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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  Decent Car, but overall, disappointed - 2005 Acura TSX
  By TSX26 - October 11 - 12:35 am

  After putting nearly 8000 miles on my TSX, I am less than pleased with the amount of problems I have had. The moonroof was rattling, after a second visit to the dealership, they put a tape around the sunroof, which helped, but it is rattling again. CD changer was replaced because it was skipping. Paint seems to chip easily. Fuel economy is decent, however, since it requires premium gas, it does add up. Power is just ok at initial get-go, you can really tell its a 4 cylinder. However, the engine is smooth and does handle well on the freeway. If I had to go back and remake my decision, I would have gone with the Accord EXV6 coupe (more power and reliability).

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  Do not trust the review, test drive it - 2009 Acura TSX
  By haidongh - September 30 - 10:53 am

  We only considered Lexus IS or ES and TSX. We have owned 2009 TSX for 2 weeks. It is bigger than IS, which is a good thing and a bad thing. We bought TSX, mainly for the interior. My wife does not like the exterior, but I really like it. The car is the right size for us, but maybe too big for people who need to navigate through tight garage. It is the just the best value for entry level luxury sedan, you get a lot for the money. You have to test drive it to know if you like it or not. EPS saves power.

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  Acura MDX - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Jim - September 28 - 1:54 am

  Everything is great but the GAS mileage. Only average 17mpg. Less than I expected.

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  Growing Out of My RSX - 2003 Acura RSX
  By luotodm - September 27 - 3:20 pm

  I found a brand new 2003 still in the showroom in July 2004. Dealer took $4k off, and I couldnt pass it up. Absolute blast to drive on curvey roads and highways alike. Suspension is tight (but bumpy at times), and enough power to pass anyone. Hatchback with folding seats has been life-saver. The clutch requires extra leg-work and can give you a cramp after awhile. Also you have to get the clutch all the way to the floor, no room for mistakes, or youll grind gears. Get the auto if doing a lot of stop-and-go. Had trouble with my starter, and was replaced after 4th visit. Perfect car for recent grad. But I need more cargo space, and 4 doors would be nice.

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  Newest Car I Ever Owned - 2003 Acura TL
  By Ronnie - September 27 - 1:26 am

  Bought the car for $17,500 with 78,000 miles on it. Most of those miles are highway miles to NY and Pennsylvania from Newport News, VA. Car is great, has never let us down. Acura performs all the maintenance on this vehicle. Dealer performed the 3rd gear oil mod recall. No problems with the transmission ever. Car is stock as it came off the lot TL-S w/nav, silver.

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  TypeS Excellent value for the price - 2004 Acura RSX
  By ran - September 26 - 10:00 am

  While the exterior and interior leave much to the imagination the performance is undeniable. For a car at this price it is excellent and you know you have Hondas reputation of reliability behind you.

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  2003 Type S TL - 2003 Acura TL
  By Azeem - September 21 - 4:25 pm

  I bought this car for an excellent price with about 60K miles on it from a local BMW dealership. I did the research before I bought the car and knew that I very well could be facing transmission problems but bought it anyway after I learned that I am covered by warranty till atleast 100k. The car is extremely sharp looking and beastly under the hood. When using steptronic the engine releases some mean horses. The stereo people have complained about but I must say, I think it takes some time to break the speakers in to sound great. Love the Xenons and the automatic tilting side view during reverse. The trans definitely seems to be showing some issues but not worried, the warrantee will cover

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  bye bye VW - 2006 Acura RSX
  By Alex - September 20 - 2:08 pm

  I bought this car after a 3 year lease on a VW Jetta 1.8T. I had so many problems with that car so I decided to turn my back on VW. This car offers a fun ride which will make you smile almost everytime you drive. It first really buttoned down in the corners and has loads of grip. Even though the torque output is modest all you need to do is take this car up to redline once and you will be sold. I mean this car (6.1) is quicker than a base porsche boxter(6.5)and for $20,000 less. The engine is smooth and refined and the shifter is crisp and accurate. I have not driven a car with a shifter that is as smooth at this price. This car also gets great gas mileage.

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  Love the Car! - 2005 Acura RL
  By tegman - September 16 - 7:19 pm

  Although I bought my RL in July of 05, Im still finding new reasons to love it here in Sept 05. The styling is great, the interior is 1st rate and the amenities are top notch, i.e., the steering wheel tilts up when the engine is turned off to allow free access out of the car. Although the city gas mileage is not great (I get about 22mpg freeway driving), I know its because I have heavy foot and demand performance from my vehicles. When I hit the gas to go around a suddenly braking car in front of me I need my car to respond and the RL does, admirable. Also, the real time traffic on the NAVI is great for my commuting in the mornings. I am a satisfied customer.

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  2007 Acura MDX - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Vic J. - September 16 - 4:30 am

  Very nice vehicle overall, but not outstanding. Acceleration (off-the-line) is not very strong and feels only very slightly better than my previous 02 MDX. Once it gets going (around 3500 RPM) the engine comes to life. Dont see all the hype about SuperHandling-AWD - much better than the old model, but not any better than others such as the new BMW X5. Ride comfort great with the Active dampers! and front seats are excellent! - but fuel economy is a big disappointment - only getting around 12mpg city and 18 mpg highway at 75mph. (I have about 1650 miles on my MDX.)