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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  all that - 2008 Acura TL
  By Eric - March 13 - 8:06 pm

  We just bought our TL and have come to love it! The performance and handling are just right for my driving habits (however bad they may be). Hopefully mister officer wont be around when I let her ponies run. The interior is pretty comfortable and well designed. We look forward to many years with this car.

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  Honda is Plastically Challanged! - 2004 Acura MDX
  By Ken - March 12 - 6:11 pm

  Pretty nice overall, aside from the front air vent falling off in my hand and the rear speaker covers can be easily pried off without tools. The whole interior is bland and it drives like the Queen Mary II.

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  Former Collector-Had Ferrari, Lotus, Jag - 2008 Acura RL
  By Dr Al - March 11 - 7:27 pm

  Great handling, feels like the vehicle is glued to the road due to the SH-AWD. Requires high test although gas mileage is reasonable. Excellent acceleration for a 4000 pound vehicle. Roomy, high tech voice command system, fabulous 5.1 surround sound and backup camera which I wanted. Also has manual shift via paddles on the steering wheel, and Acura reliability. Everything works as intended. Drive one, youll buy it.

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  Forgot my G35x - 2009 Acura TL
  By Mike NYC - March 11 - 5:23 pm

  Ive had my new TL for 2 weeks and am in love with it. Traded in my 2007 G35x and do not miss it one bit. interior is large and fit and finish is top notch. reviews regarding steering are not accurate. Steering is spot-on and effort is just right. controls are intimidating at first but make perfect sense after a few days. gas mileage is great for this class, and as far as the styling goes, even stubborn anti-car girlfriend loves it.

• 

  Fun to drive, joy to own - 2009 Acura MDX
  By AcuraMDX09 - March 11 - 10:33 am

  I tried to convince myself to buy a German SUV. I test drove the X5 (3.0), Audi Q7, and the ML 350. In my opinion none of the German cars come close to touching the MDX in handling, comfort and space. Material could be a touch better in the MDX (the black fiberglass trim looks cheap for example). But there is no way I could justify 8-10K more for any of the German cars. And dont get me started on the RX350 or the CX9.

• 

  asdf - 2006 Acura TSX
  By cassper - March 11 - 8:26 am

  fun to drive, enjoy to drive. love navi. chick magnet. cannot go anywhere without being asked how much I bought this car for....

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  Sea to ski - 2009 Acura RDX
  By Grant - March 10 - 7:16 pm

  My lease had come up on my 05 Infiniti FX35...a beautifully designed and performing vehicle. I looked at the BMW X3, the Infiniti FX35 and the Acura RDX. The obvious question was, what was I going to have to give up to move to a less expensive vehicle. Surprisingly... not much. Negatives on the RDX no automatic headlights strange... almost awkward styling, poor mileage, no compass, very basic rims, rough ride for some, strange cargo cover. Big Positves! Sports car handling and acceleration awesome, AWD system, look at it this way... if money wasnt an object, Id be deciding between the BMW X6 or the FX50. Saving some money and not giving up the farm feels pretty good.

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  An overall winner - 2006 Acura TL
  By LisaB315 - March 9 - 8:36 pm

  I can truly attest to this cars performance, having driven it for 80,000 miles and 3 solid years. It is a fun car to drive, be it in the city or on a country road. Everything you can think of with a few exceptions (Ill get to those next) is included (not an option) like Bluetooth, steering wheel controls, driver & passenger memory seats, awesome navigation with touch screen and theres even a light in the glovebox. The downsides:no MP3 connection,no need for cassette player,rear seats dont fold, moon roof controls should be mounted on dashbord.I recommend Michelin tires for a quiet ride.The TL is extremely affordable to maintain- I still have my original brakes with 5k+ miles remaining.

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  Great SUV! - 2008 Acura RDX
  By Danny B. - March 9 - 7:01 pm

  A great little SUV! It outperforms my G35X in the harshest winter conditions and is more fun to drive. My only "complaint" is that I wish it had a little more cargo space but then I guess it would have been the MDX. The interior is beautiful, the features and tech outstanding. And I LOVE the XM Satellite radio! A great car! My wife loves it and I love driving it when shes not.

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  Great Car - 2009 Acura TSX
  By Scott - March 9 - 9:12 am

  Leased a 09 TSX (w/out tech package) - great car and compares very well against my 06 TL that I turned in. Well built and very high in the electronics features - much better than my 08 Cayenne. I do not miss the DVD audio system in my TL as I had 1 dvd audio disc - however w/out that feature the stereo is great as is the Ipod interface. Performance is good - not as good as the TL but it gets the job done and the black on black color combination works great. It looks great and drives very smooth. I looked at A4, VW CC, etc but none came close to the deal on the TSX + the dealership blew every other dealership away.