What a quick little crossover! Honda's first-ever U.S.-market turbo is a pretty good one, generating gobs of mid-range torque and providing a swift kick in the back when taking off from a light. I'm not so fond of the RDX's inability to put down all this power, as evidenced by frequent wheel spin at launch accompanied by a bit of torque steer. Opting for SH-AWD would likely render this complaint moot, and would put the price of this loaded Acura at $38,430 - about the same as a base Audi Q5 lacking features like navigation and Xenon headlights.
Honestly though, I'd have liked to have seen Acura forego its value advantage and finish off this vehicle a little better. Most of the extra money would go to the interior, which has far too many hard plastics, not to mention a navigation interface in dire need of an update. The RDX is also a bit fidgety on the highway for a luxury vehicle. All of this conspires to make the RDX feel more like a really nice, handsome CR-V than a downsized MDX.