Overview & Reviews

Acura is an upscale automaker known for offering cars with impressive levels of luxury, features and performance. It's come a long way in a short time, however, as the history of Acura is relatively brief. Parent company Honda introduced the Acura brand to the U.S. market in 1986 in an effort to create a separate luxury division for its products. At first, it was just a two-car show: the Legend sedan, which was the first true Japanese luxury car sold in America, and the Integra sport coupe and sedan.

Though essentially a marketing creation for the North American market, the Acura brand was immediately successful. Consumers liked the features, performance and upscale image of Acura cars, along with the fact that Acuras were backed by Honda's reputation for reliability and low ownership costs. In 1991, Acura introduced its crown jewel: the all-aluminum NSX sports car, which offered performance close to that of other exotic cars while undercutting them in price.

As Acura's product line grew in the 1990s, however, the company struggled a bit. Some of its products were duds, and it risked alienating loyal customers when it replaced the Legend and Integra names with alphanumeric designations. The company jumped on the hot luxury SUV bandwagon in the mid-'90s with the SLX. Unfortunately, the SLX was just a rebadged version of an Isuzu SUV, and its quality did not match customers' expectations.

For the new millennium, Acura revamped its product range. An all-new SUV called the MDX debuted, sporting numerous family-friendly features, including a third-row seat. The Integra was replaced with the RSX sport coupe, and an all-new entry-level sport sedan called the TSX was introduced after that. A complete redesign of its most popular model, the midsize TL sedan, followed, as did a redesign of its flagship RL luxury sedan.

By mid-decade the NSX was gone, but Acura filled out its model lineup with the street-performance-oriented RDX compact crossover, the TSX wagon and the ZDX, a fastback-styled crossover that placed unique styling over practicality. Today Acura is still trying to find its ideal niche but there's no denying the quality of Acura's vehicles, nor their appealing mix of performance, technology and value.

User Reviews:

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  2014 MDX Defect Noticed - 2014 Acura MDX
  By tiffany18 - August 24 - 10:30 am

  Hello Everyone, Tiffany Here in Canada. I purchased a new 2014 MDX two weeks ago. There is a noticeable defect with the rubbber weather strip around the windows of the rear passenger doors. There is a point on the 3 oclock position of the window seal that bends roughly 30 degrees. At that point, the seal is popping out. Looks ugly and water can get inside. I examined all three 2014 MDXs on the dealership lot, they all had this same issue. Dealership doesnt know how to fix it, and Honda Canada is asking the design engineer in U.S. THe 2013 & 2012 MDX have the same 30 degree angle, but no such problem. Im asking all affected owners to ask HONDA to fix this.

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  Great car, Tech package a disapointment - 2014 Acura RDX
  By retired01 - August 23 - 5:50 am

  In my opinion, the RDX is as capable as a 5-passenger SUV can get. Drivetrain is outstanding, ride and handling are very good, but if you want GPS, get a Garmin. Youll save money and prevent road rage. The tech package is designed to eliminate use, except by drivers voice, if the vehicle is in motion. This prevents use by the passenger/co-pilot unless the driver is told to "say OK", "say two", "say next", etc. and the voice recognition has difficulty with my voice. I say "two", it gives me a list of nearby "schools". If you frequently are a vacationing couple, save your marriage, skip the tech package.

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  Downsized from MDX - 2014 Acura RDX
  By zoomacura - August 19 - 3:33 pm

  I just downsized from a 2011 MDX to 2014 RDX AWD and am happy with my choice. Getting about 27mpg in RDX vs. 19mpg in MDX. A little disappointed about losing SH-AWD but a good trade off for fuel economy. New RDX looks sharper and feels roomier than its predecessor (my brother has the older model), handles corners nicely, quiet and luxurious interior, and new keyless ignition start is a plus that wasnt available in the 2011 MDX. My biggest and perhaps only complaint is that the E-break is too close to my leg! Smashed my shin into it about three times in the past three weeks that Ive driven this car. Overall, a spritely and spirited vehicle.

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  So far so good - 2014 Acura MDX
  By tlsb2001 - August 18 - 8:29 pm

  1900 miles so far. Comfortable on the road. Have had two problems: (1) a rattle coming from the right front (another reviewer mentioned an "annoying sound coming from the glove box...") and (2) stereo control issues. They fixed the rattle -- something related to packing and the front right strut. Stereo issue remains. Sometimes when the iPod is plugged in and I try to change from one playlist to another, it puts up a message: "Generating voice recognition commands..." I have to turn the car off to get rid of the message. Acura has a bulletin about problems occurring when the iPod is not plugged in all the way. Ive confirmed my iPod is securely connected.

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  nice car - 2014 Acura RLX
  By gman124 - August 11 - 8:33 pm

  all in all, a very nice car. but not sure if i would lease it again given the opportunity

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  Transmission - 2001 Acura CL
  By alexei2 - August 9 - 11:34 pm

  Bad transmissions with the Hondas and Acuras. Heating is the major failure for transmissions.

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  Better Than It Looks - 2014 Acura RLX
  By texastom2 - August 7 - 7:48 pm

  Coming out of my first Acura a 12 TL AWD, I looked at everything else in its class. My wife got the 13 Lexus GS 350, which is very nice, but I needed more testosterone. I was very surprised when I test drove the RLX as most of the reviews by the experts were average at best.. It is a perfect fit for me. Bigger inside than my TL and the Lexus 350. Lots of room in the back seat. The control panel is much more intuitive than my TL. The ride is plenty smooth, the transmission feels great shifting in all gears, A/C is perfect. I really enjoy driving it. I leased it and did not know until I was handed the keys it comes with a great Roadside Assistance Pkg. basically covers everything.

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  unbeatable - 2001 Acura Integra
  By cglaw - August 3 - 4:02 am

  I have over 214,000 on my gsr and it still manages to just keep on going! I drive it hard and I admit it takes a few years to get used to having to push it to the limit, (at least for me, Im 42 years old) but the car never fails to drive hard and be as reliable as heck! Small things are starting to go on some of the switches, everything works, but I have put some miles on it and it always starts in the morning and keeps on going. GREAT car for your teen to start driving on. I only wish the had made them longer.

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  UPDATED REVIEW w/MILEAGE DATA - 2014 Acura MDX
  By joeag8 - August 2 - 6:38 am

  Now that I have 1700 miles on the car, I thought I would provide an updated review to include mileage data. My overall driving habits fall around 65% highway, 35% city, and I currently average a total of 23.9 MPG. After 22,000 miles on my 2012 MDX, the best I was able to achieve was 18.6 MPG, so this is a huge improvement. Many of us have seen reviews with significant MPG stated -heres why. The 2014 has a robust online computer that not only provides total MPG, but per trip MPG as well. I drove from Central NJ to Newark, Delaware twice last week (78 miles each way, 80% highway, 20% city) and averaged 30.9 and 30.7 MPG on each trip, which is impressive for this type of vehicle.

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  Quality build but lacks technology updates - 2014 Acura RDX
  By donsmy - August 1 - 1:52 pm

  I recently purchased a 2014 RDX with the Technology package. The Build quality and power are very good. - is the steering wheel extra small? I am extremely disappointed with the technology of the vehicle - even after purchasing the technology package. Big rip off. the GPS is the same hard to use out dated GPS they have been installing since 2004. Hello Acura!! Has anyone there ever used an iPhone?!. You cant use the steering wheel controls to activate Siri. You can upload your songs to the hard drive but its just a big list of music files - you really cant select songs or artist. Very disappointing.