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:

• 

  tl-s - 2003 Acura TL
  By tasdisr - March 21 - 10:00 am

  The car has excellent build quality, loads of features and great performance.

• 

  More Power Please - 2008 Acura TSX
  By Moclvland - March 21 - 7:09 am

  This car replaces a 2004 TSX manual without the Nav and no built in XM. This a great car for the money. There is no other model out there with the same features and quallity for the price (aroung 30k). The 08 car has a lot more bells and whistles than the 04 version and I love it. The biggest downside to this car is the underpowered engine. I had a manual last time and went with the automatic this time... big mistake. The manual allows you to get much more power out of the engine.

• 

  Road Warriors Dream - 2007 Acura RDX
  By PaulT - March 20 - 3:39 pm

  Test drove Mercedes, Lexus, BMW, Range Rover and found the RDX beat them all. Performance, quality and driveability all exceeded my demands. Gas mileage has been an avg of 20 mpg. I spend 3-5 hours a days behind the wheel and this is an awesome ride. Just love it.

• 

  This is a Drivers SUV - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Chad - March 19 - 3:22 pm

  This car has been so fun to drive. Lots of reviews about the stiff ride, but that is one of the things I like about the car. Leather is very nice. Lots of fun gadgets, and voice command works very well. This car offers more for the money than any of its competitors, especially the overpriced BMW X3. If you have a family with a bunch of kids, get the GMC Acadia or Mazda CX-9 in this price-range. But for the young professional looking for an entry-level luxury SUV, this is the bomb. Even if I was willing to pay more for a car, I would still end up with the RDX, thats how much Ive loved it. My wife drives a new audi, and has been jealous since I bought this.

• 

  2000 TL - 2000 Acura TL
  By jwd - March 19 - 12:40 pm

  Bought it used in 2004. It only had 25,000 miles. Runs great, rides great, looks great. Not a fan of having to use premium gas but it has delivered performance and reasonable gas mileage. Wouldnt hesitate to hop in and take off on a 3000 mile road trip.

• 

  Great Car! - 2008 Acura TL
  By Paul - March 18 - 7:35 pm

  Ive had this car for about eight months, and so far, its the best car Ive owned. Love the v-tech and power, while the interior seats are very comfortable and accommodating. I cant stress enough how good a value this car is for the features it offers, and the fuel economy is also commendable for its size and engine. I only wish Acura could have invested a little bit more detail and care for interior build quality, as there are some squeaks and rattles, and my shoes easily scuff the the bottom of the door panels. Overall, I love this car!

• 

  More cars should be made like the GS - 1992 Acura Vigor
  By Craig - March 18 - 9:48 am

  I heard that these cars were very good and so far it has lived up to its reputation. My GS handles like a dream. Is so quiet even with 133000 miles on her that I can hardly hear the enging. Parts are available cheaply. I have replaced a few things but only because I had no record of replacements, such timing belt, water pump, breaks and clutch. But these things do wear out.

• 

  This Car Rocks!! - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Jack Mark - March 16 - 10:06 pm

  My MDX is so smooth and the bluetooth works very good. I love the looks! I pretty much love everything about this car!

• 

  Acura TL - 2004 Acura TL
  By Rob R. - March 16 - 11:05 am

  I have a difficult time, in this market, finding a car to replace my TL. I am thinking of upgrading to a more luxurious sport sedan but I cannot find anything in the current choices that comes anywhere near the product for the money. This is especially true when you consider the reliability and possible maintenance costs based on other car makers track records. This car has had no major problems (other than some issues intially with the XM receiver-it was new at the time) in the roughly 4 years and 70,000 miles Ive owned it. It has taken some hard driving and has all the ammenities for longer trips.

• 

  Awesome ride - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Trekblue98 - March 15 - 10:00 am

  I bought the RSX about a week ago and I am very shocked. The car accelerates fast but yet I get 35 mpg. It takes awhile to get use of the firm seats. The car turns very well and stops on a dime. I love the red dashboard lights.