:Layout 1
8/17/12
10:20 AM
Page 2
AUTOMOTIVE
LIST THE XXXXXX According to CNNMoney, America’s best-loved cars are: Compact premium sporty Entry premium car adfadfa 1. Mercedes SLK 1. BMW 3-series adsfasdfasd 2. Mercedes-Benz E-class 2. BMW 1-series ADFADSF coupe/convertible 3. Audi A4/A5
AUTO BITS
ACURA RDX REVIEW
TIP OF THE WEEK
The Goldilocks crossover
Fuel economy Some gas-saving tips: ■ Check your tires. Once a month, when the tires are cold check tire pressure with a reliable tire gauge. Be sure that the valve stems have a plastic or metal cap to keep dirt out and seal against leakage. ■ Replace air filter. A clogged air filter blocks the air needed to burn fuel and wastes gas. ■ Keep your car tuned up according to the manufacturer’s recommended schedule to keep all systems in good working order, which can optimize your mileage. ■ Slow down. For every 5 mph you go above 60 mph, you’re using more gas, and, ultimately, paying even more for each gallon of gas.
- ARA CAR Q&A
Flexibility needed Q: What can you tell me about the Ford Flex? We need a vehicle that will hold six persons with good gas mileage. A: The Ford Flex will carry up to seven. I drove a 2013 Flex AWD 3.5 V/6. A couple of weeks ago we used it to go to dinner with two other couples. The Flex is like a Mini Cooper on steroids. There is no question that Ford has done a great job on this vehicle. Gas mileage 17 city 23 highway. Base price $35,000 as tested; with optional equipment $39,900.
— Junior Damato, Talking Cars columnist
Five days after getting into Acura’s mid-size, 5passenger crossover SUV, it dawned on me. The RDX is not too big, not too small. It’s eager, but not aggressive. The ride is neither squishy nor hard. It’s not bad-looking, though no knockout. The cabin is quite nice, but not so plush you wouldn’t put the dog in it. This is Goldilocks’s car: not too hot, not too cold, but just right. Furthermore, the RDX is put together with traditional Japanese attention to fit, finish and detail, and it is a modern Honda, so undoubtedly it will last years longer than anyone can possibly stand to look at it. Forgive me, but the RDX is a crashing bore. Oops, shouldn’t say “crashing” about a car. Especially this one, which Acura (i.e., Honda) says is a “top safety pick” by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Insur-
SILVIO CALABI
ance companies have only our best interests at heart, so try to stay focused here: They say the RDX has earned its “highest possible score of ‘good’ in all four Institute tests” –– including, you’ll be happy to know, “the rigorous roof-strength test.” So presumably we can carry an Ariel Atom or a Caterham Superlight up there on a rack, to offload and roar away in when the boredom becomes terminal. No, it’s not rental-car boring, but ... if the RDX were a male human, it would be the sort you’d want
your daughter to marry. Staunch, dependable, good through all sorts of heavy weather and in it for the long haul. Bo-ring. Let’s hope she doesn’t run off with an Alfa Romeo. The six-cylinder, 3.5liter motor in the RDX makes 273 horsepower and 251 pounds of torque, and it feels refined, in that low-friction kind of way. The engine is hooked up to a six-speed automatic transmission that shifts itself with perfect competence. One may choose “sport mode” for a bit more zing. Most of the time, all the power goes to the front wheels. Hit the gas hard, though, in this loaded $39,000 AWD model, and 25 percent of it
gets shunted automatically to the rear wheels, just in case. On a slippery road, the computer may decide to split the power 50/50, front and rear. Go into a corner too hot, and the machine tracks sure and true, with no sense of nose-heaviness. This is what Honda means by AWDIC: all-wheel drive with intelligent control. The suspension plays a big role in this, too. I could bore you with the details, but never mind. It works. Again, the nearperfection. Back in the bad old days, whenever the feds announced new mileage or safety or emissions standards, Detroit would send mobs of lobbyists
and lawyers to fight them tooth and nail. Honda, at the back of the room, would demurely raise its hand and say, “Oh, we did that last year.” But lately Honda seems to be just phoning it in. The CRXSi is long gone. The fabulous mid-engine NSX is gone. Where’s the old magic? Where’s the rocket science that made Honda seem so brilliant? Oh, here it is, in the HA-420 HondaJet. Anybody in the market for an ultra-slick $5 million, sixseat personal twin-jet plane by Honda? Nope, didn’t think so. Silvio Calabi can be reached at [email protected], [email protected] or 207-592-2619.
8/17/12
10:20 AM
Page 2
AUTOMOTIVE
LIST THE XXXXXX According to CNNMoney, America’s best-loved cars are: Compact premium sporty Entry premium car adfadfa 1. Mercedes SLK 1. BMW 3-series adsfasdfasd 2. Mercedes-Benz E-class 2. BMW 1-series ADFADSF coupe/convertible 3. Audi A4/A5
AUTO BITS
ACURA RDX REVIEW
TIP OF THE WEEK
The Goldilocks crossover
Fuel economy Some gas-saving tips: ■ Check your tires. Once a month, when the tires are cold check tire pressure with a reliable tire gauge. Be sure that the valve stems have a plastic or metal cap to keep dirt out and seal against leakage. ■ Replace air filter. A clogged air filter blocks the air needed to burn fuel and wastes gas. ■ Keep your car tuned up according to the manufacturer’s recommended schedule to keep all systems in good working order, which can optimize your mileage. ■ Slow down. For every 5 mph you go above 60 mph, you’re using more gas, and, ultimately, paying even more for each gallon of gas.
- ARA CAR Q&A
Flexibility needed Q: What can you tell me about the Ford Flex? We need a vehicle that will hold six persons with good gas mileage. A: The Ford Flex will carry up to seven. I drove a 2013 Flex AWD 3.5 V/6. A couple of weeks ago we used it to go to dinner with two other couples. The Flex is like a Mini Cooper on steroids. There is no question that Ford has done a great job on this vehicle. Gas mileage 17 city 23 highway. Base price $35,000 as tested; with optional equipment $39,900.
— Junior Damato, Talking Cars columnist
Five days after getting into Acura’s mid-size, 5passenger crossover SUV, it dawned on me. The RDX is not too big, not too small. It’s eager, but not aggressive. The ride is neither squishy nor hard. It’s not bad-looking, though no knockout. The cabin is quite nice, but not so plush you wouldn’t put the dog in it. This is Goldilocks’s car: not too hot, not too cold, but just right. Furthermore, the RDX is put together with traditional Japanese attention to fit, finish and detail, and it is a modern Honda, so undoubtedly it will last years longer than anyone can possibly stand to look at it. Forgive me, but the RDX is a crashing bore. Oops, shouldn’t say “crashing” about a car. Especially this one, which Acura (i.e., Honda) says is a “top safety pick” by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Insur-
SILVIO CALABI
ance companies have only our best interests at heart, so try to stay focused here: They say the RDX has earned its “highest possible score of ‘good’ in all four Institute tests” –– including, you’ll be happy to know, “the rigorous roof-strength test.” So presumably we can carry an Ariel Atom or a Caterham Superlight up there on a rack, to offload and roar away in when the boredom becomes terminal. No, it’s not rental-car boring, but ... if the RDX were a male human, it would be the sort you’d want
your daughter to marry. Staunch, dependable, good through all sorts of heavy weather and in it for the long haul. Bo-ring. Let’s hope she doesn’t run off with an Alfa Romeo. The six-cylinder, 3.5liter motor in the RDX makes 273 horsepower and 251 pounds of torque, and it feels refined, in that low-friction kind of way. The engine is hooked up to a six-speed automatic transmission that shifts itself with perfect competence. One may choose “sport mode” for a bit more zing. Most of the time, all the power goes to the front wheels. Hit the gas hard, though, in this loaded $39,000 AWD model, and 25 percent of it
gets shunted automatically to the rear wheels, just in case. On a slippery road, the computer may decide to split the power 50/50, front and rear. Go into a corner too hot, and the machine tracks sure and true, with no sense of nose-heaviness. This is what Honda means by AWDIC: all-wheel drive with intelligent control. The suspension plays a big role in this, too. I could bore you with the details, but never mind. It works. Again, the nearperfection. Back in the bad old days, whenever the feds announced new mileage or safety or emissions standards, Detroit would send mobs of lobbyists
and lawyers to fight them tooth and nail. Honda, at the back of the room, would demurely raise its hand and say, “Oh, we did that last year.” But lately Honda seems to be just phoning it in. The CRXSi is long gone. The fabulous mid-engine NSX is gone. Where’s the old magic? Where’s the rocket science that made Honda seem so brilliant? Oh, here it is, in the HA-420 HondaJet. Anybody in the market for an ultra-slick $5 million, sixseat personal twin-jet plane by Honda? Nope, didn’t think so. Silvio Calabi can be reached at [email protected], [email protected] or 207-592-2619.
