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:

• 

  Quality Vehicle - 1997 Acura RL
  By sdem - December 28 - 7:48 pm

  I was running through Edmunds while looking to purchase my wife a new Acura and thought id place a review in for my acura. i cant say anything bad about it. i bought it used in 2000 and its now 10 years old and still looks incredible. friends are baffled on how well it looks, how well it drives and how reliable it is. need i say more.

• 

  Review of 2007 TL Type S - 2007 Acura TL
  By WarriorZeroSix - December 28 - 12:50 pm

  After one month of ownership, all is fantastic! Amazing automobile with no issues to this point. Taking some time to learn all of the system(s) capabilities, but WOW! Gas mileage is getting better with each mile.

• 

  Great Car - 2006 Acura TSX
  By Glenn Lambert - December 27 - 4:17 pm

  Ive owned some nice cars in the past, many that were considerably more expensive. The TSX is a tremendous value. I drive 30,000 mile a year. I need a comfortable car, but I also want the performance and handling. Its not always easy to find both. Acura got it just right in the TSX.

• 

  RSX - S - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Silver03 - December 27 - 2:00 am

  This is an extremely fun car. You really feel like you get more than you pay for. Great performance, reliability, style, and comfort. I do wish it had some type of traction control and a little more torque.

• 

  Great car at a great price - 2004 Acura TL
  By CJ2000 - December 27 - 2:00 am

  Great dealership experience. Kind and friendly service common amongst Acura showrooms. The car is quick but its FWD layout limits its performance severely. However it makes the most of its setup. It has beefy sway bars installed from the factory. Great interior design. I love the blue backlit instruments. DVD-A sound is amaazing. Dealer provides a list of CDs currently available in DVD-A format. Seriously, if just to hear the demo CD they have, test drive this car.

• 

  One Hot Car - 2004 Acura TL
  By Cruzder - December 27 - 2:00 am

  Just traded my 99 TL on a new 04. There is no comparison. The 04 is fantastic. Great handling, power and comfort. Had it on Skyline Drive last weekend in the rain and it handled sharp turns with total confidence. And the stereo system is superb. A true sports sedan. Absolutely love it!

• 

  In love with Honda products - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Former Chevy driver - December 26 - 10:00 am

  I bought my wife a 2001 Accord a few months back and fell in love with Honda quality. The Acura RSX is no exception. I test drove everything, including the new Nissan Altima, and nothing came close. Fun to drive, quick, and great quality. Bypass the Type S, the base engine is quick! Unless you are going to the drag strip, it is more than enough engine.

• 

  Pure excellence - 2002 Acura MDX
  By RocinRob - December 26 - 10:00 am

  I have to say, buying my New Acura MDX was a smart decision. I paid more than sticker and I would do it again. This SUV drives like a car, handles rough roads in NYC with ease and dosent toss me around like the competition does.

• 

  I love my SUV - 2002 Acura MDX
  By JCBC - December 26 - 10:00 am

  Excellent Performance. I love the front

• 

  RSX-S is a Fun Car ! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By David... - December 25 - 2:00 am

  Just got one on 29 March, and am almost at the 600 mile break-in. Originally, I planned to buy via a discount buying service (CostCo), but ended up with a much better price from the local salesman; this was a surprisingly good experience. RSX-S is a fun car to drive! Handling and performance are wonderful; the engine is very responsive, especially (but not only) beyond 6000 RPM. The 6-speed manual transmission is great -- very smooth! Especially fun on winding, two-lane roads, where it passes slower logging trucks & RVs quickly and safely. Its also relatively fun (& quiet) on freeways -- certainly more solid and quieter than my 94 Integra.