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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  Good, reliable, and economic - 2004 Acura TSX
  By Paul - January 25 - 2:05 am

  Ive had not even the slightest problem with the car over the 15,000 miles that Ive driven it. Perhaps the most is how much the car does with the 2.2 liter 4-cylinder engine you have to goose up the revs a bit to get the car to shoot up an on-ramp, but the engine and automatic transmission respond smoothly and seamlessly. I like the minimalist style (Im an early baby-boomer and dont need the boy-racer image, though I enjoy performance). I also enjoy the gas economy on a mixed highway-street commute, I get perhaps 27-28 MPG and and thus fill the tank only about every 320 miles. The handling is reliable but a bit light it doesnt give much road feel or excitement.

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  Acura RSX - Transmission Issues - 2003 Acura RSX
  By Scott - January 25 - 12:01 am

  I like everything about this car, except for the transmission. The 5 speed grinds often in 2nd and 3rd gear, and over 1900 people have signed a petition regarding this. Honda blames the driver...most of whom have been driving sticks for years. And no other manufacture seems to have a website dedicated to this problem. 3 Trips to the dealer and nothing has been done to fix or improve the problem. They have also not fixed my side airbag light that comes on and stays on more and more often. The Acura rep was rude and insulting of my shifting. The fun to drive factor is gone.

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  Downsized for mileage but not so good... - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Paul Marsteller - January 24 - 6:01 am

  Maybe I am not a mid-size SUV kind of person, having driven something much bigger for years. To save on guess I talked myself into this car, liking it better than the competition. After 4 months I continue to be underwhelmed and am thinking of trading for a Seqioa. I dont recommend this to anyone used to a bigger SUV who is just downsizing for the better mileage. Im getting about 17-19 mpg(70/30 hwy/city). Pluses: Good navigation system. Cons: Where to begin? Clunky and noisy over little bumps lackluster hwy acceleration inside windshield steams up ALL the time (never had this problem before and I live in San Diego!) Sun seems to shine in too much stiff to shift.. tra

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  2004 acura mdx - 2004 Acura MDX
  By fred - January 21 - 12:41 pm

  The MDX is exactly what it purports to be, an extremely reliable, attractive, solid SUV with a well laid out, good looking interior and exterior, good handling, a wonderful driving feel, a first rate navigation system and mediocre gas mileage (but its an SUV so what did you expect!) Id buy another, although Im particularly interested in the new, smaller Acura SUV promised for later this year - so long as its not too small. Typical Honda quality.

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  Ok Car - 1998 Acura RL
  By DaBigDawg - January 18 - 2:36 pm

  This car serverd its purpose for me very well. I was looking for a reliable car, and it was just that. It also gave me much more for my money then any of the european counterparts. If desire or emoition was considered as much as reliabily was, i wouldve bought a bmw or audi. Its that simple, the car is a rock when considering relability, but can be very boring (cadillackish) on long and/or spirited roads.

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  Acura RL 2005 Model - 2005 Acura RL
  By John Owings - January 17 - 6:23 pm

  The 05 RL is a fine automobile. The main complaint I have is on the transmission. The car does not downshift when slowing down to corner. As a result, the car will shudder at low speeds until you begin to accelerate and the transmission and the engine finally get back in sync. I have taken the car back to the dealer several times for the problem, they have installed the new software patch to solve the problem. But it does not work any better. I have called Acuras national service organization and had them review it and they say it is working per "specifications". It was a nice way to say they have blown it on the spec.

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  06 Acura RL - 2006 Acura RL
  By Greg - January 15 - 6:47 pm

  We have owned our 06 RL for about 60 days. What a great car to drive. The driving experience is wonderful, great handling, cornering, performance. The technology continues to amaze me. Navigation system is probably the most extensive on the market. AWD system is great in the snow and rain. Very comfortable seats and ride quality. Only negatives are city fuel economy (highway economy is good) and backseat legroom is a little tight. All the magazines say it needs a V8, but for 90% of everyday driving the 300 HP V6 is plenty of power. Much more comfortable and more features for the money than BMW.

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  Too Many Rattles - 2009 Acura TSX
  By DeAun - January 15 - 1:50 am

  I loved this car when I drove it off the lot 5 months ago. After 1 month I noticed a rattle in the trunk, as if something was loose. It was fixed but then a different noise appeared from the trunk. So far it has been in the shop twice for the trunk rattles. This the trunk rattles are back along with a weird noise coming from the steering column. So this will be the 3rd visit in 5 months to the dealership. I am not a very picky person, and have never taken any car in for noises!!!

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  Beautiful But Hungry Car - 1994 Acura Legend
  By Kamrul - January 14 - 11:02 am

  I bought this car in the summer of 05. The milage was 10800 when I bought it. This car is just awesome. Sharp design and very smooth engine. I dont know of any car this old and still drives so smoothly. However, I had to put a lot of money in it. Soon after I bought it, I had to replace the water pump and master cylinder (for brake) after I experienced over heating of the engine plus seal the leak in the rear differential. I also had to replace the shocks/struts as they were worn out. Well, for now the car is giving very good service. Other than spending so much behind the car Im very with the car. I plan to keep this car until it completely breaks down.

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  Honda makes great cars - 1998 Acura TL
  By Matt - January 13 - 1:17 am

  I like this car alot. Unfortunatly I bought one that had been recked. Despite this problem which I didnt discover untill later the car has been great. It is fun to drive with more than average power. My problems have been consistant with the other reviews. The seal on the driver side window is bad which makes for alot of road noise. The placement of the controls in the interior are the worst of any car. Although stylish all of the luxury features are invisable because of the placement. The last thing would be that repairs are VERY expensive. I spend alot of money at the dealership, who are the only people who know how to work on that car, even oil changes. Trust me.