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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  Efficient but boring! - 2002 Acura MDX
  By grotto - March 30 - 10:00 am

  Very efficient SUV, falls short of being a "Luxury" SUV.

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  Better than BMW? - 2007 Acura TL
  By smidge - March 29 - 4:03 pm

  I compared the Type S with 6 speed manual to BMW 335 and Audi A4. The TL is much more roomy inside, especially the rear seat foot/legroom (TL more like BMW 5 series for interior room). I bought red exterior with lighter interior - was gonna get black interior but decided too dark. TL has highest crash test safety ratings, highest Consumer Reports score for its class (entry level luxury). The navigation system is excellent and easy to use. The clutch is perfect and the shifter snick-snickety smooth - real nice! The motor sounds awesome - like a turbo almost, and car is fast! Car is a real pleasure to drive. Audio system is excellent. Good value.

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  none - 2016 Acura TLX
  By Augustine Trinchese - March 29 - 2:08 pm

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  smooth riding - 1998 Acura TL
  By George Cash - March 29 - 2:00 am

  A wonderfull car to drive. Rides smooth and handles smoother. Very few problems however, when they do occurr parts are more expensive than on the 3.2 model

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  Great Value for comfort and tech features. - 2016 Acura TLX
  By Tom - March 28 - 10:40 am

  1) Its more comfort/quiet than sporty, more lexus ES then BMW 3 series. If you looking for a comfortable commuter car to make a few aggressive moves, this care will do the trick just fine. Plan for an extra lag time when you hit petal to the metal, unless you are in sport+ mode. Under all other modes pressing the petal will only accelerate the car slowly in the immediate second. 2) more car for the value. Car is almost the size of lexus ES (large midsize), not BMW 3 series (small midsize). It is quiet, It seems to be tune to weed out outside human voice and not so much traffic noise. traffic noise is hush to a very comfortable whisper. You can only hear the wind if you travel faster than 70mph. But not as quiet as top of the line BMW 7 or lexus LS. You hardly tell the difference between going 50mph vs 100mph unti you look at speeddometer. Technology package really adds a lot of value even though it may not seem like it on paper. Lots of standard features even in the base model (LED headlights, rear view camera, heated seats, side mirrors automatically tilt down when in reverse). One of the best audio systems. 2) Inexpensive, easy to own, premium fuel is recommended but not required. Buy pre-certified, and get benefits of cheaper price but has full new car warranty + 1 additional year. Maintenance is also cheap thus should buy rather than lease, compared to BMW or Mercedes which basically forces you to lease or sell the car once maintenance warranty runs out. 3) Lots of technology and features at much cheaper prices compared to the Germans. standard rearview camera. I really like the 3 views camera (no need for parking sensors with a top down view, where you can see exactly how many inches before the bumper hits the other car). I disagree with some professional reviewers, I prefer the dual screen setup, where I can keep the nav map on top and audio/climate on the bottom screen. Blind spot warning lights are on the inside, not on side mirrors like other cars. The Best lane keeping assist system, though I prefer if it work at low speeds also. Love the automatic record all CDs while you place in the car. Insert a CD and by the time you listening to the 3rd track, it has recorded the entire CD, so you never have to re-insert the CD again. Back seats fold down. Great night time ambient lighting. Lots of interior storage places. 4) Interior is Not quite full luxury experience. Very 2010 luxury feel than 2015-2016. No panoramic sun roof. Clean look, but no contrasting color scheme. Not all panels are leather or wood-like. Some use of soft plastics, hard plastic for the door trays. Lumbar support doesnt have height adjustment. No sun shades, only highest trim has cooling seats, heated steering wheel, and puddle lights. Overall TLX is a best value for the features and well rounded car with low maintenance cost. It not the best performance nor the best comfort luxury.

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  If you leave in NY DO NOT GET THIS ONE - 2000 Acura TL
  By username123 - March 28 - 2:00 am

  I can tell you one thing that its a very nice car for the $$$, but if you plan to park it overnight in New York, good luck. I had this car for 2 years and I had my head lights stolen 2 times and finally they took it all. I have seen toooooooo many of those TLs around town with no "eyes". Think where you will park it before you buy it.

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  Great Car! Loves the Gas! - 1998 Acura RL
  By Comet16 - March 27 - 2:00 am

  I purchased my 1998 ACURA 3.5Rl last year from an individual. I had finally driven my 1994 Nissan Pathfinder, manual transimission long enough (150,00+ miles)... Being a "Sales Guy" I am on the road 3-5 days a week either around town or 400+mile trips in a day... The ACURA is great for comfort, handleing and performance... But, the mileage is rotten, not to mention the fact you have to pump premium petrol in the bad boy to keep it running great. Tried regular and the performance was obviuosly less... All in all I like the car but I think I will step up to a Lexus 430 on the next one...

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  Loads of Comfort, but no thrills - 1998 Acura RL
  By csj - March 25 - 2:00 am

  I bought a 1998 with the navigation system for $18,500 in 11/01. Navigation system does not always work well (dont throw out your maps), but when it works is easy to use. This is the car you want to drive on long trips or to relax on the ride home after a rough day. Wind noise is the only intrusion (need to get a moonroof wind deflector). There is a lot of body roll, but bumps are filtered out well. Adequate power, but not neck snapping. I drive my J30 if I want a sportier ride. Stereo is excellent. Good luxury car considering price and overall reliability.

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  good car for the money - 1997 Acura Integra
  By Dr.Iver - March 23 - 2:00 am

  has been reliable so far. very good handling on dry road, in winter snow original tires were almost useless, replacement tires are much better in the snow. accelerations acceptable, a little too noisy on the road. comfortable seats but i would like an inche or two more in width - it gets a little crowded if you put on a winter coat. i am satisfied with the car overall.

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  Love this car..er..truck - 2003 Acura MDX
  By MSH - March 23 - 2:00 am

  Looked at several other SUVs before going to the Acura dealership. Was leaning heavily towards the RX300 and Highlander. Once we sat in the MDX and drove it though, we knew that it was the vehicle for us. Great room. Third seat is a nice benefit, even if its never used. The engine is amazing. Plenty of power when you need it. And the ride is more car than truck like.