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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  The best TYPE-S Yet - 2007 Acura TL
  By Dan B - July 10 - 12:50 pm

  Ive had my car for a couple weeks now and it is now my 3rd TL, first was an 02 Type-S then an 04 with ASpec and now an 07 Type-S. This car so far has handled nicely, the looks are improved with Quad exhaust and the additional safety features are great. So far MPG has been quite a bit lower... hope that improves with break-in. Performance is unbelievable, acceleration feels more than previous TLs and steering feels much sportier and exact. Interior fit-n-finish is awesome, backup camera nice addition, much quieter interior than any previous TL, almost too quiet. Nice exhaust note. And Im thankful Acura went back to NON-INTEGRATED fog lights! The perfect sports sedan for the Midwest!!

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  Did I jump the gun? - 2006 Acura TL
  By John - July 9 - 10:12 pm

  My car usage is about 75% city, 25% highway, so I was being realistic when I predicted my MPG. The Acura TL is projected to get 21/29, but so far Ive been getting a ridiculous 15.5 MPG, and needless to say, I am thoroughly disappointed. I was highly anticipating the relief in MPG, which was one of the deciding factors during my car-buying process, but 15.5 MPG is SUV territory. I feed my car the suggested 91 octane, I drive with a soft foot, and the A/C gets next to no use.

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  A fun, fun, fun sporty little SUV - 2009 Acura RDX
  By accurashopper - July 9 - 11:05 am

  I absolutely adore this SUV! I drove a mid-size sedan for many years and it did take some time to adjust to the RDX. The tilt down mirror on the passenger side is wonderful when backing. The interior is well laid out with all of the controls within easy reach. The center console is deep - it holds my large purse with room to spare. The front seats are comfortable and theres ample knee space in the rear with the front seats all the way back. Ride is firm - you feel some of the bumps and hear a little road noise, but the fun factor outweighs any of this. Fits my small family perfectly. Represented an excellent value for the money compared w/competition. Currently get 19 mpg city.

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  Best bang for your buck! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By flipboiee - July 9 - 10:00 am

  This car is so awesome~! This is my first car and Im only 17 yrs old, but I have driven Celicas & Eclipses to compare it to. I feel like i got a great deal! If you get one, get it with the OEM Under Body Spoilers and the Wing Spoiler! Very nice and clean yet sporty at the same time. It adds so much more depth to the character of the RSX, something that is rich already. Got mine with leather, but had to post here cause I already posted all my wonderful thougts! Just wanted to tell you how GREAT of a car it is!---6200 miles up to date! and still going GREAT!

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  LOVE MY RSX - 2002 Acura RSX
  By JRP - July 9 - 10:00 am

  Ive had my RSX since January and its been great. I love the precise handling and acceleration at higher rpms. Its great on long trips and gets good gas mileage. Plus, its a Honda, so I dont have to worry about it spending alot of time in the shop. Ill keep this one!

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  See ya - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Warning I will Race - July 9 - 10:00 am

  WARNING!!! If you buy this car you will end up racing everyone. Once the RPMs hit 6500 the car lundges forward. The i-vtec engine is a fine piece of engineering.

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  Nice Ride - 2002 Acura RSX
  By RSX - July 9 - 10:00 am

  Great little car, run nice sounds great and for a decent price. The seats are very comfortable and the gages and really sharp looking. The proformance is like non-other. Bets car on the market for sport coups.

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  Enough to keep you happy - 2002 Acura RSX
  By brianm1669 - July 9 - 10:00 am

  The standard RSX is not the fastest, best looking, or most nimble car out there, but it does all of the above pretty darn well. The acceleration, cornering and breaking are all above average. The ultimate reason for purchasing this car was reliability and performance. I know that the car will likely not have many problems and the car will likely perform similar to what it does now three years from now. The engine is pedestrian while at lower speeds, but the horses really kick in when the rpms go above 5000.

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  Great SUV at first - 2003 Acura MDX
  By acura 2003 mdx - July 8 - 7:26 pm

  Bought in March of 2003 new. Since I bought the vehicle, I had nagging problems and at 82,000 miles I am starting to get a little worried. Ive had to replace the starter, ac compressor, vent knobs, cd player, drivers seat heater, hood struts, rear blower. I expected more out of an Acura.

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  Beware - 2009 Acura RDX
  By Fred - July 8 - 10:17 am

  This is not the luxury car that Acura should be selling. Unlike other Acuras, the vehicle does not have automatic headlights, a basic safety and convenience feature available on similar, and many far less expensive cars. The gas mileage is far less than advertised. It is very difficult to open the rear door. The instrument panel, particularly the radio controls, are poorly designed and difficult to use. While the turbo engine is very good and the ride is decent, the car is not what I have come to expect from Acura -- they should be ashamed.