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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  Acura MDX - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Bart - September 14 - 3:13 am

  Very fun to drive in comparison to my prior Land Cruiser. Handles the road, curves and all, very nimbly. Touch screen controls somewhat cumbersome to use while driving.

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  Enough is Enough - 2006 Acura RSX
  By Enough is enough - September 11 - 2:31 am

  500 miles and the transmission has been replaced and I am still having the problem. I love the car but this is just insane!! You would think that Acura would recognize that this is a lemon and just replace the car, but it looks like Im going to just go through the loops. I have spent less than 24 hours with my car since I bought it two weeks ago. This is an extreme case I know, but that still doesnt make my car safe and reliable. Acura use to be known for the craftsmanship of there products.. I hope that isnt going away with time. My advice wait and see if there is a recall or something before buying.

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  You cant go wrong. - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Hunter - September 7 - 6:51 pm

  Its all included. When comparing to the others, consider total cost. Moonroof, heated, 8 way pwr seats, inter. wipers, XM radio, OnStar, leather, memory seats/mirrors...its all included in the Touring pkg. Nav is great AND Nav gives you back-up camera. Engine is quiet, smooth, tranny is seamless, and the confidence in high- speed interstate ramp turns and winding roads is fantastic - just a terrific stance. Good sight lines. Its not a drop-dead head- turner, but thats the Acura conservative style. The up-side is that everything is solid and proven before it goes into the car. The "A" badge does draw some ohhhhhhhhhs. (Try the gold badges).

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  Traded 2005 TL in on a 2005 G35 - 2005 Acura TL
  By El Zaphod - September 6 - 9:06 pm

  Three weeks ago I bought a new 2005 Acura TL. It was beautiful inside and out but it drove badly. Torque steer, Brakes pulled, vibration in pedal and steering wheel at speed. I just traded it in on a 2005 G35. I love the G35. It drives properly. (keep in mind I have been driving a Mecedes E Class for the last ten years so my idea of properly is RWD) I find that the G35 drives a lot like my My Mercedes but it has a lot more power and is more noisy. anyway, I love the G35 so far.

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  my car - 1997 Acura CL
  By KINO - September 5 - 9:03 pm

  Love my 3.0 CL. I wish it was a manual tranny though. Fuel consumption is much more efficient than my last car. Always a soft smooth ride, handling is great, the look is slick. Just love this car and now that Im going on 150k miles, it stills performs like it was new.

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  Nice Car - 2005 Acura TSX
  By TJ - September 4 - 2:23 pm

  Although I fell in love w/all the luxury that came standard in the car, I was not impressed with the body style. I added a spoiler and tint and was very impressed. The only problem is the handling. The steering is very hard to turn. I think it is very impressive for a 4-cyl lux car.

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  Expensive Parts - 1998 Acura SLX
  By NH SLX - September 4 - 10:53 am

  Until now, my SLX has held up very well and I planned to keep it for another five years. However, the crossover pipe from the head just went bad (small hole formed) and the cost of parts is too high, $3500 worse case if both pipes need to be replaced. Reason - limited supply/demand not many SLXs were made so parts are expensive. Ive never seen this pipe go bad on other cars I recommend against buying a used SLX spend your money on an MDX - I wish I had. I loved my SLX but it was a mistake made by Acura for which SLX owners will suffer.

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  Great car when its not in the shop - 2006 Acura RSX
  By physast - September 3 - 2:49 pm

  I have had this car for less than a week and have put no more than 400 miles on the car and it has already had the transmission replaced and is in the shop again to fix the same problem. I realize this is an extreme case but it doesnt make things easier on me. I havent had time to drive the car for fun except back and forth to the dealer to be fixed. Acura is working with me but in a extreme case like this they could replace my car or authorize the dealer to buy it back since it is obviously a lemon. My opinion. Wait to buy the new 2006 RSX till Acura can prove to stand by the cars and recognize a lemon and replace it. Acura cant catch every lemon but I shouldnt be punished for it!

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  Great Decision - 2005 Acura MDX
  By left1 - September 3 - 12:01 pm

  Before deciding on the MDX we checked out a lot of SUVs. What sold us was the Honda/Acura quality and dependablity as well as the feel of this SUV. We have had 9 Honda/Acura products and this one is great! Handles better than a lot of cars and rides better than most as well. We took it on a 12 hour trip and were very pleased. We have not had any problems with the MDX. The longer we have this SUV the more we like it!

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  Happy with MDX , But Not Mileage - 2005 Acura MDX
  By barry - September 2 - 11:06 am

  Overall I am quite happy with my MDX. More fun to drive than my other car, Audi A8. Incredibly roomy inside, especially the cargo area for an SUV that is not that big on the outide. Stereo sounds great. Have not had any big problem with the brakes, except a little slow/sloppy when fully loaded with 5 people and a load of cargo. Big disappointment is gas mileage. One of the reasons I bought the MDX is because I wanted better gas mileage than my previous guzzling LX470 - but mileage is way below advertised, and not much better than the much bigger and heavier V8 powered LX470. Nav system also disappointing. Interior quality also a bit chintzy for an expensive car.