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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  1.5 Year Update - 2003 Acura RSX
  By S_T_S - June 29 - 2:00 am

  Ive had my RSX-S for about 18 months and found it to be very reliable and great on gas (26-33) even if you thrash it. Great interior design and the hatchback provides loads of space. However, some things are starting to annoy me: The seats are great for holding you place around corners, but get painful after about 1 hour as they are hard and flat, Third gear can be hard to engage, The engine basically makes little power until 6K and after that gets really loud, Stock tires squeal around even moderate speed turns.

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  Fun & Sporty with Elegance & Quality - 2004 Acura RSX
  By California Girl - June 27 - 2:00 am

  I owned a Toyota Corolla GTS for 19 years and 300,000 miles and was hoping to buy another Toyota but the Celica rode like a bucket. Researched for two months and this is the best car for what you get. Many wonderful amenities and its just plain fun to drive, plus the styling is elegant for a sports car.

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  Typcially Excellent if uninspiring - 2003 Acura TL
  By Joersc - June 24 - 2:00 am

  Gas mileage is poor, averaging 15-16 MPG in city driving. Ergonomics are good unless you are over 62" when front seat headroom becomes prime real estate. Seats are firm but unsupportive - downright uncomfortable on long hauls and persistent squeaking in both front seats. Sound system is nice on paper (6 disc CD changer in dash a real plus) but 4 speakers with a so-called "sub-woofer" is PUNY. Cannot upgrade without changin whole system - speakers are 1 ohm and aftermarket speaks are not compatible. Marvelously capable, but the FUN FACTOR is missing completely.

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  Best Car I have Owned - 2005 Acura TL
  By TampaMike - June 23 - 3:10 pm

  I waited over a year to buy the TL as I avoid 1st year redesigns. No car is perfect, but the TL is the best car I have ever owned. I have always bought fully optioned cars, but the TLs extensive features overwhelmed me. I still do not make use of all of the features. Admittedly, I have spent hours in the garage learning my TL, as well as admiring the wonderful stereo. By the critics, this is not the best handling in its class (being FWD), but the TL far exceeds my driving characteristics. Acura has done an amazing job of balance here with performance, features, power, relative efficiency and Ultra Low Emmision Vehicle (ULEV) and all for an unmatchable price.

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  Dazzled, amazed, and absolutely giddy! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Speedgirlie - June 23 - 2:00 am

  I found the RSX to be very unassuming. It didnt look excessively showy or overly flashy. I really liked that, kind of like a wolf in sheeps clothing... I swore Id never own a Honda product, even though they have an excellent reputation. An Acura was as close as I could bring myself to a Honda. The car is a blast to drive, it makes even the most mundane errand enjoyable. Insurance is high on this car, but when you factor in the shear delight you will get from driving the RSX, it suddenly seems worth the added expense!

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  Good pickup 140Hp Mini Power Pack - 1992 Acura Integra
  By kiran - June 15 - 2:00 am

  I have purchased this car from private party when it was 62000 and no it has 89000 still runs good and in excellent condition, Good for students, daily commuters. reliability and handling is awsome. the only problem is mileage, ofcourse we cannot expect 40Mpg from a 1.8L 140Hp engine, but when compared with other cars with same year and size. This car is fun to drive and excellent Pickup, even Automatic car can like a 5-Speed Manual car. I am verymuch excited to drive and this is an excellent machine.

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  Comfortable ride, absolutely horrible GPS system - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Ellen - June 10 - 6:55 am

  Overall, the car rides comfortably and reliably, handles well in all weather conditions. My only two complaints: the transmission is a bit sluggish (took it in and they did an update, but dont really notice a difference) and the GPS is absolutely horrible. I am very disappointed that, after spending $50k on a brand new car - a car where, btw, the GPS is not standard (included in the technology package, which I have) - the GPS is utterly substandard. Not only is it slow, it takes 5 minutes to enter in an address, and half the time it is just plain WRONG. Very frustrating. I have to use my Garmin because it is so worthless. Acura owes better to its customers.

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  Not a repeat buyer. - 2004 Acura RSX
  By smplyme - June 10 - 2:00 am

  It will not perform without premium fuel. It also lacks in the handling department, having too much weight in the front along with sloppy steering at highway speeds, not allow you to push the car as much as it begs to be pushed. The button disabling the air conditioner is known as the turbo boost button. --It is extremely sluggish when the AC is on.

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  Acura Vigor - 1992 Acura Vigor
  By WendyB - June 9 - 2:00 am

  We drove our Vigor for nearly 10 years, then kept it for another 2 years as our extra car. It was almost never in the shop, and I dont recall it ever leaving me stranded. It was peppy, handled well, and got great gas mileage. It was a great car to drive and was very reliable. I would recommend any Acura based on our experience with this one.

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  Luxury SUV at a price - 2005 Acura MDX
  By dl - June 6 - 6:06 am

  Having driven the MDX for several months, Ive found it to be a wonderful experience. Ive already taken it up to Lake Tahoe several times with no problems. It has plenty of power up the mountain with 4 power & equipment and ample braking power. My friends are impressed with its roominess. Being my first SUV, I looked at both the Lexus & MDX. I chose the MDX for its 3rd row seating. Theres just so much more room on an MDX and not everything is an option. One thing to keep in mind, Acura recommends using premium gas for the MDX.