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:

• 

  2005 TL Nice Ride - 2005 Acura TL
  By V G Miami - December 5 - 10:56 am

  Nice, reliable car. Great lines. Disappointed in the quality of the leather seats. They are showing signs of wear already, 3 months. Got a great price.

• 

  Nice - 2008 Acura RDX
  By Marty - December 5 - 10:36 am

  Ive had the RDX for about three months and have been very pleased. I drove a Honda Pilot for 5 years and it did a great job of hauling kids, but driving it was kind of like driving a boat. Not so with the RDX. This little SUV handles better than my wifes TL but offers a lot more flexibility. Im getting about 20 mpg in mixed driving, which is about what I expected. I could probably get better mileage if I kept the little red turbo needle pointing down more often, but wheres the fun in that! So far, a really nice car.

• 

  Solid, fun car but needs passion - 2003 Acura TL
  By JPS - December 5 - 1:33 am

  I like this car a lot. As I look at individual features it meets or beats its competitors - especially if you throw in the price. But I wish this car inspired a little more passion when you put it all together. Style is too bland given all of its power.

• 

  Dependable Fun Car - 2003 Acura RSX
  By andy g - December 4 - 6:02 pm

  Owned this vehicle for six months. Great car overall. Good acceleration. Good gas mileage usually get above 30 miles per gallon depending on how I drive. Only problem with it the car so far was the fan belt had to be re placed at 44,000 miles. This cars seats could be more comfortable, on long rides seats can be uncomfortable. Overall this car this car was a great decision suggested to anyone who wants a fun fast car that is good on gas.

• 

  MDX - Best SUV on the Market - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Dr. T - December 4 - 12:15 am

  I now have over 18,000 trouble free miles on my MDX. It is one of the best vehicles I have ever owned. Very comfortable on long trips. Performance is even better with a K&N low resistance air filter.

• 

  A wolf in sheeps clothing. - 2008 Acura RDX
  By pdxRDX - December 3 - 11:35 pm

  What a hoot this thing is to drive! Somehow the wizards at Acura have managed to put the soul of a sports car into an SUV. Decent fuel economy (great for an SUV), comfortable interior, great looks, amazing acceleration, plenty of goodies in the base model. Buy one NOW!

• 

  My Acura Rsx - 2004 Acura RSX
  By oraclej69 - December 3 - 2:00 am

  the car is ok, but its awsome now that i have molded on a body kit,cold air intake system, radio upgrade,18" wheels & tires,projection headlights,, and much much more to come.

• 

  Sporty RSX type-s - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Jay 7 - December 3 - 2:00 am

  This Rsx is the nicest acura sports car i have divin and since i got my license i have always had at least one acura. Acura really out did itself with this one.

• 

  2004 MDX - 2004 Acura MDX
  By PVpilot - December 3 - 2:00 am

  I had the 2001 MDX liked it so I went for the 2004..What a change ! The 2004 is quiter, better handling.. Just a great SUV what an improvement over the 2001!

• 

  A lot of car for the money! - 2004 Acura TL
  By clutchmnky - December 3 - 2:00 am

  It was a lot more car than I expected in this price range. The more I drive it, the better I feel I made the right choice. Performance was very impressive, having been around muscle cars most of my life, Ive been used to seat of the pants acceleration and was pleased with what the TL was capable of.