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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  My Dream Car! - 2008 Acura TL
  By Chris - March 4 - 9:44 am

  Ive had my eye on this car for over a year. I traded in my 05 TSX. The difference is amazing! The TSX was a great little commuter car, but the TL Type S is a mean machine on the road. I was considering an Infiniti G35 or a Lexus IS 350, but when you priced similarly equipped cars the TL blew them out of the water price wise. I have owned one acura and two hondas and this is by far the best value for the money and the most fun to drive.

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  Great Total Package - 2006 Acura TL
  By Dan - March 3 - 3:23 am

  I have owned Saabs and Volvos for many years and decided to look for an all around performer for road trips, city driving, snow, ice and hot weather driving. I looked at all the competitors to the TL and found the TL to be tops in the "total package"; the well integrated controls of the excellent sound system, navigation system, the blue tooth cell phone technology, the power and handling. There are definitely improvements that can be made but no other car puts it all together like Acura did with the TL at under $35K. A bit surprised about the poor milage the TL has shown me in the one year Ive had it - only averaging 17MPG mixed. Nice job Acura and its also built and designed in the US.

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  TL is a great car - 2008 Acura TL
  By nacho2 - March 2 - 11:29 am

  I have had the car for under a week, no complaints at all.The car is an automatic and drives very smooth. I would recommend this car to anyone comparing it to a Lexus or a Mercedes. Apart from value of the vehicle, Acura offers reliability.

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  Best deal for the money! - 2006 Acura TSX
  By MicksTSX - March 2 - 9:43 am

  The TSX has so much to offer. Awesome HID headlights heated, power-adjustable driver and passenger sport seats with drivers memory leather upholstery an eight-speaker, 360-watt audio system with XM satellite radio and an in-dash CD changer dual-zone automatic climate control and a sunroof ALL standard! Interior is laid out nicely lots of safety features including stability control and side curtain airbags 205 hp engine that is fairly quiet but gets up and goes when needed decent gas mileage (I average 25 mostly city driving) easy to park and handles well Honda reliability. Exterior styling is a bit bland but its nice not to see another TSX often like the Accords :)

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  Best in comfort and power - 2007 Acura MDX
  By fly - March 2 - 9:25 am

  This suv has everyting from heads up display to nav. I love the mdx. I have taken the mdx on long trips and found the comfort level is 2nd to none. My wife will not fly so all our trips are on the highway. Highway miles per gallon 22-23 mpg @74mph city 17-18 mpg The only problem I find is the gas tank door sticks when cold.

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  Awesome Car - 2003 Acura CL
  By KamG - March 2 - 2:00 am

  Great luxury car with low price tag! You actually get all options with MSRP...no hidden mark-ups for options. The Type S gives you 260 horses that can put away most cars. Acura engine is tops in maintenance! Over-all fun car!

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  what a great crossover vehicle! - 2003 Acura MDX
  By dorene1 - March 2 - 2:00 am

  We are so pleased with this vehicle! The acceleration is great, its extremely quiet, and the road ride is soooo smooth. The turn radius is huge, and handling is precise. The split 3rd row gives us great flexibility of use, and we can get groceries and 3 kids in comfortably. The DVD system is excellent, and tech features are all very useful. Solid choice for a family car.

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  Great Car - 2008 Acura TSX
  By TonyLanc - March 1 - 11:35 am

  If youre looking for loads of power, dont buy this car. But if you are looking for good gas mileage and a car with a lot of options with a little luxury and sport, this is the car for you.

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  I LOVE MY 08 MDX! - 2008 Acura MDX
  By SanAntonioSweety - March 1 - 11:15 am

  My truck is great & I play hard, it seems as though its built to last! Just came back from a trip to D.C. made it to D.C. in 28 hours from San Antonio! Took the scenic route thru ATL on the way home & made a few other stops. The MDX provided entertainment for my son via dvd & the nav was on point for me! Would have been lost up a creek w/o that!

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  Fun, fun, fun! - 2008 Acura RDX
  By Josh B - February 29 - 6:24 pm

  Ive had my RDX one month now, and I absolutely love it! It really moves and sounds wonderful doing it. The interior is very inviting in taupe with better than expected room for four adults. The heated leather seats offer comfort and support in the turns, which is a good thing, because this machine loves the curves. Best car Ive owned!