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:

• 

  Amazing - 2001 Acura CL
  By Sebastian - December 17 - 5:26 pm

  I have 254,681 miles on my CL and it runs like a dream! I bought it used in 2004 and it had just around 100,000 miles on it then. Im not sure what the guy before me did to it in respect to repairs and such but I have not had one problem with the engine since I have had it. I replaced a bearing once and have had some trouble with the electrical... my volume turns up when I turn it down sometimes haha, but its still an amazing car. The stereo is sick! I love the car.

• 

  07 MDX / Tech pkg. - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Don - December 17 - 3:25 pm

  I bought a new MDX in 02 and was very happy with it. The few things I didnt like were resolved in the 07 redesign. For a sport ute Im happy with the ride quality, reduced road noise, seat comfort, power and handling. At 38 K miles the AC quit but was repaired under warranty. The 1st of 4 Acuras to ever go in the shop for a repair. I dont like the vertical spoke at the bottom of the steering wheel where my hands want to rest on long drives. I think its a bargain relative to the price of the BMW or Porsche.

• 

  Really enjoy car thus far - 2010 Acura TL
  By Brian - December 17 - 3:05 pm

  Ive driven my 6-speed manual for over a month now. Love the performance. So much fun to drive. Engine sounds sweet. Im tall (6-5") and no problem with head or leg room. Have had some comfort issues with the headrest still trying to adjust everything. Otherwise the seats "hug" you, which is great. The AWD handles fantastically corners like its on rails. Like the tech system for the most part still learning it. Traffic and weather are nice features. The exterior design is fine despite what the editors say. Like the HID headlights. Gas mileage overall is lower 20s but what do you expect with a 305hp engine - 35mpg? Yeah right. Really like the car and enjoy it immensely.

• 

  Fantastic car - 2006 Acura TSX
  By Matt - December 17 - 10:39 am

  I absolutely love this car. I have only had it 4 months, but I could not be happier. It drives like a dream, much sportier IMO than the TL and is just as comfortable. I love the exterior and interior styling. I drove both the TL and TSX and picked the TSX as it was more familiar to me coming from an Integra and was a bit cheaper with better gas mileage. I made the right choice for me. I do wish the gas mileage was a bit better around town. Kinda low for a 4cyl.

• 

  Loved this car... - 2000 Acura Integra
  By Matt - December 17 - 10:35 am

  I owned two Integras, first a 1995 that I wrecked in college in 1998, then this 2000 that I just totaled a few months ago (not my fault). The car is about perfect for what it is: a sporty car that is supposed to be fun to drive, provide good performance for the price (and tremendous upgradability), and an entry-level "luxury car". It was a blast to drive on short commutes on windy roads and got incredible gas mileage (up near 40 on highway trips), however, it would get very uncomfortable on long drives, at least as I approached 30. :)

• 

  Not what I had hoped for $50,000+ - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Daniel - December 17 - 5:16 am

  It came down to the 2016 Volvo XC90, Honda Pilot, BMW X5, and 2015 Toyota Highlander. We were inclined to get the XC90 for all the safety features & the incredibly cool look. The drive is great, however it felt really risky getting a brand new everything car. The dealer had been saying they would get in Jan, the first ones did not appear till May and it seemed like they were trying to get it right. Visibility was ok. However, loaded with all the safety features it was getting to 60 though it starts at $47 all cars had very confusing option packages & what is considered a safety feature. The test car 3rd row seat seem to have a problem. Then they recalled the vehicle to fix the third row airbags. We keep cars for 10 years & did not want to be going back to the dealer over and over again. The final straw is when they were offering factory maintenance for all models except the XC90 which had 1 year less of the maintenance. On a new model they should not insert more doubt. The BMW drove great but the 3rd row was not big enough for anyone over the age of 12 so had to cross it off. The highlander felt less luxurious but most importantly did not have all the safety systems that we were looking for so we decided to pass. At the time the 2016 was not out, it appears from the reviews that they have added some safety features. We were left with the pilot and the MDX. In the end, the Pilots cheap minivan arm rest on the drivers side along with the bad handling and turning radius on turns made us skip it. Any man over 200 pounds will find there is no way to lean on the arm rest comfortably. The turning handling and radius were a big concern also as on a sharp turn near our house the car veered into the oncoming traffic lane. We did it twice. Finally, unless you get the highest trim the handling is so "trucky" the kids got out and were ready to throw up. This left us with the MDX. We were excited to be moving up in the luxury ranks and were hoping the reliability would be there also. After a bad selling experience we picked up the car and immediately noticed things. There is a paint defect under the clear coat on the roof. There was a sticker there so it was clearly a known problem and they sold to us anyway. We have complained with no response. The hood does not latch unless you slam it. If the hood is already down there is no way to close it without opening it and slamming it. Finally if you look around the car you can see multiple places where the rubber is not flush including the doors & hood. I walked around the lot and would say 50% of the cars had the same problem. Not what we had expected at $50+ . Dealer was no help with these issues, I have read on line about cars getting water on the inside I am hoping that the rubber problems will not cause that. When you go to the car wash & open the back doors there is water in the painted part. As for the drive it is pretty good, the 9 speed transmission is a little bouncy especially as low speeds, but no one is getting dizzy at least. The stop start feature takes getting used to, as if you need immediate power like turning onto a highway of making a left turn onto oncoming traffic, the car will hesitate long enough to make it dangerous. You have to turn the wheel of take your foot of the pedal to start the car & be ready to go, or turn the feature off, however if you do that I cant imagine how much worse the gas mileage it would be. We are getting 15.5 in the city, & its Premium so it has been surprising. Power in the SHAWD is very good & its a quiet ride with good handling. Seat comfort for a large driver is not as good as I would have hoped. I would like the seat to go back more when its high up and it just wont, so you end up sitting kind of low which removes one of the benefits of and SUV. As for the safety features the lane assist works well on a Interstate highways at high speed, not so good in other settings. The automatic follow feature is very sensitive and breaks really hard and speeds up hard, so much so that you cant use it. The break alert system works ok, I wish it would also go on if I am breaking but not hard enough. It will not stop the car automaticlally at low speeds like the volvo. The heads up display in bright sun creates a distracting reflection on the winshield & and the pairing with SIRI does not work well. The NAV is a complete waste of money, I wish I could convert the screen to show my iphone instead. Nav traffic & directions sub par in every way. The voice input is the same as our 08 Accord, very clunky. AC is hard to keep constant, need to adjust all the time. In the end we are very disappointed with what we hoped would be an amazing car. We hope it lives up to the reliability.

• 

  Absolutely LOVE it!!! - 2010 Acura TSX
  By RMS2440 - December 16 - 10:11 pm

  I traded in my old, unreliable, V6 VW Jetta for the new 2010 TSX V6 with Tech Package. A sharp looking car, real fun to drive, comfortable seating and incredible sound system. The Tech Package is an absolute must! (The Blue Tooth Audio function works great with an iPhone!) The power of the V6 is quite an improvement over the 4-cyl. I took both for a test drive, and while the 4-cyl had impressive power, the V6 had a noticeably sportier feel to it. Ive had my TSX for 3 months now, and couldnt be happier.

• 

  Zero maintenance issues - 2009 Acura TSX
  By Love my TSX - December 16 - 2:42 am

  I am comparing the car to a 3 series BMW. And I must now admit I did develop an emotional attachment to the way the BMW drives the TSX just is not as exciting to drive. Here are the little things that do make up for the performance difference - tire pressure monitor, customized lighting settings, customized locking and unlocking of doors, auto reset of trip meter after gasing up, large GPS display, seemless bluetooth integration, nice all around visibility, very comfortable seats (and still sporty), good storage space, better pedal placement than the BMW, Ipod integration, and finally, zero maintenance issues.

• 

  Love it - 2010 Acura TSX
  By gd - December 15 - 10:34 pm

  I traded my old Porsche in for an Acura TSX Tech with the 6 cylinder engine. The front wheel drive took a while to get used to but no problem. The car has plenty of zip and is very comfortable. The stereo is very good and its nice to be able to really hear my music. Bottom line is, while its no Porsche (there is no substitute) it is a fun, sporty car that is quick, corners well and has room for my golf clubs. Love the car.

• 

  Not a Honda, and thats a good thing - 2010 Acura TL
  By Bob - December 15 - 1:08 pm

  Just purchased this vehicle after several test drives. The audio is fantastic--best stock system Ive heard. The AWD platform lacks some of the RWD jazz the G37x does, but youll appreciate that FWD bias in the winter. Also, the Super-Handling is otherworldly. Just try to cause understeer--you cant do it. It out-cornered every other car I drove. I test drove all its competitors, and none of them achieve the balance of value, performance, comfort, features, and reliability that this car does. The torque hits max at c.5k RPM, so this is more of a highway driver than a drag racer. However, in sport mode, you can row the 5AT yourself, and see how fast you hit the power band