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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  Great Little Car - 2002 Acura RSX
  By *El Ocho* - September 29 - 9:20 am

  The RSX is a great little car. Ive had mine for over 5 years now & have had no problems what so ever. You just cant beat Honda build quality & reliability. The K20 may be the best engine Honda has ever built. It revs effortlessly to 8000 rpm & is highly tunable. The shifter is top notch & the car gives the driver great feedback. Tons of fun to drive

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  Junk Tranny - 2003 Acura RSX
  By ezputt - September 27 - 10:00 am

  Out of the door the tranmission would grind, had it back in shop within 250 miles, told that transmission needed to be broken in. 2600 miles, transmission is being replaced. Car squeaks and creaks like my 94 Ranger.

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  Great choice - 2003 Acura MDX
  By dwacpa - September 27 - 10:00 am

  Shopped for two months for right vehicle for me-The MDX is the one for me. Great vehicle, excellant ride, more than me my expeditions and requirements.

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  Excellent car - 2003 Acura TL
  By bobn - September 27 - 10:00 am

  Hadnt planned on buying this car, but glad we did. Excellent value for the $$. Beautiful exterior and interior styling, much nicer-looking than Accord or Infinity. I am normally a German-car driver, but I think this car has an excellent mix of comfort, handling, smoothness, power, gas mileage, and all-around bang for the buck. We get much better HWY gas mileage than I expected (~28+ mpg). Very quiet ride. Feels & drives very safe & solid. Suspension eats up road bumps like nothing. Quiet smooth engine, but still growls when you step on the throttle!

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  2006 Acura TL - 2006 Acura TL
  By Ernie - September 27 - 5:43 am

  TL is a fine and fun car, but it is neither a great luxury car or sports car. The ride is firm, way too much on uneven concrete surfaces. Several rattles.

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  Love At First Sight - 2007 Acura MDX
  By SteelerMan - September 25 - 8:29 pm

  I purchased my 2007 MDX just two days ago and LOVE it! It rides like a luxury SUV but with the kick and sporty attitude of a TL or TSX. The Technology Package blows my mind and I consider myself a "techy guy"! I am thrilled to have this vehicle!

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  Best value out there at this price - 2008 Acura TSX
  By kjones00 - September 24 - 12:06 pm

  Previous vehicles were all domestic trucks/SUVs. This little car is big on fun, features, & value. 6-sp transmission is the way to go - crisp and smooth. Could use more torque off the line, but then again Im averaging 26 mpg with about 60/40 city/hwy driving. Exterior design is clean and has a "smart" look to it. Interior is cozy, with soft to the touch materials, and also feels bigger than it actually is. Had a great experience with dealer all done over the phone. If youre looking for the perfect balance of design, style, performance, and economy, this simply cant be beat at the price point.

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  VISABILITY - 2018 Acura RDX
  By Pat Houge - September 24 - 2:47 am

  I just purchased the 2018 RDX Advance Package. This package comes with exterior side mirrors with a film on them which really distorts the drivers vision. It is especially bad on the drivers side where the mirror is divided to see far & near objects which is not necessary. This film only appears on the Advance Package vehicles. Due to the distraction & poor visibility caused by these mirrors, Acura should issue a "recall" on these vehicles. Additionally, the interior appointment of this vehicle could be improved with a nicer dash, steering wheel, floor mats, etc.

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  Drivers vehicle! - 2009 Acura RDX
  By NirVTEC - September 23 - 5:53 pm

  What a blast to drive! Hugs turns like a sport luxury sedan and pulls off the stoplight like Old V8s I have owned!

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  Very happy, should have had one long ago - 2009 Acura TSX
  By Brock Murphy - September 22 - 8:06 pm

  Extremely impressed with gas mileage. I get grigio with taupe leather without tech package. Didnt want nav but disappointed that the premium model didnt have 6 pack cd. Personally I am quite happy with the power from the 2.4L considering the gas mileage. My last car was a V6 with 265HP and I dont miss it. I bought an Acura for the reliability and so far I am happy. Interior fit and finish is great, seats are very comfortable and I love the manual transmission. Steering is very light.