2019 Acura RDX inspired by Wavy Gravy

(EXPANDED FROM 11/1/2018)

When I came upon a 2019 Acura RDX, I was reminded of Wavy Gravy. That’s the name of a Woodstock-era citizen activist who still uses silly performance art to generate visibility for his causes (Wikipedia, 2023a). Acura got on the Gravy train with its third-generation RDX — which after five years on the market has been little changed (Wikipedia, 2023b).

From the psychedelic grille to the wavy froth of character lines, this compact sport-utility vehicle has attempted to grab your attention with over-the-top silliness. That’s a pretty impressive feat for a crossover which was previously rather uptight and anonymous looking — and based on the relatively normal looking Honda CR-V, which uses the same platform (Stafford, 2023).

Alphabet soup for cosmic clowns?

The RDX copied its big brother, the MDX (or was that the ZDX?), with one of the biggest logos to ever grace the nose of an automobile. It looks so much like a button that I wondered whether pressing it would make the car honk. Imagine the fun kids might have with that — particularly if the logo were bright red like a clown’s nose.

Now behold the 3D-like grille pattern, which may very well have been a first for the auto industry. Had another automaker ever given a hippie the keys to the design studio before?

The rest of the car isn’t quite so trippy — was the LSD wearing off? — but the RDX was given an extra helping of character lines. Stare long enough and you can see the patterns. It’s kind of like gravy — there’s an ever-swirling harmony of randomness.

The rear end has lots of flotsam and jetsam piling up in odd places, like a timber-cluttered seashore after a big storm. For example, Acura discovered a new way to turn a boxy C-pillar into a teardrop. “Let there be a chrome sweepspear!” exhorted the hippie designer. The skies parted and it was so.

Also see ‘2018 Honda Odyssey: Somebody’s going to hell’

This is an amazing display of automotive alchemy, but a few details still need to be worked out. See that place where the sweapspear meets black cladding pretending to be part of the rear window? That’s not epic anything except contrived, cheap and awkward.

Lest you think this is all just fun and games, our dutiful hippie designer did come up with a seriously deft piece of sculpting: A lower-body chrome spear looks quite nice. If the spear were detachable it could also offer the Acura owner a measure of protection in case peace, love and understanding came up short.

Last but certainly not least, we have the RDX’s hood. Long gone are the traditional straight lines leading to a suitably dignified radiator grille. Instead, the Acura owner can vibe with a wavy ripple in the time-space continuum.

In short, the 2019 RDX represents a milestone in car design. After a half century, at least one automaker has finally started to draw upon design principles from the Woodstock era. Better late than never, I suppose.

Is it time for some agonizing reappraisal?

The third-generation RDX has had a mixed record in the marketplace. On the one hand, it was the second-best-selling Acura in 2022, only behind the MDX. On the other hand, that was under 25,000 units — below other compact luxury SUVs such as the BMW X3 and Volvo XC60. Indeed, RDX sales fell by almost 57 percent in 2022, the steepest of any Acura nameplate (Automotive News, 2023).

The RDX’s collapse contributed to Acura landing in seventh place among luxury brands in 2022, even behind Cadillac (Iliff, 2023). Might a goodly number of compact luxury SUV buyers consider Acura’s cosmic joke not very funny?

Of course, one might argue that Acura’s biggest problem is not its design direction but rather the lack of a compelling reason for the brand’s existence. Perhaps Honda Motor Co. should stop clowning around and yank this act.

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RE:SOURCES

• Automotive News; 2023. “U.S. light-vehicle sales by nameplate, Q4 & 12 months.” Subscription required. Published Jan. 9: pp. 28-29.
• Iliff, Laurence; 2023. “Tesla passes BMW for 2022 U.S. luxury crown.” Automotive News (subscription required). Published Feb. 20: p. 28.
• Stafford, Eric; 2023. “2024 Acura RDX.” Car and Driver. Accessed Oct. 12.
• Wikipedia; 2023a. “Wavy Gravy.” Page last modified Oct. 9.
• ——; 2023b. “Acura RDX.” Page last modified Oct. 1.