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 crossover for young family - 2013 Acura RDX
  By oaklandfan78 - October 30 - 11:52 pm

  Ive had an RDX for a month and all I can you wont regret a test drive. This is an awesome Crossover with performance on par to sport sedans. Those who say its basically the same as the Honda CRV have no clue what they are talking about. For one thing, the V6 just shines...it instills confidence and I actually look forward to driving. Try drive up a hill in the RDX and you will understand its capabilities. Secondly the technology for value cant be beat. I recommend going for the technology package if you can afford it. You get a very convenient power lift gate and an awesome 410 watt sound system which plays music in all sorts of ways (CD, DVD-Audio, XM radio, Bluetooth, Ipod)

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  Great value for money - 2012 Acura MDX
  By rchary - October 22 - 10:31 am

  Great SUV on the fundamental side. Runs great, has enough power and handles like a small car. But the elecronics inside are sub par. Even non luxury (Ford) has better electronics. For example the screen is not touch screen and resolution is poor. There are duplicate buttons for every on screen function. In other words, navigation screen and the functions available there including audio are a duplicate of existing buttons resulting in cluttered dashboard. Rearview camera is cheap and has poor resolution. Doesnt work well in dark and during rain. Almost monochrome. Wish the side mirrors could be folded from inside. Its a wide SUV and I need to fold the mirrors to park it inside the garage.

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  5 yr. ownership review - 2007 Acura TSX
  By hborgaonkar - October 13 - 10:56 am

  After 5 yrs and 50000 miles, tsx is still awesome and has aged well (not aged at all) drive is still sublime. All the tech goodies are still up to date

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  Awesome vintage of the TSX line - 2006 Acura TSX
  By jpallen01 - October 11 - 8:59 pm

  Purchased this car new for my wife at Christmas in 2005. Did the bow thing. It has made us smile every day since. We just finally traded it in with 86,000 miles on it and it was still a very awesome car that gave me an ear to ear grin. This is a car that performed excellent. i felt I could drive it to its limit on backroads and still be comfortable and not in fear of my life. The tech package was great for late 2005. And the touch screen interface easy to navigate. We only traded it because our kids are about 6 years from driving now and we had to consider that we werent going to keep it 12 years, and we werent going to let the kids drive a new car. Planning is everything.

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  Great Buy - 2012 Acura TL
  By sramanathan - October 10 - 7:17 pm

  I did ton of research before buying this car. This is the best luxury car in terms of price that pretty much gives you an interior spacing of BMW 5 series for the price of 3 series. Absolute pleasure driving it. After buying it had to take it for a 1000 mile round trip drive, felt no pain or fatigue as compared to the other cars I had driven. Rear view cameras are good. Other than that nothing really great about the tech package.

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  Love at First Drive!!! - 2010 Acura TSX
  By bbimmer7 - September 30 - 3:06 pm

  It was an extensive car search, but the minute I got behind the wheel I knew this was the car for me! I wanted something that had the right balance of style, luxury, performance, and quality... the TSX V6 has all of that! I looked at a number of CPO luxury cars, but none of them could compare to value and reliability of the Acura. One of my other top considerations was the VW CC, but I didnt like its bland vinyl interior and below-average reliability. The TSX is a very attractive car. So many sedans these days look bloated and dull. The TSXs sleek profile and aggressive stance make it look like the sports sedan it truly is.

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  Satisfied new lease owner - 2012 Acura TL
  By hcpsmarshall - September 30 - 12:57 am

  Car handles well and is impressively equipped with the technology package. The sound system is great as is the voice command. The number of buttons can be daunting, but I find them useful. Styling is good and overall it is a great value, especially for a lease.

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  Just the right amount of utility & luxury - 2013 Acura RDX
  By rdxer93 - September 19 - 9:35 pm

  I searched and search for just the right SUV and the Acura RDX fit my needs just right. I was looking for a smaller SUV that was fun to drive, had good gas mileage, the right amount of space, a bit of luxury, and was priced right. After the first 60 days, Im convinced the RDX was the best choice. The RDX offers good styling, a luxury interior, a very peppy ride, quiet inside, and a relatively smooth ride. I wouldnt consider the handling as sporty, but this isnt an Acura TL either. For relatively $10k less than others brands in the category, the RDX is a solid choice.

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  The 2013 RDX is fantastic!! - 2013 Acura RDX
  By riathediva627 - September 19 - 6:22 pm

  Ride Quality: The RDX rides smoothly and has a car-like feel. It has a firm, but luxurious feel. Performance: The engine has pickup. The engine sounds solid and pleasantly aggressive. Interior: The interior is luxurious, yet sporty. The leather is soft and of good quality. The interior is roomy-even for a tall person! The sound system is awesome! The backup camera has 3 views which ensures that you see stuff very well. The navigation system is very intuitive. The car sets itself based on the key in the car (ex. Driver 1 key shows all Driver 1s radio presets and adjust seats to Driver 1s presets). Windows are tinted nicely. The Hard Disc Drive that records CDs is great! Listening to music

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  LOVE this car - 2008 Acura RL
  By mtfool - September 18 - 4:26 pm

  I bought this car as Certified Pre-Owned, with 70k miles, and its been great in all regards. The stock tires were not good in snow, so I bought snow tires and put them on dedicated rims, and wow! The car is amazing in the snow. Its also a heavy car, so it holds tight to the road, like its on rails. Is quiet and responsive but not demanding. A few minor issues: Chrome on the grill is peeling, which I see on all RLs of that year in our area. Acura had the brass to tell me the "solution" is to wipe down the chrome with a towel after every rain and snow! How about taking some responsibility, Acura!? Also, keyless entry door handle needed replacement, which is a common problem.