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:

• 

  What a car - 2004 Acura TSX
  By Alex Schaffhausen - December 10 - 10:00 am

  Wonderful to drive, beautiful to look at. Would recommend it to anyone and would buy it again in a heartbeat. Adding the spoiler and underbody package really makes it stand out.

• 

  A Real Steal - 2004 Acura TL
  By RMayes - December 10 - 10:00 am

  Tons of car for the money. Nimble, great feel for the road, corners nicely and has powerful acceleration. Extremely comfortable with some nice touches, such as hands free phone with bluetooth technology. Head-turning new body style makes it stand out among such others as Audi and BMW. Leather seats are most comfortable, and have two memory settings to match drivers 1 and 2. And last but not least, the sound system is without peer. The in- dash 6 CD player also handles audio dvds, which are much better sounding that simple CDs. You will not regret buying this one.

• 

  No regrets at this time - 2009 Acura TSX
  By GDR - December 9 - 5:33 pm

  We decided to get this car because, we are returning our worse car ever 2007 c230 Mercedes Benz in few weeks. The new 2009 tsx with tech package is the best deal I ever had. A good size for family daily drive and options. A little bit bumpy. But, overall its an a+ on its class. Quality speaks for itself.

• 

  What a great package at a great price - 2005 Acura TL
  By Mark - December 8 - 8:56 pm

  Spent two months researching and testing numerous sedans. As a tall driver (64") coming over from a SUV, I was looking for roominess, economy, and hopefully decent styling and sportiness at no more than around $50K. A tough combination indeed!! First zeroed in on Avalon and C300, then test drove BMW 330 & 530, A4, G35, M35, Maxima, Lexus 330, and Volvo S80. Whew! The TL was just simply the best combo of what I was looking for. Surprisingly roomy. What a ride! What features! The rest - forget it. Im in heaven!

• 

  Beyond expectations - 2009 Acura TL
  By al - December 7 - 6:13 pm

  Ive waited for this car since first trying the 2005 RL, which I found to be too soft. This 2009 TL is really superior. Even in low speeds, on side streets, theres no feeling of nose-heavy understeer. On highway on/off ramps, in spite of having had snow, sleet and wet pavement, its been holding the road as if on rails. The brakes are superb - which is the first time in an Acura (Ive owned six before), that I do not feel that need to be upgraded. So as I stated, this car is, definitely, much better then all Acuras that I greatly enjoyed before, as well as much beyond my expectations of it.

• 

  Borrow some minivan features - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Ed - December 7 - 5:26 pm

  Not bad for driver, but third row passengers are very limited. Need more leg room and easy to get in/off. How about power sliding rear doors instead of traditional wings and power lift gate would be a good features to borrow from minivans. Automatic doors locking feature at the speed greater than 20 mph.

• 

  Excellent Car - 2008 Acura RL
  By RL Driver - December 6 - 12:47 pm

  I cross-shopped the Lexus IS/GS, BMW 5 series and the Acura RL. Stayed away from Mercedes due to past experience. RL provided the most rewarding driving experience combined with the most features for the money. It is also very reasonable to insure. Fuel mileage has been in the 17-20 mpg commuting in traffic.

• 

  GSR Sold for 3960 - 1995 Acura Integra
  By 71 - December 6 - 5:19 am

  Great car, sold as stock. Hard to find stock for these old rockets. I had to replace, in order, the radiator, clutch, alternator, starter, brakes, from 114K to 157K. Still didnt break the bank with updates, well worth it for the power and handling and gas mileage. 23/34

• 

  Has it all - 2007 Acura TL
  By mmorFun - December 4 - 6:42 pm

  This car is great. I had a 2004 Infiniti G35 and this car tops it by far. The interior has more room (I am 64"). I have plenty of head room and ample leg room. The stereo and nav is top notch. And the seats are very supportive and comfortable. The power on the Type S is very solid. Though one thing I miss is the rear wheel drive on the G35. But, besides that this car is very fun to drive.

• 

  For Keeps - 1999 Acura TL
  By Harvey - December 3 - 7:02 pm

  I bought this car (99 3.2 Acura TL with navigation) really out of luck. I was looking for reliable vehicle as I drive up and down the coast (400 miles) almost every month. My experience with this vehicle has always been a possitive one. Its easy to maintain. Since the time I bought this car, the only maintenance I had to do was the usual oil change, break/tire change and the required 100k timing belt.