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 Car - 2004 Acura TL
  By RFW - March 29 - 10:00 am

  Perfect Car: Excetion of Bridgestone tires. Had the car two weeks and felt vibration at 45 to 60 MPH. Took it back to the dealer and to make a long story short, they put on new Bridgestones. This did not solve the problem of the vibration. I decided on my own to take the car to a tire dealer. I have since changed the tires to a different make and all I can say is WOW!!! what a difference, love the ride and great handling!

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  Fun to drive, high revving car. - 2003 Acura RSX
  By bpayne - March 28 - 11:45 am

  Another great car I have owned. This car has a sporty look to it with the optional A-spec package offered by the acura dealership which includes spoiler, lip kit and upgraded suspension rims and tires.

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  Super car and an amazing value - 2007 Acura RL
  By Dave S - March 28 - 4:22 am

  The RL is a magnificent machine, and far and away the best value in its class. It is cram packed with cool technology and the AWD delivers amazing handling in all kinds of weather. Fit and finish are supurb. This car puts a smile on my face every day on the way to work each morning and tempts me to take the "long way" home each night. Highly recommended.

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  type s - 2002 Acura RSX
  By lschmieg - March 27 - 10:00 am

  The car is everything we thought it would be. good performance, nice looks, good fuel econmy(avg. 25 mpg in mixed driving). The negatives are not huge but are annoying, doors do not lock automatically, seat belt is always in the way when closing the door and bangs against door pillar when you take it off. Needs power seat to make it easier getting in after my wife drives it and has the seat all the way forward,

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  Still going strong - 2001 Acura TL
  By Jimmy Mac - March 26 - 10:12 am

  Bought new 9/2000. First 30K was commuting back and forth to Cleveland from home (420 miles one way). This car is coming up on 95K, still runs great, looks good and I plan on keeping it. Best car (value) I have ever owned.

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  Awesome car!! - 2006 Acura RSX
  By stanley_eisan - March 25 - 9:06 am

  Great looking fast car for a great price. That v-tech motor is simply awesome and 31 highway miles, cant beat that either.

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  Great for my tastes - 2006 Acura RSX
  By Jared - March 22 - 7:40 pm

  Certainly a big step up from a 97 Explorer. Sporty feel in the suspension and more than enough power get off the line. Hardly any disappointments, except: no automatic headlamps, poor sound system, and sometimes the automatic doesnt respond after slowing below 20 mph. As for the lights, my explorer had them, so why not this? As for the sound system, there is no stock system that could ever compare to a decent after market system and as for the throttle response, if it were a huge issue I would have gotten a manual transmission. As I said for the money, I dont think you could find a better car.

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  Black thunder! - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Jappi - March 22 - 5:29 pm

  Honestly, I was never even considering a Japanese SUV until I took the RDX for a test spin. I love the zero to 60 in 6.8 secs, SH-AWD (it truly works!), no-lag turbo. The RDX V4 Turbo is as good as any V6 guzzler SUV you see in the market, even better in some sense. And not to mention, the tech features are just fabulous. Everything works great. The RDX handles way better than BMW X3. And come on, the luxury and reliability of Acura can never be beat. The pricing is too good as well. And the best thing, the car is going to tell me when it needs servicing. Until then, I dont even need to take it to the service guys. How cool is that?! Go Acura!

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  Best car yet - 1992 Acura Legend
  By John from VA - March 22 - 9:56 am

  I purchased this car in 96. It had 50K when purchased, now has 135K. I have replaced brake master, converted AC to new freon when all the leaks were found. Much cheaper than installing a new system if you can find a mechanic to take the time. Tires, brakes and fluids just like any other car. Still need to do the motor mounts to fix the 1 to 2 shift issue. Its been in the garage its whole life, home and work. It still shines up like it was new except for the sand blasted front, I live in north east. Great car to drive and look at. Everything fits together so well and tight. I enjoy driving the 70 to 90+. It seems to get easier as speeds go up.

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  Great Car - 2004 Acura TL
  By Ed Shaw - March 20 - 2:53 pm

  I now have 75K miles and have yet to experience any problems. Would recommend this car to anyone.