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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  My Acura MDX Road Trip - 2002 Acura MDX
  By J Nystrom - October 25 - 2:00 am

  Just returned from a trip to California in my new 02 MDX. Car handled extremely well, passed most other cars going over 10,000 ft Colorado passes. Extremely comfortable front and middle, a little cramped in third row. At 75 MPH, still has a lot of additional passing power, and is very solid on snow/ice. Very good visibility all around and roomy with third row seats folded down. Gas mileage on trip ranged from around 18 to 22 MPH. Extremely happy with this car.

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  Acura hits a home run - again! - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Dave - October 24 - 5:30 pm

  This is my second MDX - the first being an 02 Touring model with Nav. Drove it 77,000 miles with no problems. The 07 picks up where the 02 left off - more power, more comfort, and improved body styling. The Tech package provides a whole new level of controls that are voice-activated and user friendly. No more touch-screen input. Im absolutely delighted with this vehicle.

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  A car called perfection - 2006 Acura TSX
  By Paul Soares - October 24 - 11:33 am

  I saw the reviews of this car at cars.com and I decided to try it. Its worthy of the name they gave to it: Perfection. This car is the best luxury car ever, for the price you pay. Its 10,000 les than the Lexus IS 250 and its faster. Totally worthy of its 28k.

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  Great Car - 2003 Acura RSX
  By Quacker - October 23 - 9:08 pm

  After owning this car for about 5 years, I can safely say it was a great choice. First, the fuel efficiency is amazing. I drive the manual, and I regularly average 30-34 miles per gallon. This is mixed highway and city driving. The interior is ergonomic and spacious (for the driver, at least), the handling is crisp and responsive, the gearbox is amazing (dont whine about the grinding, it goes away after a few thousand miles), the engine is revvy and powerful for its size and fuel efficiency, and the car is built to very tight tolerances. After 5 years, none of the electricals have gone out, nor have any rattles developed. Taut car.

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  Update after 10 months - 2008 Acura MDX
  By oscarkat3 - October 21 - 11:57 pm

  I still love driving this vehicle but the quality is a bit of a let down. There are a few rattles including a loud one from the passenger seat. The radio settings malfunction sporadically. The A/C makes whistling noises that sound like brakes squealing. The dealer finally acknowledged some of the problems but they never adequately addressed all the problems either. These are minor problems but a disappointment because I had a higher expectation of reliability. I still love all the positives about the MDX. I plan on keeping it for a while but I dont know if I will buy an Acura again?

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  Best car in the world! - 1995 Acura Integra
  By Katie - October 21 - 9:29 pm

  The Acura Integra was my dream car and I bought one the moment I had the chance. When I got my Integra it was already 8 years old and had 78k miles on it. I never had any issues with the car, it was only in the shop for maintenance and brake pads at approx 130k miles. Every time I drove my car I felt like I was a race car driver and I have the speeding tickets to prove it! If youre planning on buying an Integra and dont like to drive fast, please find another car. It needs to be driven fast or it wont feel loved :) My baby was just totaled a week ago and now Im looking for another car with more room for my dogs and cant find anything with reviews as good as the Integra.

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  Bang for my Buck - 2016 Acura RDX
  By Jim Buehring - October 21 - 10:12 am

  really nice car. All the options for less than competing vehicles and a 4 year warranty. I love it

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  No regrets - 2004 Acura TL
  By orange_peel - October 21 - 2:00 am

  This car is the best value, most fun/$ in it class - it isnt even close. No issues with the FWD.

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  BEST OUT THERE UNDER $35,000 - 2004 Acura TL
  By tarzanandjayne - October 21 - 2:00 am

  I looked at the other cars in this price range, and I keeped thinking...Why not just get the TL..best out there hands down....!!!

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  Exciting - 2004 Acura TL
  By bmorse22 - October 21 - 2:00 am

  I have driven this car for about a week. It is the best, comfortable vehicle I have driven in a while. It has a lot of performance for a sedan in its class.