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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  Smooth - 2001 Acura TL
  By syeaton - January 20 - 2:00 am

  The Acura TL is an excellent blend of characteristics I was looking for. GOod handling, acceleration, quiet ride, good fuel economy, and performance. Its stylish and ye not pushy.

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  The Champaign of Beers - 2004 Acura RL
  By Warren Burns - January 12 - 2:00 am

  This vehicle has provided us with a definite taste of luxury ... without the price. The 3.5 RS is not a sports sedan, but neither does it take a back seat in any kind of traffic. It definitely leads the pack most of the time. I am very satisfied with this vehicle so far.

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  Pleased, but engineering lags BMW - 2003 Acura MDX
  By Castanha - January 12 - 2:00 am

  Generally very pleased with my MDX after six months. It has met expectations. Excellent performance and handling for this class of vehicle. It does fall short on a number of fronts to my BMW540i. Significantly more engineering, refinement and execution in Bimmer sun roof, doors, heated seats, and auto wipers, for example. A lot less wind noise from open Bimmer sun roof, better controls, and cleaner less "industrial" look from interior when open, for example BMW auto wipers that perform much more consistently than on Acura. Also, get some excessively wind noise (off roof rack, I think) at around 70 mph.

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  Huge Miles/Perfect Car - 2002 Acura TL
  By cadillacman - January 11 - 2:00 am

  I drive over 40,000 miles each year. In the past I have driven large Cadillacs and Lincolns. This TL costs thousands less, has every convenience I used in the other cars, and costs thousands less. And yet, this is the most comfortable car I have ever driven over many miles. Transmission went out at 48,0000, Acura has sent out a recall...Dealer replaced it. Dealer service has been exceptional (Norm Reeves).

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  DuncanReview - 2002 Acura TL
  By DuncanAcura - January 7 - 2:00 am

  Problems with front brake rotors Squeaking Tires replaced at 42,000 so not bad. Unfortunately, the original Michelins were poor on wet surfaces Very reliable car, but not as fun as I had hoped. Poor depreciation -- Resale value most certainly not as high -- Acura offered me $16,000 after 2.5 years of owning this $31,500 car. 50% depreciation?

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  will go forever - 1994 Acura Integra
  By sacintegra - January 6 - 2:00 am

  Ive had this vehicle for 10 yrs and 130000 mi. It wonr break down! One new radiator and a clutch master cylinder - thats all. Im running on the original clutch plate. As much as Ive outgrown it (ten years, a wife and two kids) - it wont break down - so I cant replace it.

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  TL? - 2004 Acura TL
  By TL? - January 2 - 6:06 pm

  The leathers seats wear to easily. My car is under 12k and the seats looks like 30k. The manual version at times seems hard to drive getting off first gear. Not as smooth as the 3 series that I owned. Dont get me wrong, the car is awesome, except for these flaws. I am considering getting rid of it for the 2006 BMW 3 series. I guess I can not get use to the front wheel drive, so I will probably switch back to uncomparable 3 series.

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  TL? - 2004 Acura TL
  By TL? - January 2 - 5:50 pm

  The leathers seats wear to easily. My car is under 12k and the seats looks like 30k. The manual version at times seems hard to drive getting off first gear. Not as smooth as the 3 series that I owned. Dont get me wrong, the car is awesome, except for these flaws. I am considering getting rid of it for the 2006 BMW 3 series. I guess I can not get use to the front wheel drive, so I will probably switch back to uncomparable 3 series.

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  LS to TL - 2004 Acura TL
  By Hd colt - January 2 - 10:00 am

  I sold my Lincoln LS and bought the TL. The Acura TL is more fun to drive and even more comfortable. TL interior appointments are first class, best I have seen. There is a very soothing feeling being in the cockpit, blue lights and best looking of all. Navigation system is best in the industry and extremly user friendly.

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  My first new car...and I still have it! - 1993 Acura Vigor
  By Sagehen - January 1 - 2:00 am

  After a 158000 miles as the original owner, I can honestly say I still consider this my "new" car. The driving experience is great whether I am tooling along at 70 down the highway or driving through the local mountains to the in-laws! Sadly, they stopped making them after only a few years, which makes them somewhat unique and collectible (yeah!) but also contributes to making parts a little more difficult to find (sigh). Have friend at work who bought one used and loves his as much as I do mine.