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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  Awesome car - Highly recommend!!!! - 2017 Acura TLX
  By Mike - June 26 - 8:02 pm

  This is my 3rd Acura - had 2008 MDX and 2011 TSX wagon - wagon was discontinued - switched to BWW 3 wagon xDrive - what a piece of junk - never again!!!

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  Great Road Car - 2007 Acura MDX
  By rdhaddock - June 26 - 11:29 am

  Ive put 27,000 miles on this car in less than 6 months and I love it. It gets 22 to 24 mpg on average with mostly road miles. Handling, acceleration, and everything is great. My only complaint would be that the seats are not as comfortable as I would like for such long road trips.

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  Great car!!! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By T-o-t-o - June 26 - 10:00 am

  Great car! Love it!

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  Love This Car - No Problems - 2002 Acura TL
  By AcuraTim - June 26 - 10:00 am

  Having owned this car for exactly one year I want to go on record as saying I have not had any problems. All Ive had to do is change the oil every 4000 miles. I have 22000 miles so far and have not experienced any transmission problems. This care is a lot of fun to drive - and I feel it is fast, responsive, and handles quite well. It is also a very comfortable car to drive.

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  My first luxury car - 2005 Acura TL
  By Suzanne - June 25 - 12:19 am

  I have owned this car since March of 2005. So far its been a joy to drive, lots of pep and good handling. I looked at the Lexus and Infiniti but after reading reviews and comments from people who own one I chose the Acura for value, reliability and all the features that were included as standard equipment.

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  One of the great Hondas - 1991 Acura Legend
  By nate - June 23 - 2:50 pm

  I truly love my 91 Legend Coupe. Sure, it cant go 0-60 in six flat, and maybe the mpg is a little low for $3.00 a gallon, but its worth it. Simply driving it around town is fun, compared to some other beaters Ive driven. You get it on the highway and its like a dream solid as a rock. Performance, however, is not what you would expect from 200 hp, but Im pretty sure thats due to the weight and the transmission design (automatic). It is truly the kind of Honda that you hear about, the ones that have 125k+ miles and run better than most late model American cars. My advice: if you can find one of these with life left in it, buy it.

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  Performance - 2007 Acura RDX
  By lukeivic - June 23 - 8:22 am

  My husband already owns the Acura TL. So we wanted the MDX (awesome vehicle too). But we saw the RDX - good price, great quality and it had all of the bells and whistles as the MDX. I have been driving it since January and I love it. It is everything they said it would be. However, it is a ladies car because of the size. You have a luxury car for a great price.

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  the best car - 2003 Acura TL
  By rajesh - June 22 - 10:00 am

  If you are trying to find a car for a good price, this is the car for you. this is better than INFINITI g35 and NISSAN 350z. ACURA 3.2 TL is the best car ever built. Best sound system, has a lot of power and ummph.. to it. YOu will not be dissappointed with this car.

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  Great Intro-Luxury Car! - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Les - June 22 - 7:36 am

  A lot of thought was put into this car. Smooth shifting using the "tiptronic" mode, but sluggish on the low end. Get it up to 4000 rpm, and look out. Runs like a six otherwise...outstanding deal for the money.

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  Exceeds Expectations - 2008 Acura MDX
  By pdx family - June 21 - 4:36 pm

  We have had the 2008 Acura MDX for a month now and couldnt be more delighted. It is replacing a Chrysler T&C. My ratings are based on what my expectations are in this class of vehicle. The size is perfect for us, it seats 5 easily and the +2 rear seating is quite acceptable though the access is difficult. The ride is comfortable, firm and responsive. Sport upgrade is worth it. The navigation system is outstanding and can be operated while moving. You must read the manuals to understand all the features. The gas mileage we have gotten is significantly better than EPA ratings. We got 25 mpg on a 200 mile x-mountain trip and see about 19 mpg in mixed town driving.