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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  Second Trans Bites the Dust - 2001 Acura MDX
  By Disgusted with Honda - March 8 - 4:00 pm

  I just sold my MDX to a dealer for $4,000.00 after buying it for $24,000.00 just 5 years ago. After two transmissions, one computer, and a couple of sensors, I must admit I am through with Honda! I bought it for reliability thinking I would get the regular 200,000+ miles experience and barely got 100,000. This would have been my second transmission in 2 years if not for selling it off. This is disgraceful for an auto manufacturer that boasts quality and charges exorbitantly for it but doesnt deliver. I basically enjoyed the car. It was reliable. Ill miss it. But not the sorry crappy transmission problems. I hope Acura/Honda corrected this problem.

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  Worst that ever had - 2010 Acura TSX
  By CoolGuyNY - March 8 - 10:57 am

  My problem is that after 30-45 minutes of driving in cold, my tsx starts blowing cold air from side vents and hot air from the bottom ones. So my legs are sweating and upper body is cold. I tried all possible combination (auto, ac off, etc, etc) and the same result. If Im raising the temp, its just blowing harder but the same temp. Took it to a dealer and the saying that is how it suppose to work? Who knows a good lawyer? Cant believe that people arent talking about it on TV

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  Worst Car - 4 things that wrong with it - 2010 Acura TSX
  By Bell - March 8 - 10:18 am

  This car is the worst car that ever had. 1a. GPS doesnt have the information about speed limit(It is nothing like TomTom or Garmin) 1c. when for example you search for “Wendy’s” it gives you Wendy’s that 2000 miles away 2. Microphone. 2a. This is my 3rd car with Bluetooth, and this is the worst Microphone ever. People hear you very bad it’s like you on a very bad speakerphone. 2b. There is a 3-4 seconds delay between when you answer the phone and people starting to hear you. When it’s cold outside the climate control blows Hot air to the bottom and Cold air to the front vents (and there is no way to close front vents even on manual “floor only” mode still blows air from front side vent

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  Fun to Drive, but poor MPG city - 2007 Acura TSX
  By G - March 6 - 11:40 pm

  Now on year 3 of owning this car, Just a great car. Fun to drive, quick acceleration, especially at highway speed. Very ergonomic. Super reliable. BUT...like previous reviews, it is true city MPG is poor. Average consistently 19 MPG in city, there is an on board cpu that monitors it. Highway is great, 30+. Cant figure out the wide discrepancy between city and highway. I have also experienced steering wheel vibrations.

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  Update afetr 6500 miles - 2009 Acura MDX
  By JSC3605 - March 6 - 2:40 pm

  Love the SUV. Just got back from a trip to Pittsburgh. Got over 24 MPG on the highway. This machine is very quite, fast and has lots of room. Great SUV for the money...:)

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  Best car Ive ever owned - 2006 Acura TSX
  By Mr Gone - March 5 - 10:18 pm

  Honda (and Acura) vehicles have always felt like home to me. I had been away for awhile but when I decided to get a new car last summer, I chose the TSX. I dont think you can buy a better looking, driving, or better equipped car for the money. The car has nearly everything I could want in features, the handling is very nimble, it is supremely comfortable on long or short trips, I really like the interior and exterior styling. The torque off the line is a little low but when you get the engine in the zone it pulls hard. The navi system is great, the best part is that its a Honda at heart and should run forever. My car as 53K miles on it and it still looks, feels, and even smells new.

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  Fantastic value for the $$$ - 2010 Acura TSX
  By nyccarguy - March 5 - 7:59 pm

  I purchased our 2010 Acura TSX TECH as part of the cash for clunkers program over the summer. It will eventually replace my wifes 2007 BMW X3 when the lease is up at the end of July. I really like the sharp, exterior styling. The interior is gorgeous and well put together. I love the ride & handling. The ride is comfortable without being plush. Put your foot down and the TSX zings all the way up to its 7000 RPM redline. The TSX is a terrific value. It gets great gas mileage. Id recommend it to anybody.

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  Awesome - 2010 Acura TSX
  By AIH - March 4 - 5:53 pm

  I just got rid of my 2006 BMW 325i for this and dont regret it at all. The interior blows away any 1-5 Series BMW. Ride quality is amazing and the price right now for one is great! Look at spending around 26,900 for one!

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  Total Satisfaction - 2010 Acura TSX
  By Terry - March 4 - 3:01 pm

  I had narrowed my choice down to the BMW 328i or the TSX and after driving both cars the choice was fairly easy, with my wife in agreement. First, let me say that unless you are into racing or hot rodding, you dont need the 6 cyl. and you will get the bonus of much better gas mileage. So far I have averaged 27.6 mpg. The car is loaded with features, so you dont really need to buy any options and the price is great for the luxury level. My only complaint is the trunk is access with any bag larger than a "carry-on", but is deep once you get past the opening.

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  Nice little car - 2006 Acura TSX
  By John - March 4 - 1:42 pm

  I recently purchased a used 2006 TSX, trading in my 2005 Nissan Altima. My initial impressions are that the build quality is very good, Im actually getting better gas mileage than the 4cyl Nissan engine, and the car is fun to drive. There are a few convenience features that the Altima had that the TSX strangely are lacking. Kinda weird you cant view total mileage and outside temp at the same time. Have to hit the unlock button to open drivers side door, and the sunroof controls are in a crazy place. I still find myself reaching up to open the sunroof only to realize the button is down on the bottom side of the dash. No auto headlights?