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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  Excellant vehicle - 2004 Acura RSX
  By VENOM66 - January 31 - 10:00 am

  Great car, had a ram air trans am, so horsepower in the rsx is kinda null...but, I get reliability, a quick little car, great fuel economy, very well laid out interior, very responsive handling, will turn on a dime, outranks the GTI in every respect except sound system ...had a GTI also...nothing but problems. if you want a sporty, quick reliable car, thats easy to get mods for...the Acura rsx is the ticket...

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  reliable but not exciting - 1997 Acura TL
  By Its just me - January 31 - 2:00 am

  This car is, in essence, a glorified Honda. Reliable and predictable, but lacks the soul and spirit of a european car. This car does everything it is supposed to do- but without passion. Good Points: reliability, quality of fit and finish, quiet ride (other than wind noise), good stereo, Excellent Acura Dealership, low overall cost of ownership. Bad points: wind noise, poor layout of dash (fog light, cruise control and fan switch) low unsupportive seats, miniscule trunk space, bland styling, cheap feeling leather, rough idle (typical for 5 cylinder), no tilt on sunroof and tendency to fog up on rainy days.

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  Great car - but not too comfortable - 2000 Acura TL
  By Rick25 - January 31 - 2:00 am

  OVERALL: nice car, GREAT value. NEGATIVES: Im tall & have a bad back, & its tough for me to get comfortable. Not much room in back, especially for adults. Stereo (BOSE = std) sounds great, but has limited features. POSITIVES: Navigation system (not std.) is easy to use & has lots of features. Steering wheel stereo controls = nice touch. Dashboard controls are well- placed and easy to read. Heated front seats activate quickly & work well. Engine is very powerful, & provides a very nice, smooth ride. Head lights are outstanding cant see why Id ever need high beams.

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  I am glad I chose this car. - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Ralphbec - January 29 - 10:00 am

  I drive my RSX over 70 miles on a daily basis and so far I love it. The interior (front seats) is well designed for both comfort and functionality. The exterior is sporty but not over the top. I love the looks I get from people at a stop light. The car handles well and never lacks power, and all for just under 30 miles to the gallon. The red interior lighting has not gotten old and the stereo is really good. Its a great first car out of college.

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  Good value - 2002 Acura MDX
  By drb - January 29 - 10:00 am

  For the money, it is an excellent SUV. Others cost more and offer so much less. Wind noise is horrible for this "luxury" type of vehicle. Hopefully honda will fix it with the next model year. A pleasure to drive but would be better with more horse power.

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  so far so good - 2003 Acura TL
  By knix200129 - January 29 - 10:00 am

  Just leased my 03 with Nav a month ago. So far I love this car. Looked at the Lexus IS300/ES300, and the Volvo S60/s80. After looking at all the goodies that came with the TL, and compared the pricing vs. the Lexus and the Volvo, it was no contest. So far this car is awesome. The passing power is great, the interior room (im 62" 260lbs) is very good, and the bose stereo ROCKS!!!! I also am leasing a Honda Odyssey w/Nav(which the wife and I LOVE!) but the stereo in the ODY is horrible. Anyhow, great car, great ride, great value, and great sound. If choosing an entry level Lux car, this is your car.

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  1990 acura legend - 1990 Acura Integra
  By cartjen2 - January 26 - 2:00 am

  pleased with the vehicle overall

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  A good car, but it has issues - 2004 Acura TL
  By rdz - January 24 - 10:00 am

  For those who compare this to a BMW or Mercedes, forget it! Its still not in the same league, nowhere near it. This is the third Acura Ive had, and will be the last. Its really more Accord than ever has been, and as long as theyre front wheel drive, itll never ride and handle as well as a German car, re: Infiniti G35. Its got some real issues, such as the vibration around 1500 rpm between 50 and 60 MPH in 5th gear, the entire car shakes. AT hunts back and forth a lot between 4th and 5th, and is hesitant to downshift. HP is great, but with front wheel drive comes torque steer. Tires are pure trash, completely useless in rain and tbd in snow.

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  Not as thrill asi thought to be - 2016 Acura ILX
  By Ronnie - January 24 - 3:18 am

  I came from a manual stick shift 2003 Acura RSX Type S. I love that car and the only reason why I stick with Acura. I need a small compact 4 doors vehicle since Im a family man with two kids. I looked at the Civics, the Accords. But they just blah and not exciting in terms of styling. Plus. I didnt want to be like 80% of the car out there on the road, so many of them. From teeny boppers, grandmas, Grandpa, to your soccer moms. No thanks. So there it is, I got the 2016 Acura ILX with premium/Aspec package. Honestly, its not really an upgrade from my RSX. Everything about this car feel cheap and could be better. Feels like they are rushing it. The gears always shifting. It can never stay in one gear long, it always shift to make sure the gears are highest fuel economy at the current speed. Its good for gas saving but when you trying to merge or switch lane, you need it to be in a gear that responsive to the throttle. Instead, the car will downshift creating that half to second delay acceleration. Coming from a cable, maybe it have to do with the new electric drive by wire, who knows but its really annoying when you need that quick acceleration. Now on the other hand, the Dual Clutch mode is awesome, stellar and works perfectly. I think that pretty much the only part of the car that stands out. Very responsive, smooth gear transition from downshift and up shift. The steering is numb and you dont feel that much road feed back. The handling is good. Not much body roll. The car puts me to sleep. I need some excitement, the thrill of a screaming VTEC kicking in. Instead I got a very boring tone. The seat doesnt have much bolster to snug you in. I feel Acura lost touch with its racing heritage. My other pet peeve is the head room, Im 511" but it really cramp in there. Only about in of space left from the ceiling to my head. I will probably pass this car to my wife in a few more years and get myself a stick shift car. If you like driving like grandma, just chill, relax, cruising and looking good in it. Then this car is for you.

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  The Tranny Got Me - 2001 Acura TL
  By ValueDriven - January 24 - 2:00 am

  The performance and styling of my 2001 Acura TL are first rate. Fit and finish are good. Excellent reliability reports for the TL were an important factor in my purchase decision so imagine my surprise when my transmission started going out on me at 19000 miles. Apparently Acura is having a problem with this year and model and has extended the transmission warranty. They even tell you what to watch for. One other thing that has gotten on my nerves is the road noise. Racing-style tires and minimal noise insulation are probable reasons.