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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  Unreliable Navigation System - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Carmen - February 16 - 8:06 pm

  The navigation map system in not reliable. When an update becomes available, be prepared to pay $145 or more plus tax & shipping for the software. My concern is traveling outside of my hometown to places that have updated their roads. Unfortunately for the amount of money spend for this vehicle, you CANNOT rely on the navigation map system. I purchased my vehicle in June 2015 and today (9/13/16) I contacted Honda Navigation System and was told there is no information about a forth coming update to the navigation map system. I have to use Google Maps from my mobile phone which is much more reliable.

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  Great Car, A Few Idiosyncracies - 2003 Acura RSX
  By wang - February 9 - 2:00 am

  Great car, a few idiosyncracies.

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  sucky car - 2003 Acura TL
  By steve in dallas - February 9 - 2:00 am

  21,000 miles transmission out, 4 weeks to repair

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  First year for Acura RDX - 2007 Acura RDX
  By BVaughn - February 5 - 12:33 pm

  This is my first "suv." My previous cars included an Acura Integra and a Mercedes CLK320. It took about a month to adjust to a bumpier ride, but the handling is very similar to a car and not a truck. The sound system is excellent and the free XM radio for a couple months is nice too. The navigation system is also my first and I am thrilled with the detail in various map specs. The only real issue so far is that the battery mysteriously died at 1000 mi. Without a key in the ignition almost all electrical things shut off within 30 seconds of removal which makes it difficult to drain the battery. Overall, I am fairly happy with it so far.

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  Complains when pushed - 2009 Acura TSX
  By Neil - January 25 - 9:50 pm

  I bought my new TSX over labor day, trading in both a leased 05 RL and a Mazda 3 wagon. I was a hairs breadth away from buying a V6 Accord, but decided to go for the extra bells and whistles of the TSX. Someone told me Id just bought a $32,000 iPod accessory (which may have a grain of truth). While I think the car has plenty of power, and I love the gas mileage, the poor little engine thrashes and complains under even moderate load. I took it to the dealer complaining that the engine was knocking (it was really that bad!), but they said to just use Shell or Chevron premium. That didnt really help. I expected better from Honda.

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  flawed - 2004 Acura TL
  By flawed - January 11 - 2:00 am

  TL nifty in many ways but between 50 and 55 MPH the car vibrates, the dash shudders, things squek. Engine seems to "sag" at that speed compounding the condition. Acura needs to fix this quick. Give me back my BMW.

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  Great vehicle - 2004 Acura MDX
  By John6952 - January 5 - 2:00 am

  Ive spent a lot of seat time in many SUVs. MDX has the best compromises between utility and sport. Too little utility X5, FX35/45, RX330. Reliability issues ML320/500. Unproven reliability XC90, Toureg (sp?), SRX. You got to be kinding/what were they thinking? Cayenne, G500.

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  Great Car, Fun to drive - 2016 Acura ILX
  By Ken Mason - January 3 - 12:11 am

  No one is paying me to write this review. Just thought youd like to know. I sincerely dont understand Edmunds grade of "C" for the ILX. I drove the Lexus IS 200t. Yes, it was very smooth and very powerful. But it costs almost $10,000 more than the ILX. And has anyone noticed that the front grill of the Lexus looks like the mask for Darth Vader? Im sorry, but once that picture became fixated in my mind, I just couldnt stand looking at it any longer. I also drove the BMW 228i. A little more money than the ILX but with half the standard features and honestly, I didnt feel much difference between the BMW and the ILX. I love the look of the ILX with the Prem and Aspec package. The spoiler and upgraded wheels make the vehicle. The upgraded interior is also really nice and the seats have a nice sporty feel to them. The acceleration for this 200 hp engine is tremendous. Okay, so I also drive my 013 Toyota Tacoma so getting into the ILX is like getting into my own sports car. I like the sound of the engine and I like the feel of the road. We also own a 014 Acura RDX and it drives like a charm. My only tiny complaint is I wish Acura would make a coupe the size of the new TLX or the ILX. Updated review....Still fun to drive, just not as fun as I first thought The 8 speed transmission lags when extra speed is needed. Also, the transmission kinda jerks when it is down-shifting and then I need to punch it to accelerate. Also there is a rattle that just drives me crazy. It is a fun car to drive. Im not sure I will buy another ILX. Who knows.

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  Fine SUV - 2003 Acura MDX
  By BuddyP - December 12 - 10:00 am

  Overall very happy. Just passed 4000 miles in 6 weeks. Excellent build quality, quiet and generally comfortable. Underpowered compared to American competition, especially from a dead stop. Gas mileage slightly less than EPA.

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  Nice upgrade from Honda - 2005 Acura TL
  By Barry - December 11 - 2:13 am

  Ive now had the car for 4 months and am enjoying more each and every day. The car looks great, the performance meets my expectations and the mileage is what they stated it would be. Being a 6 time Honda owner, I was reluctant about the extra cost but am very pleased with my decision to buy the TL. No complaints about having to use premium gas as high performance engines require higher octane. There shouldnt be a concern about paying 20 cents more per gallon if your paying $35K for a car. Considered the G35 and BMW 3 series and am very happy with my decision.