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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  The best there is - 2008 Acura RL
  By Super Acura Fan - May 23 - 3:11 pm

  I love my new Acura RL fully loaded. Ive owned all of the major players including Lexus, BMW and MB. You really owe it to yourself to go test drive this amazing car if youre looking at 40-50K cars.

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  Best Value - 2008 Acura TL
  By SteveMN - May 22 - 4:05 pm

  Everything about this car is amazing for its price. Standard equipment, styling, performance, fuel efficiency for the power it has, I can go on. However, not quite sure how long this car will last in the Minneapolis MN weather. It is a disaster driving in snow, even with traction control it scares me how much it slides and fusses around. Its quite the handful. I thought I had summer tires on it since I bought in North Carolina, but thats not the case. My prior 03 Type-S did much better in frozen precip.

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  The Best - 2006 Acura TL
  By MES - May 21 - 2:03 pm

  This is my fourth Acura and the best yet. The ride is perfect ( I like hard ride) the interior design and the nav system are all top notch. You cant get a better value in the entry luxury class. I was thinking of changing to a Lexus ES 350, but the cost was $100 more per month with less features.

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  Id buy it again if I had to do it over! - 2003 Acura TL
  By Buzz Lightyear - May 21 - 10:00 am

  The features/options that are most important for a luxury sport sedan are included. The value clearly makes this car THE PICK of this category and price range. Handles beautifully at higher speeds. Comfortable ride but doesnt alienate driver from feel of the road. I like the interior styling (especially without the Nav system). Finally, the after purchase service--as I know from returning to Acura from a few misguided years driving a Cadillac--cant be beat. Still, I doubt that I will need anything but routine maintenance.

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  Great Car! - 2005 Acura TL
  By Steve - May 21 - 9:50 am

  This is the first time I actually test drove a variety of cars in the same class. Some I liked and some I didnt but in the end we chose the TL and have not regreted it a bit. We now have 29000 miles on it and it has been great! Power is great along wioth good mileage. The Dealer has also treated us well and gave us a better then fair price for it to. It does have a bit of torque steer at times and is going through tires alittle faster the I would like but I cant say thats not part of our fault. the Navigation system is very good along with the XM and DVD audio when you can find a good one to put in. A great car that gets my wife and two boys where they want to go safe a Fast.

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  Great CUV overall - 2008 Acura MDX
  By josephd05 - May 21 - 9:30 am

  I am 64" and find the seating comfort to be superb. The Sport suspension is fantastic. In comfort mode, it soaks up all the bumps. In Sport mode, I feel like Im driving a sports sedan. This is a fantastic vehicle, but not without faults. 1. AM radio sounds terrible, very muffled. 2. Telescopic steering wheel should extend out a couple of more inches. 3. Bluetooth is okay, but does not automatically activate if I make the call from my blackberry. You have to make the call from the car itself, very annoying. Thats about it. Overall I am very pleased.

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  Spectacular!!!!! - 2005 Acura RL
  By San Diego Owner - May 21 - 4:36 am

  You will never want to drive anything else once you involve yourself with this vehicle!! It is comfort at its best and performs beautifully!! The interior design features are well thought out. The real time traffic display on the navigation system is very helpful as well as the ability to us voice to operate. It is easy to use too! XM Satellite radio is awesome too. The Acuralink website is the greatest asset for maintaining your vehicle and handling your pymts, scheduling appts, etc. The is simply the best!

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  Excellent to Drive!! - 2005 Acura TL
  By Mark - May 20 - 8:26 pm

  I would (and have) highly recommended this car to others. I was completely satisfied and amazed at the gas mileage on the highway. I have gotten up to 33 miles per gallon when filling up just off the highway and starting a long trip. I had my wife and I in the vehicle at the time. The form, fit and finish of my Nighthawk Black vehicle is outstanding!

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  No longer a drivers car - 2009 Acura TSX
  By baj - May 20 - 2:00 am

  I had a 2006 TSX that I loved. So when my lease expired, I jumped on a new 2009 TSX without even bothering to test drive. Big mistake. Theyve taken the fun out of driving with the addition of electronic steering. I cant feel the car. I feel detached from the whole experience I used to love about driving. The odd thing is, the suspension is still tight enough to feel the road beneath me, while still giving it stability in the corners, which I can no longer feel. The slight increase in size from the previous model wasnt put to good use. The interior feels cavernous, adding one more level of remove from the "feel" of driving.

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  Accord to brand new TSX Hard decision. - 2008 Acura TSX
  By Jaspreet - May 19 - 12:22 pm

  I test drove Lexus IS250 (2008), BMW 325i (2006), MBenz C230 (2006/2007) & Infiniti G35 (2006), Acura TL (2007). I decided on a brand new Acura TSX for reliability, low maintenance and other factors. It has nice interior, every option standard for a lot less. It handles great in the corners, stops swiftly, has good initial pickup, little slow from jumping from 70mph to 90mph. I have started to really like this car now. I plan to trade this in after 3 years for a BMW. It holds its value well. :)