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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  Love this car - 2008 Acura TL
  By Treetop Flyer - May 28 - 10:36 am

  Traded in a 2004 F150 supercrew which we really liked. We were looking for a sporty sedan with better mileage than the 14mpg we were getting with the truck. Went to the Seattle Auto Show and we liked three models. The first two dealers we went to didnt have the model we liked in stock. Then we went to our local Acura dealer and it was all over. We didnt want the test drive to end. We bought this car for better mileage and good looks and good handling. We averaged 22mpg on our first two tanks of gas; some highway and some city driving.

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  Below my expectations - 2002 Acura RSX
  By tweet - May 28 - 10:00 am

  Car is alot of fun but my passengers side window started rattling when it is part way down. This started around 8k miles. Around 10k miles, the drivers side started also. Its very annoying. I owned a Honda previously and after 8 years, no such problems. I would have expected better build quality than this. Also, some interior parts do not fit as nicely as I would expect from an Acura. I would think twice about buying this car again.

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  My good choice - 2002 Acura TL
  By stevesil - May 28 - 10:00 am

  Comfort is exceptional, particularly for drivers who need thigh support. Handling is a pleasure. The car is totally responsive at highway speeds for both acceleration and braking. The driving experience has been excellent.

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  No complaints - 2009 Acura TSX
  By barc2 - May 28 - 9:10 am

  Just leased the 2009 acura tsx without navigation. $400 month nothing down--I could not get a mazda 6 for that price!! Forget the audi 4, volkswagen cc and every other entry level luxury car- you are at $420-$470 oh and none of them have a trunk. My clubs, folding chairs and kids baseball equipment all fit nicely in the tsx. Car is beautiful paladium silver with gray interior-hard to find by the way--dealer was great - something about salesmen in suits as opposed to polo shirts at most other places. Car is solid and tight, very quiet, front seat hugs you nicely like a sports car should - 4 cylinder is not as peppy as my old passat but it is passable. Stereo is above average but not great.

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  Will own till it dies - 2003 Acura TL
  By Raider - May 27 - 4:09 pm

  Fantastic ride. Very comfortable, roomy interior with great sporty performance. Looking for some power at less cost - this car is a great option.

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  Wonderful Acura - 1999 Acura CL
  By D Cohen - May 27 - 1:56 am

  This is a very unique car. It is outstanding to drive has comfort, power, acceleration, quietness, and yet, it is reliable. The styling is classy and attractive. The lines are classic and elegant. Love the beautiful rear styling. Everyone looks at this car and comments how they like it. It will never go out of style and has never been a problem. I wish other things in life were as reliable as this car and had such longevity. We are not selling our CL. No other new car can compare in quality, comfort, reliability, and technology.

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  Left wondering about Acura - 2009 Acura TSX
  By TJ - May 26 - 4:13 pm

  Had my new 2009 TSX for two just weeks when I heard a crackling noise coming from the rear shelf area. The dealer said it was known issue Acura had issued a service bulletin to address this problem. The dealer kept the car to carry out the fix. Picked up the car but the noise returned shortly before I arrived home. Very disappointed in Acura for producing a defective product then selling it with a known problem. The Navi system has also been acting up. Generally the car has a spirited feel to it with a responsive engine. However the on-center feel at highway speeds is very poor-one needs to constantly correct steering. The seats are too firm and leave you sore after a road trip.

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  The Sweet Spot of Price to Performance - 2009 Acura TSX
  By peterb - May 26 - 3:52 pm

  I "fell up" to a TSX when considering a loaded Jetta TDI. For about $3k more, I got a car with much more polish that is as fun to drive. I like both the exterior and interior styling, although some people hate it. Ive always driven manuals, but the auto TSX is plenty of fun, and I enjoyed it more than the 6-speed. The car is nimble, extremely comfortable, and is a bargain. Some complain that its not as muscular as a BMW 3 series or an Infiniti G37. This is true. Its also many thousands of dollars less expensive. For me, this was the sweet spot of price/performance. I have only owned the TSX for a month, so my "reliability" score is at this point more of a hope than a rating.

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  WOW! - 2005 Acura TL
  By Athlete21 - May 26 - 8:50 am

  Just awesome! A little bit different than my 2002 corolla, haha.

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  Love my RDX - 2007 Acura RDX
  By rcizme - May 25 - 3:01 pm

  Although some call it an SUV its not. I dont drive it off road and dont plan to but on snow covered mountain roads it out handles my 4x4 Explorer in every way. The SH-AWD is one of the best Ive ever driven. On performance, I didnt buy it as a race car but I drive over a mountain pass to work every day and this car doesnt work very hard climbing the grade AND with just over 50K miles, Im averaging 24 MPG. Im confused as to why so many complain about poor fuel economy. Im guessing that mileage figures vary with driving habits? Its not a race car... dont drive it like one.