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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  Best car ever - 2004 Acura TL
  By danilo67 - October 10 - 2:00 am

  Absolutely the best car Acura(or anyone else) has built. Smooth, responsive engine, Great sound system, Ample room for Driver and passengers, including back seat. Wow! What a ride! Handling and feel second to none. Drive one and youll be hooked.

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  Big Bang for the Buck - 2003 Acura CL
  By DTD - October 9 - 10:00 am

  Excellent performance and excellent handling. Makes me want to get in it and drive. Excellent comfort and support on long trip. Easy to read gauges. Fun factor equal 10. So what are the downsides? I am a 6and could use maybe another inch of headroom, but it is OK. Available colors are boring and dull. Best color I could find with tan. interior was white...enough said. Is the car a keeper? ABSOLUTELY!

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  WOW. - 2002 Acura RSX
  By foxman - October 9 - 10:00 am

  Way to fun.

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  Good while it lasted, now moving on... - 1999 Acura TL
  By Jamnurse - October 8 - 7:49 pm

  I bought this car with about 24k miles, currently 164k. Was gonna try to push it til 200k, but, Engine light staying on for a year now. Car has shut off on me twice while at the stop light (have a new battery). Ignition switch was changed out under the recall. EGR changed a few times. Engine going. I put quite a bit of $$ into it already. No sense putting any more. I got my thrill for 9 years. I had visor, wood grain and wing put on. I loved my car. Will always have a place in my heart... I think Im done with acura though. Dont like the shape of new TL. I like the RL, but, I think Im getting GS300.

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  Im making an offer tomorrow - 2003 Acura CL
  By acura_driver - October 8 - 2:00 am

  Best value in class. Fun to drive hard but is an interstate cruiser as well.

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  Great Fun, Great Value - 2001 Acura CL
  By bseidman - October 8 - 2:00 am

  I looked for a new car for over 6 months before I finally bought my CL Type S and not a day goes by that I regret my decision. If you look up in price the CL still delivers more than the BMWs and Lexus IS300, and its worth the extra thousand or two over the Maxima or others like it. Even the little things are great, and Acuras Navigation System is the best Ive seen. This is a high quality, classy car for those who dont want to look like the type of person that drives a BMW...

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  TL Type-S - 2003 Acura TL
  By Huntwind - October 8 - 2:00 am

  Excellent performance sedan car for the price range

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  One year and still giddy! - 2006 Acura TL
  By Scott - October 6 - 3:52 pm

  I have now had this car for exactly one year and can honestly say I am as excited to drive this car today as I was a year ago. Be advised that I am a very picky person but cannot think of any complaints about this car. It is a comfortable ride, very quiet. It is also very quick and loves to corner fast (as do I). Last, it has a very organized interior layout that is intuitive and exceeds my needs. I just went with my girlfriend as she test drove an 02 BMW 3330xi ($30K). I realize its a beemer, but truthfully, my TL is just as nice, just as sporty and cheaper. She even is wondering why she doesnt get a TL instead and save some $. Great car, no regrets.

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  Solid SUV - 2009 Acura MDX
  By Will - October 6 - 7:36 am

  We bought our first MDX in Dec 08. 5400 miles later, my wife was T-Boned on the drivers side at a major intersection. The front/side airbags deployed and there was some $20K in damage. I must say I was impressed to the way the vehicle took the direct hit, thus protecting my wife from any serious injury. The other vehicle was totaled. Based on the location, and speed of the vehicle that hit our MDX, this little thing really took it well. We got it fixed and bought another one. They may be pricey, but they sure are safe and dependable.

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  Amazing automobile - 2009 Acura TL
  By ryan&diana - October 5 - 9:18 pm

  Perfection describes the new tl sh-awd! My wife recently traded in her fully loaded Acadia for a loaded tl. I also owned a Lexus is in the past. We test drove everything out- Lexus, audis, BMWs, infinitis, then we drove this gem. The tl has an amazing technology package -ipod connection, cd, hdd hard drive, and XM. It even holds pictures uploaded via the usb port. The navi is crystal clear and gigantic -I love to see the live weather. This car is comfortable and a blast to drive. I drove it across the country and enjoyed every minute. The leather is so soft! The 300+ horses blows m3s out of the water and I can still get 25 plus mpgs. Test drive one and you will see.