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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  TL vs BMW3 - 2005 Acura TL
  By Cooper - August 27 - 6:40 am

  Not as agile as a BMW 3 series but very powerful. The TL has many more standard features than a BMW 3 at a much lower price point. While not as much fun to drive as the 3 series, it offers a better value. The interior is nothing short of outstanding and is extremely comfortable. A really excellent car.

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  Loving it so far - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Greg B - August 27 - 1:53 am

  Have been "in love" since seeing first RDX on highway more than a month ago. Picked mine up (black, tan interior) last week, and have been smiling ever since. Cannot recommend it enough.

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  Very nice rig - 2008 Acura MDX
  By john - August 26 - 9:23 pm

  I now have over 30k miles and have had a good experience with this SUV. Ive had a Lexus GX, ML 500 and this vehicle compares very well. Not as powerful but gets the job done very well. It handles awesome and once the rpms are up there it rips. A bit anemic off idle though. I tow a snowmobile trailer and the dealer tells me I need new shocks which are covered under warranty thankfully. Id recommend this vehicle.

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  Total Package! - 2002 Acura MDX
  By Tiger Lady - August 26 - 2:00 am

  My MDX is everything I had expected! During the business week, its perfect for taking colleagues and clients to lunch. On the weekends, its perfect for hauling my two large labrador retrievers, golf clubs and bicycle! The MDX is definitely a total package.

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  No more Beemer - 2009 Acura TSX
  By Love my TSX - August 25 - 1:08 am

  I just made the move from BMW 3 series to Acura and I am very happy with the decision. This Acura drives like a dream and I look forward to starting it up every day. The standard features along with the Tech package give you almost every advanced feature imaginable. The performance is almost comparable to the BMW (steering is a bit remote on the highway compared to a BMW) and is much more reliable (also, less expensive to fix - it is a Honda after all). I researched cars for quite some time before buying and could not find another car that combined luxury, performance, tech features, and style as well as the Acura TSX!

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  Great Car, but a bit to to Improve - 2006 Acura TL
  By ATM - August 24 - 3:26 pm

  I really did my research before I purchased the TL. The Acura TL is the BEST combination of performance (2nd overall), design (1st), and value (1st). It has a sports suspencion so you will feel bumps, accelerates very quickly and has great balance around turns.

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  Dont Hesitate - 2005 Acura RL
  By DocK - August 24 - 5:53 am

  We own only four-wheel-drive vehicles (95 Jeep, 00 Passat, 04 Tahoe). By far, this is the best 4/AWD vehicle we have owned, but... in automatic mode, the car tends to stay in first gear a bit too long. The car does not drive like a front-wheel-drive vehicle but I have noticed a small amount of front and slide when I make a hard turn from a standstill on wet pavement. My Passat did not. The interior layout is very sensible for the basic features but it takes several hours to figure out all of the intricacies and take full advantage of the technology on board. Without the monstrously large Britax child seats in the rear seats, we could easily fit five. With them, only 4/small 5th.

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  A True Luxury SUV - 2009 Acura MDX
  By Mibrego - August 24 - 1:07 am

  Now over the initial new- vehicle "crush," Im still very impressed with what this car is capable of. Lives up to the designation "luxury-performance SUV." I have subjected this vehicle to all kinds of conditions: towing a 4000 lb camper through 60-mile per hour gusts, plowing through white-outs on snow- covered roads in the Sierras, carrying three kayaks over dirt roads and sandy beaches. In all these adverse conditions, this vehicle kept its cool and did its job with grace, power, and control. It kept my family of five comfortable and safe with its arsenal of super-handling features. All of this, for a good $3000 below that of competitors with comparable features. You do the math.

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  Back to Acura - 2006 Acura TL
  By Fred - August 23 - 6:46 am

  Bought this car after much research on features and value compared to BMW, Nissan, Toyota, Infinity. Beautiful ride for the money with a comfortable interior. I get many compliments on the style and color (Royal Blue Pearl). So many features I am still learning.

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  2004 Acura TL 3.2 Automatic - 2004 Acura TL
  By DCWGOLF - August 22 - 2:00 am

  I am extremely impressed with my 2004 TL. I also own a 2003 BMW 530 and find myself wanting to spend the most time in the TL. The cabin is larger and more luxurious with a knock out sound system and great straight line performance. The BMW wins on overall handling and solid feel. The bottom line the BMW doesnt come close to justifying the price differential.