[Superleggera]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Yes, I fill premium. Manual recommends 91 or above but so far I have seen gas stations near me sell only 83/87/93 so i fill 93.

Frankly regular should be fine you probably wont get the 300 horses & full mpg. MY running is very low so Premium vs regular doesnt make too big a difference.

Btw Congrats on getting the 2011 MDX, now we have two of them on the forum

Which variant & color did you pick? Post some pics

Thanks!. I will fill premium going forward. My daily running would be around 40 miles and another 100 miles over the weekend.

Mine is a 2011 Acura MDX Base, Silver exterior and grey interior – I will post some pictures over the weekend. It came with a backup camera, Premium Sound System, Sirius XM, Hands free link etc. The price difference between the Base and tech version was around 2K, and it was not worth it.
I bought this from a certified dealer where he offered Power Train warranty as a long as I own the car, regardless of the mileage or number of years. On top pf I bought a B2B warranty for another 60K miles for USD 2,000 which is transferrable.

Overall am happy with the vehicle except for the panel gaps inside and odd looks from some angles. It drives like car, nimble and smooth. Below are the options considered..

BMW X5 – Was looking at few 2008-2010 X5s in my budget. Awesome car to drive and my heart still goes with it. But heard horror stories about BMW maintenance and decided not to go for it.

Lexus RX350 – I almost bought a 2010 RX350 from a private party. Cons were no third row seat and not fun to drive, compared to its peers. It felt luxurious and I thought I will buy it as it is very reliable and enjoys the best resale values in USA. Paid the advanced and when I was driving back home I started watching other RX350s on the road. 90% of them were driven by elderly ladies (All nationalities)+, 5% by ladies less than 40 years (All nationalities), 3% elderly gentlemen (Americans) and 2% Chinese gentlemen. Went back home and did a google search and sadly realized that Lexus RX is considered to be Chick’s car. Even though I don’t care much about it, I said a NO becuase the drive was not inspiring at all.

Toyota 4 Runner: I liked the boxy looks and command it gives on the road. Interior felt outdated and it offered a rough ride. As I am not planning to do any off-roading ,decided not to go for it.

Acura MDX : Fund to drive, Third row seat, One of the best AWD systems available (SH-AWD).Looks classy from most of the angles. This is again a soccer mom’s car, but I am conveniently ignoring it 

Planned accessories: Weathertech floor mats , Roof rails and a radar detector

[dr.abhijeet]

Originally Posted by Superleggera

.... top pf I bought a B2B warranty for another 60K miles for USD 2,000 which is transferrable.

.


Planned accessories: Weathertech floor mats , Roof rails and a radar detector

Good car, I test drove MDX while buying the Pathfinder and almost bought it. Whats a B2B warranty. Is it a 3rd party warranty?

[Jomz]

bumper to bumper, I assume

[vasoo]

Back in US for about a month, staying near Boston. This time opted for a compact/intermediate car to save some money for my company and ended up with a 2014 Chevy Cruze LTZ RS package with about 13k miles on it, from Hertz.

Driving this car the first time and found it relatively lacklustre, probably I am comparing it to the bigger cars I used to rent here. Overall features look decent with power sun roof, 9-speaker Pioneer audio, heated leather seats, ACC, remote start, touch screen infotainment, reverse camera, electric driver seat adjustment, 18" alloy wheels (Michelin 225/45 R18), some "sports" plastics in the exterior etc. The engine is the same 1.4 L Turbo.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by vasoo

Back in US for about a month, staying near Boston. This time opted for a compact/intermediate car to save some money for my company and ended up with a 2014 Chevy Cruze LTZ RS package with about 13k miles on it, from Hertz.

Driving this car the first time and found it relatively lacklustre, probably I am comparing it to the bigger cars I used to rent here. Overall features look decent with power sun roof, 9-speaker Pioneer audio, heated leather seats, ACC, remote start, touch screen infotainment, reverse camera, electric driver seat adjustment, 18" alloy wheels (Michelin 225/45 R18), some "sports" plastics in the exterior etc. The engine is the same 1.4 L Turbo.

Normally rentals are not this feature loaded!
Where in Boston are you located?

[vasoo]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Normally rentals are not this feature loaded!
Where in Boston are you located?

In my experience of renting cars at Hertz, about 10-15% of cars are quite loaded. But the chance of you getting them are limited. Also I have noticed that most higher trim levels are for American cars such as GM/Chevy or Ford. Most of the Mazdas, Subarus and Toyotas are entry level trims. I am at Andover now.

[vineethvazhayil]

Originally Posted by vasoo

In my experience of renting cars at Hertz, about 10-15% of cars are quite loaded. But the chance of you getting them are limited. Also I have noticed that most higher trim levels are for American cars such as GM/Chevy or Ford. Most of the Mazdas, Subarus and Toyotas are entry level trims. I am at Andover now.

If you are a frequent renter, your likelihood of getting a premium equipped model is always good. Let's say you book Intermediate as a frequent renter, you are very likely to get a loaded intermediate or a car of the next category. That was my experience when I was renting every week for work.

[VLOCT]

Been enjoying my V Rod. Here are a couple of pics and a video. Hope you guys like it.

Will be putting up an owners review shortly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOIyQ1tZN9w

[kraft.wagen]

Originally Posted by VLOCT

Been enjoying my V Rod. Here are a couple of pics and a video. Hope you guys like it.

Will be putting up an owners review shortly.

Looking forward to read your review VLOCT. How do you like the transition from Duc to V Rod

[vasoo]

Originally Posted by vineethvazhayil

If you are a frequent renter, your likelihood of getting a premium equipped model is always good. Let's say you book Intermediate as a frequent renter, you are very likely to get a loaded intermediate or a car of the next category. That was my experience when I was renting every week for work.

Yes. I am a President's Circle member in Hertz. The only difference this time was profuse apology by the staff for not having an appropriate car. Last time when I booked a full size car, they had upgraded me to a Buick Lacrosse. This time it is the other way! I hope I can ask for adjustment of my rental charges when I return my car.

[ToroRosso]

Originally Posted by VLOCT

Will be putting up an owners review shortly.

Looks stunning! Nice Lid - Is there an link where I can check it out?

[VLOCT]

Originally Posted by kraft.wagen

Looking forward to read your review VLOCT. How do you like the transition from Duc to V Rod

Duc & V Rod - telepathic Sports bike vs. 2-lane Blaster, 400 lbs vs. ~630 lbs, Surgeon's scalpel vs. Hunter's arrow. Both are very very gratifying rides. Very happy with my selection.

Obviously, both are incredible rides. But the V Rod will never be the mental Duc. But still an awesome ride and for me, the perfect bike for Vegas. I absolutely love it and am glad I chose it for Vegas. If I was in SoCal, I would never have sold the Duc.

I changed the battery which sits high up, from regular (14 lbs) to 'Anti Gravity' Lithium Phosphate (3 lbs). Changed the exhaust slip-ons to Super Trapp - dropped 15 lbs. These use disc technology that can tune the bike (moves the power delivery up or down the rpm range) by adding or removing the discs. These changes have completely transformed the bike and is now surprisingly flippable, for its heft. In the video, I'm doing 75-80 mph on a 50 mph road, rock solid stability at those 'slightly sweeping' curves.

Originally Posted by ToroRosso

Looks stunning! Nice Lid - Is there an link where I can check it out?

Thanks Torro. My old lid was a Suomi, Ducati lid. Could have repainted it but, it was already 8 years old, not safe. The new one is AGV. Not Shoei or Arai good, but excellent never the less and 40% less money. Hey if it's good for Rossi, it's fine with me.

Are you talking about the ownership review link? It's still in the Assembly stage.

[ToroRosso]

Originally Posted by VLOCT

Are you talking about the ownership review link?

Heh, Was talking about the Lid.

[VLOCT]

Originally Posted by ToroRosso

Heh, Was talking about the Lid.

AGV - picked it up from the Cycle Gear store in Vegas. You can probably check their website for their selection. Good helmets are not cheap by any means. I'll post the model no. when I'm back home after work. Graphics will change but the model no. is the key.

The problem with helmets are that each manufacturer fit is different so a Large for one is not necessarily true with another. I would never buy helmets without fitting and then order online, if its cheaper.

[kraft.wagen]

Originally Posted by ToroRosso

Heh, Was talking about the Lid.

Originally Posted by VLOCT

AGV - picked it up from the Cycle Gear store in Vegas. You can probably check their website for their selection. Good helmets are not cheap by any means. I'll post the model no. when I'm back home after work. Graphics will change but the model no. is the key.

The problem with helmets are that each manufacturer fit is different so a Large for one is not necessarily true with another. I would never buy helmets without fitting and then order online, if its cheaper.

For some reason I have really liked the helmets by BELL. Picked up a RS1 recently at crazy low price.
One of my friend got Nexx, its super light but pretty loud. Its mostly a track wear though.

Yea VLOCT, it was not the right question to compare Duc with HD. But just wanted to see how the transition felt.