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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  Satisfied Customer - 2009 Acura RL
  By Ron Beeman - September 17 - 12:48 am

  Very happy with the look and performance of the 2009 RL. Looked at several cars in the same class and felt that the RL had more for the money than other cars. Once you get used to it, the technology package is great. Handles well with its all wheel drive.

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  RDX A Great Car For Alaska - 2009 Acura RDX
  By Ron in Alaska - September 17 - 12:11 am

  Have less than 1,000 miles on the car and averaged 22 mpg on the second tank of gasoline with both town and highway driving. The turbo comes on quick, if you need it. We like the stiff suspension and look forward to the AWD during our long Alaska winters. This is our third turbo car and they just keep getting better and better. Enjoying the memory power seats and mirrors with two drivers of different heights. With the easy to fold-down rear seats, it provides plenty of room for those shopping trips. We spent a year looking at various crossovers and the RDX always moved to the top of the list. We keep our cars 12+ years and look forward to a long term relationship.

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  Luxury & Technology + Every Detail - 2006 Acura RL
  By NETSECSVC - September 16 - 9:28 pm

  My 2006 Acura RL has everything I always wanted from a car and much more. This is a car that exceeds expectations in many ways! They really included every detail imaginable to make the car safe, fun, powerful, comfortable and beautiful. Its not too flashy, and from a distance one might mistake it for an average car, but nothing could be further from the truth. Up close the sleek and stylish design make you take notice, but inside is where things get really interesting. The 2006 model doesnt have cooled seats or an iPod connector. Aside from that, if you can think of a feature it probably comes standard.

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  Acura TL-S - 2008 Acura TL
  By Dirt Racer - September 15 - 6:28 am

  I looked at a lot of different cars including the Infiniti G35, Audi A4, Lexus IS 350 but found the Acura TL-S to be all I wanted at a great value for the price. It has great performance and handling, a great nav and audio system, comfortable interior, good styling and quality. It is just fun to drive.

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  Solid SUV - 2004 Acura MDX
  By rlb30 - September 15 - 2:00 am

  Great, solid vehicle. Comfortable on a long trip, wide stance gives a very stable ride, bigger inside than it looks. Lots of power. Dont know about the lackluster interior comments from some reviewers, but it is functional and fine with me. Only complaint I have is the gearshift could be better designed and easier to move between gears. Not as "off road" as my Jeep, but it doesnt claim to be. Also, I wouldnt buy it if I had to use it to tow much weight.

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  loving it - 2004 Acura TL
  By doct - September 15 - 2:00 am

  I just upgraded to the 2004 Acura TL from a Honda Accord. What a pleasure to drive. I have had a wonderful experience and I hope that this positive experience continues.

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  Go Ahead Buy One! - 2004 Acura TL
  By JoeMac - September 15 - 2:00 am

  Originally ordered TSX. Liked it very much. Had to wait a couple of months, then decided to wait a little longer once TL was announced. I drove automatic transmission, loved the style of the car, but felt transmission lacked performance that I was looking for. Waited for and purchased 1st available 6-speed manual transmission. Absolutely, love it. I am sure that there will be times in Bay area traffic that I am frustrated with stick shift, but generally speaking the driving experience is far superior as per my tastes,

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  Great car- couldnt be happier - 2004 Acura TL
  By goldband - September 15 - 2:00 am

  This is probably the best car Ive owned. It has excellent driving dynamics, a really comfortable and gorgeous interior, and the new techie features are awesome-- bluetooth phone and DVD-A audio.

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  Great Value! - 2006 Acura TL
  By ECB - September 14 - 8:46 pm

  I previously drove a 2002 BMW 330i premium/sport. After owning the car for four years I grew weary of the hard ride and the expensive repairs. Though I do miss rear wheel drive, the TL has been a great car so far. All the electronic features are amazing. Bluetooth, Navi, voice recognition, all work perfectly. The car is considerably more comfortable than the BMW. Good power. Average about 25MPG. No noticeable torque steer which is typical to front-wheel drive cars.

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  Youll never want another car - 1994 Acura Integra
  By lovemyintegra - September 14 - 11:37 am

  I bought this car at an auction and it was obvious the old owner wasnt as in love with it as I am and just beat it to crap, but after about $500 in polish three years ago this little gem is still going up hills, down, and the one time it snowed (more than a foot) my baby wasnt even concerned. ItÂ’s great for getting me back and forth to my classes and great for gloating. I fill it up once a month maybe twice and I dont live close to my job or school. I do all the daily maintenance and even thats not expensive. Seriously, if youre on the fence, get this car.