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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  Great step-up from the Accord - 2009 Acura TSX
  By howardhonda - August 10 - 4:30 pm

  I have only had this car for 10 days. For myself, over the past 25 years I have only purchased Honda Accords (all manual trans.). My last 2 have been EX- L and I have always been happy with them. I was planning since last year to buy myself another EX-L Accord (4- cyl) and just by chance I checked out the TSX. I loved it. It came with everything, factory installed, even options like memory seats, passenger power seats, home-link, and directional signals on outside mirrors that you couldnt even get on a loaded 4cy EX-L Accord. In my opinion, the car is so much more solid & luxurious than the Accord. And the gauges and trip computer are awesome!

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  Fantastic car - 2007 Acura TSX
  By Isabella - August 10 - 12:16 am

  Has been a blast to own. Very fun to drive, solid car. Only issue is the backseat is a little tight.

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  Plain, every-day car - 2006 Acura RL
  By Marcin - August 9 - 8:43 pm

  I purchased this car wanting to buy Infiniti M but was annoyed by the dealership and harsh ride of the Infiniti. Overall, good car and good buy, however, not as comfortable and refined as I expected. Suspension is mediocre and outside looks, well.... not that great for many. The value of this car is in its sophisticated technology features, all wheel drive, engine and the interior. I think I could buy the RL again but Acura needs to improve its looks and image as compared to BMW, Audi or even Infiniti.

• 

  Good handling - 1996 Acura Integra
  By integra owner - August 9 - 3:58 pm

  25 mpg for a car that gets to 60 in 8.5 seconds isnÂ’t great. It is very reasonably priced though. For an msrp of $18,000 it is very sporty.

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  Best SUV in its class - 2009 Acura MDX
  By 2009MDXFAN - August 8 - 4:23 pm

  The 2009 MDX is a good mix of luxury and performance. Interior styling is visually pleasant but Acura should not have skimped on quality of material such as the plastic interior handles and plastic fake wood. The strengths of the MDX is definitely the handling quality compared to other SUVs.

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  Sweeeet!! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By dendron - August 8 - 2:00 am

  My last love was a car...this one. Have had this sweetheart for 11 mos., and its just about the most perfect blend of performance, luxury and economy (avg. 28-30 mpg in town when the foots not headed south)available in its price range. When the iV-Tech kicks in around 6000 rpm it feels like 10 lbs. of turbo boost and will really plaster a grin on your face. Unfortunately, it doesnt last last long enough to the 7900 rpm redline ;-) Overall the few nits are just plain blown away by the upside this ride posesses. It makes commuting almost entertaining (!!) and is a flat-out blast to drive.

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  Good value for the buck - 2002 Acura TL
  By SKARPGOLF - August 8 - 2:00 am

  Have had for about 4 weeks no complaints nav system excellent. I do not understand what some folks think nav should do. It gets you alot closer than if you had to guess where to go. Would like to see DVD updates on regular basis. Fun to drive extremely quiet and responsive handling. Bose system has exceptional sound, Six cd in dash a real plus. Would like to see automatic headlight system and possibly some driver info system. Having the nav plus on star a big selling feature for this driver.

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  Best Acura - 2003 Acura TL
  By tommy0guns - August 8 - 2:00 am

  i priced and drove the TL-S, Accord V6, and BMW 325. this is the best for the money. it kills the accord in driving and quality and is way cheaper and faster than the 325. doesnt get any classier for $30k

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  Awesome Performance! - 2004 Acura TSX
  By Performance King - August 6 - 10:00 am

  This is no doubt an incredible vehicle from an incredible manufacturer. I love my Acura TSX. I used to drive a 63 Gerbil Hatchback with an 8-Track...wow, what a difference! My old Gerbil had 48 horsepower which I thought was a lot...it did 0-60 in 42 seconds....not my TSX! 0-60 comes in way under 8 seconds! Pure performance, handling and power!

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  Put fun to your commute - 2005 Acura RSX
  By Pauolo - August 6 - 10:00 am

  Easy to drive, fun, and economical. All extras included. Good reliable car and an excelent dealer behind their product.