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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  Fun to drive - 2003 Acura CL
  By mikemichel - April 22 - 10:00 am

  I traded my 97 SHO for this CL-S. I was pleasantly surprised by the acceleration and handling of the CL-S, but a bit disappointed with the minor 03 face lift. Where are the driving lights, and the new wheels are a bit boring. While I really enjoyed my SHO, Ive not really missed it. I do miss a few features that the SHO had over the CL-S, things like auto locking doors, auto on-off headlights, and the combination lock on the drivers door. But these are all just nit picks.

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  Love it! - 2001 Acura CL
  By flipper - April 22 - 10:00 am

  Love this car. I did 6 mos of research and this is the best bang for the buck. Fun to drive, looks cool (black w/ aftermarket rims), and no mechanical problems at 15,000 miles.

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  Love it, but a little disappointed - 2004 Acura MDX
  By Quiet Please - April 19 - 10:00 am

  My 2004 is great! The ride, luxury, and roominess are better than any other I tried. However, unexpectedly it is the noisiest quiet vehicle. It is 7 months and it has the following noises: front caliper pop, rear breaks make a clunk noise when I change direction, they also make a loud rubbing noise during the first 10 min. of operation every day (all of this according to the dealer is normal). The NAV system controls on the steering wheel donÂ’t work 20% of the time. All this is not to say that I donÂ’t like my MDX. I do like it very much. ItÂ’s just not perfect, which for the money I would have expected it to come a little closer.

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  A sensible choice - 2017 Acura RDX
  By Carlos Guzman - April 17 - 9:25 am

  I just got this recently, so Im still in the honeymoon period, but I think that I have a pretty good idea of what this car is. Likes: the power and the price. Those were the two main factors that made me pull the trigger. They had a great lease deal and I really wanted a V6 instead of a turbo 4. Other cars I considered were the new Lexus RX350 (which was at least $150 more a month), the BMW X3 and the 3-series GT (probably $200 more a month, and their down payments are considerably more) and the Lexus NX 200t (smaller and turbo engine). The build quality is great. I got the base model with the leatherette seats and they feel very nice, other than the strong plastic smell. No sweet leather smell here. I like that this is lower than most SUVs, so it handles so much better and if feel almost like, dare I say, a sporty sedan. I had a Toyota Highlander before, and I wanted to avoid the dynamics of a heavy and soft SUV. . . It was a pregnant cow on wheels. The RDXs engine sounds sweet and pulls great -- the transmission, on the other hand, is slow and outdated. Forget using the paddle shifters, they are slow and theres a jerk when downshifting. Better just use your foot and/or sport mode and leave the paddles alone. This engine with modern 8-speed transmission would kill. Comfort is okay. Some people have complained about RDXs having suspension problems. The car doesnt like bumps. You can feel and hear the suspension working and I do think its a design flaw, but not a defect per se. I did have suspension problem on a 2011 Honda Odyssey, and after multiple trips to the dealership and opening a case with corporate, they were never able to fix it. Its just like every other manufacturer, they have known problems with their car and they jerk you around until you give up. I personally like the simple entertainment system in this base model. Acuras technology package is outdated. I do wish the stereo was a bit better, but I can live with it. Bluetooth always pairs without fail with my iPhone 6. All in all, this is a great small SUV if you want acceleration, a bit of luxury, decent cargo space, and a low price. I think that naturally aspirated V6s are a dying breed, and by the time this lease is up, Id probably be faced with choosing a 4-cyl turbo, or some type of hybrid system -- which I guess wouldnt be that bad. So far Im getting 18 mpg (90% city traffic), and that combined with a smallish fuel tank has me going to the pump more frequently than Id prefer.

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  great car, just waiting for awd - 2004 Acura TL
  By jjman - April 7 - 11:40 pm

  This is a fun car that is a decent handler with good steering feel. It is at its best when passing or accelerating on straightaway. Its at its worse when turning a corner because of an annoying tug on steering wheel. Cant wait for sh-awd with same engine or maybe a little bit more power. Then it would be ultimate luxury car!!

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  harmonics bah! - 2004 Acura TL
  By ctomb - March 30 - 2:23 pm

  My car vibrates has since I bought it. Told this is regular occurrence w/ many TLs. Anyone else experience this 55- 65mph. Not an overwhelming shimmy but did need to get new tires after 302K miles.

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  AcuraTLGasGuzzler - 2004 Acura TL
  By pointguard - March 7 - 10:00 am

  Beautiful car, silky smooth eng/trans direct competition for BMW 540. Major disappointment: Acura sticker reads 17- 23 city 23-28 mpg prem gas.Appears to be real fraud to me.Decived this buyer. Truth 500 miles of which 300 city 14 mpg and 200 highway 16 mpg. Looking to join class action lawsuit and compensation from Acura/Honda as car will cost several thousand more to operate over 4yrs than represented and a big reason I bought TL instead of G35 or ES330.

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  Could be a great car - 2016 Acura TLX
  By acuradriver - February 28 - 4:35 pm

  Transmission is awful, 9 speed ZF just isnt right choice. Interior desighn is a bit rough and poor for luxury car. Handling is great. AWD SH is awesome. Could be a great car if Acura didnt cut corners and did not put that awful 9 speed transmission in. Also, poor customer service at acuralink, but Radley Acura where I got this car is outstanding.

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  noisy noisy - 2002 Acura MDX
  By Norick Baboomian - January 27 - 10:00 am

  Its a ok suv to have, couldnt wait to buy it. But for a $45k suv I could buy a quieter suv. Lots of wind and road noise. The armrest is not comfortble while driving. Should have waited another year so I can get an improved 2002 model. Acura doesnt take the responsibility to upgrade it, so I am not happy with their service. One of the victims of a first year production car buyr.

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  Traded in BMW for TL-S - 2003 Acura TL
  By JingleJill - January 27 - 10:00 am

  I traded in a 2001 BMW 330i for a 2003 Anthracite TL-S and I couldnt be happier. The two cars are totally different, so it is not really fair to compare them. However, for the money, the Acura cannot be beat. Everything is standard (except nav). The TL-S is a great car. Real leather, a great stereo, an awesome engine, and it can hold four adults in comfort. I just passed 600 miles and Ive averaged 23mpg. Not too shabby. Ill update again when I have more miles.