AAAAHH! The great outdoors. I absolutely LOVE this time of year! The weather starts to turn cool & crisp. The leaves start to change color. We start to get a little more rain. I just love it!
It’s so nice out, it’s almost worth recording video where ever I go. That’s what got me thinking about dash cams. You know what I’m talking about. We’ve all seen the video footage coming out of Russia with all the Road Rage fights & car crash compilations. If I’m not mistaken, I think that just about every car in Russia has a dash cam. Not because they are mandatory, unless of coarse you want to protect yourself from the crooked police. People think the police out here are bad? If you don’t have video proof of what happened, who knows what could happen over there. That’s what I’m told anyway…
So I thought it might be cool to get one. I think it’s a great idea to have one for multiple reasons. But I had almost no knowledge about them. So off to google & Amazon for some research. It became quickly apparent that I would be getting one as they were well within my financial limitations. I did a little research and decided on the Rexing V1 with a 2.4″ screen. It had all the features that appealed to me & when Mounted up behind the rear view mirror, you don’t even remember it’s there. I made a quick review style video show actual footage & audio from the Rexing V1 itself. You can check it out here…
Sorry if it seems like I’m repeating myself a lot in the video. I shot the footage at different times & I’ve never edited video before. I’m hoping to share more of the interesting things I see while on the road with this new addition. Hopefully nothing too exciting…
I finally got around to doing a little updating under the hood. No, it’s the Stock Life for me. So I didn’t drop a turbo or supercharger in it, or anything of the sort. While I was filming the undercarriage video I noticed how bad the hood insulator looked. While Chris wrapped up my service, I went over to the parts department & ordered a new one with all new clips. 
Not pretty at all. Once it was off, it looked better. But not good enough to douse my OCD. So a spray bottle of Simple Green & my scrub brush & a hose down, I went from this…
To this…
Of course all that cleaning the underside of the hood just transferred the mess to the motor, so I did a quick clean off of the engine bay as well…
And the finished product….
A little over exposed, but you get the idea. I read that some people put sound deadening pad on the underside of their hoods to keep engine noise down. I admit, I thought about it for about 10 seconds. But my TSX is already pretty quiet inside, & besides, who doesn’t want to hear when the Vtec kicks in?
Short & sweet guys. The Eagle Eye viewers may have an idea of the next upgrade for the TSX, as it’s in plain sight in the video at the 11:35 mark. It’s visible all around this time.
So I hope everyone has a wonderful & safe weekend & we’ll see you again real soon!
TSX Travels "Have TSX-Will Travel" 
Wow, you get extra credit / brownie points for that under-hood cleanup! That is pretty extreme attention to detail. I’m going to tune in and watch your review of the dash cam. With as much as I’m on the road, I was thinking of getting something similar. Will be anxious to watch and see your experience with yours. Enjoy those fall colors! AZ doesn’t really get seasons…
Thanks! I’m all about the brownie points! Haha.
Engine looking spotless! Also, I noticed when your car was inside your garage that the emergency brake was engaged. Do you always put on the emergency brake when you park your car? I never do unless I park on an incline.
It’s a habit Carlos. I always put the brake on. The transmission is for shifting you through the gears. The brake is for holding the car in place. It’s minimal, but it’s less stress on the transmission. Think manual transmission. You wouldn’t park a manual transmission car in 1st gear and leave it, trusting that the transmission will hold it in place, right? I personally view it the same way. But that’s just me. I’m sure it’s fine on a flat surface. Just habit.
Nice Josh! You know, you can tap into the HomeLink garage system to allow for a cleaner install, especially since this is permanent. Totally up to you.
Also, another nice cheapie upgrade, if you’d like look into changing the wiper arms to the 06-08 TSX wiper arms. They’re more flush with the bottom of the windshield and the wind noise (especially the left wiper) will go down significantly! They are 100% compatible with the 04-05 pre-refresh gen. I think someone on TSX Club did the mod. Let me know if you have any questions! Thanks!
Hey Mo! Thanks for that. Tell me more about the HomeLink thing! I’ll have to research it! I was actually thinking about swapping out the wiper arms. Great minds think alike. Haha.
Great stuff! However, last time I cleaned my engine, my belt began to squeak and would not go away. ended up replacing the belt! It never happened in any other car. I washed many engines and no problems. With the tsx I cannot say so. BTW the belt was an almost new OEM Honda.
Josh, question for you, I am interested in an rdx for the wife. How do you like yours? Is it roomy? we have 2 boys, no need for a super big car, but don’t want to feel tight. Also want the car to be comfy for long trips (should I take one). Is your turbo? How is the MPG?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Gardel, Thanks. So far I haven’t had any noise issues on the belt after cleaning the motor. Fluke for yours maybe? Anyway, we LOVE the RDX! We have the newer body style (2014). They did away with the turbos for 2014. It’s enough room for our needs, we only have Luke. I’ve driven many of the 2010 RDX’s when they were new in the Acura service fleet while my car was in for oil changes & service. They were very nice vehicles with a LOT of pep with the turbos! Very sporty for an SUV! They were also a little smaller then the current body style. I’ll be honest, the turbo was fun as hell. But it started to get old just after a day or 2. The turbo was kicking in all the time. It’s likely due in large part to me being used to the TSX’s non-turbo acceleration, but I didn’t need to be thrown back into my seat every single time I hit the gas. Sure was fun though. I was getting high 20’s to low 30’s MPG when I was driving The Princesses RDX. Another thing, altho being a little bigger than the 2010, I wish ours had a little more room in the back. We don’t need it all the time, but it would be nice to have. We can’t fold the seats down because of Luke’s car seat (unless we want to take it out, & sometimes we have to if we need to) but it’s a hassle. If you have 2 kids, that’s twice the crap I have. The MDX doesn’t have this issue with the fold away 3rd row of seats. Almost twice the room in the back with 3rd row down & TONS with the 2nd row out of the way. Only problem is, it feels like an earth crawler in comparison to the 2010 RDX turbo. So here’s what you gotta ask yourself Buddy… Do I need a family vehicle with enough room to pick up stuff at costco? fit all of our stuff & still be comfortable on long trips with the entire family? OR, do I need something just a smidge bigger that will be fun to drive & a challenge to keep under the speed limit? Something I’ll be driving to work everyday that will get better mileage (If I can get used to the turbo) & keep me engaged behind the wheel? As similar as they seem, they are 2 totally different animals. So once you answer the hard questions, it will be obvious to you which one to go with. Both are great vehicles. I do recommend driving both if you can before you do your serious shopping. Make sure you drive the turbo & non turbo RDX if you can so you can see the difference! Let me know which way you go!
Josh, thanks a lot for your response! We heard some bad stories about the mdx and are leaning towards the 2011 RDX. Seems like a very well built car and issue free, similar to our tsx. So it seem like we will be getting it.
The 2013 is bigger and has much better mpg, however, it doesn’t have good reviews online. It seems like they improved it for 2014, but that one is out of reach for me… Will update once I got the new car!
Ok! Got the 2011 rdx. Car is nice, there’s a lot of room in the back seat (which is very plush and comfy) However, the front seats are as hard as concrete! Hope they get softer over time 😦 Suspension is quite stiff as well. I did notice that on asphalt it rides very nice, but when you have a stretch of highway that is concrete, the car is really harsh and unforgiving. All in all I like it but wish it was somewhat softer or had better notarization. Same goes for our TSX. After driving the volvo I feel that the tsx has the windows open!
The turbo is fun! MPG I got around 25 on hwy. I got the FWD since where I live I don’t need the AWD.
Glad to hear it! Take care of Her!
Basically I am torn between a 2010 RDX and a 2010 MDX… I think the RDX is more dependable and trouble free, the MDX is more beautiful and a little more expensive to maintain..
Hi Clymerdude! I just happened across your blog. Great work! Can you post photos of how you installed the dash cam?
It’s super easy Jon, it’s basically heavy duty 2 sided taped onto your windshield. Just clean the inside of your windshield with some rubbing alcohol where you want to mount it, peel & stick! Easy Peasy!
Hey there. I saw your comment somewhere about navigation DVD and I have an 05 MDX and an 16 MDX and I took the 2016 WHITE DVD from the 16 MDX and it loaded up and works fine in the 05 MDX. While honda/acura might not officially support 05 cars anymore on the new DVD releases they work just fine. I imagine it is the same for TSX. P.S. you can always press 3 buttons and put in the old DVD and it will re load the old software if the new ones does not work or has some bugs. No issues for me though!
Just in case, to downgrade to an older NAV DVD:
1. Go to your car.
2. Turn your car’s ignition to ACC
3. Insert your old navi disk
4. Go back to the driver seat, the display will show some dvd read error, now press and hold “GUIDE” “MENU” and “CANCEL” for approx 5 seconds to bring up the diagnostic menu.
5. Wait another 5 seconds to let it load up completely. Press “version” button on the screen
8. Press “LOAD DISC” to load your old disk back into the system.
Awesome John, Thanks! I’ll give this a try this weekend! Also the next time I swing by the dealership, I see if I can get my hands on a new nav disc & see if that works as well. Thanks for the Advise!