Just like its parent company, Honda, Acura makes some great cars. However, when it comes to luxury compact SUVs, Acura has some tough competition from brands like Volvo. Here’s a comparison between the 2020 Acura RDX and the 2020 Volvo XC60, two of the best luxury compact SUVs on the market. 

The pros and cons of the 2020 Acura RDX

According to Consumer Reports, the 2020 RDX has many traits that one would expect from a Honda. It’s a very safe car, as it got good safety scores from its crash tests, and on top of that, the AcuraWatch suite of smart safety systems is standard.

AcuraWatch provides smart safety features such as forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, and adaptive cruise control.

That said, unlike the Honda CR-V, the RDX doesn’t have a great reliability rating. Consumer Reports wrote that it has a 1 out of 5 in terms of its expected reliability.

Compared to other SUVs in its class, the RDX actually has the lowest reliability score in the segment. One of the reasons for that low score has to do with the RDX’s infotainment system, which wasn’t great to use.

But, at the very least, it’s still a luxury car that has an interior that’s worth paying for. Consumer Reports said that the RDX’s interior was “appealing,” and Acura put a luxury finish in all corners of the RDX’s interior.

Furthermore, while the RDX only has one engine option, a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder that gets 272-hp, it’s more than enough to give it a sporty feel when it’s on the road. This engine is also about average in terms of fuel economy, as it gets about 22 MPG combined. The standard RDX starts at about $38,000.

The pros and cons of the 2020 Volvo XC60

Consumer Reports had similar thoughts about the XC60. The XC60 also comes standard with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, but the XC60’s only gets 250-hp.

The XC60 also has a very well-designed interior that’s well worth its price tag. Just like the RDX though, Consumer Reports also didn’t have a good time using the XC60’s infotainment system. 

Additionally, Volvo decked the XC60 out with plenty of smart safety features. The XC60 has many of the same smart safety systems that the RDX has, but Volvo went further and added more safety features, such as a run-off-road protection system.

That said, unlike the RDX, the XC60 actually got a decent reliability score. Consumer Reports gave it a 3 out of 5 for reliability, which makes it about average for the segment. 

While the standard XC60 wasn’t as fun to drive as the RDX was, the XC60’s main advantage comes with its options. Volvo offers four different engines on it, including two hybrid options. The standard engine however, is pretty average in terms of fuel economy, as it gets 23 MPG combined. The standard XC60 also starts at about $40,000. 

Which is better?

In many ways, these two SUVs are very similar. They share many of the same flaws, and they share many of the same advantages. However, what really separates the two is in their reliability scores and in their options. 

Volvo offers a plug-in hybrid version of the 2020 XC60, which also happens to be the most powerful version of the car. It gets 415-hp and it also gets about 57 MPGe. It can also go about 19 miles on just batteries, too. That said, this version of the XC60 is very expensive, as it’s about $70,000. 

Regardless, it’s for those reasons and more that Consumer Reports gave the XC60 a much higher score than it gave the RDX. The RDX has an overall score of 61 out of 100, while the XC60 has an overall score of 71 out of 100.