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:

• 

  Fun of owning a TSX - 2009 Acura TSX
  By libster - January 29 - 10:46 pm

  The ads are not aiming at a young, spirited 65 year old male. Previous 2005 TL owner, love the new TSX. Front seat wraps around and supports well, the handling is taut but not to stiff, acceleration is adequate. Back seat a little too tight for 3 men over 170 lbs, the cd should have more than room than 1 disc. Sound quality is crisp on a trip from Boca Raton, FL to Boston average mpg 34.5 excellent, around the city mpg approx. 24. I kept within 70 mph. Good mileage can be achieved, if ego does not get in the way! People on cape cod and in the city have favorably mentioned the new styling. I do not feel add the old model is better, this is new car with a different cachet!

• 

  Probably best SUV for today - 2004 Acura MDX
  By minnie999 - January 28 - 10:00 am

  Performance has been excellent except for gas milage. Extremely safe and fun to drive. Absolutely no manufacturing defects.

• 

  I love my car - 1995 Acura Integra
  By Amber - January 27 - 10:26 pm

  This car has never let me down. As long as you take care of it, itll last a very long time. I go on road trips all the time. It gets great gas mileage and is super fun to drive, too.

• 

  08 Acura TL Type-S - 2008 Acura TL
  By BEN - January 26 - 7:14 pm

  Used to own an Infiniti G35, This car is an excellent & fun car to drive, and has many options.

• 

  Found a winner - 2005 Acura TSX
  By eag - January 25 - 6:33 am

  I have owned BMWs in the past 20 years.The upkeep was quite costly, so I did some research on a new sports car. The TSX was well received by the writers and drivers of the main auto magazines, so I took a test drive. Love at first sight. The 4 cylinder, 200 HP engine has a lot of umph!!Gas mileage averages 28, and at future increases in gasoline approaching the 3 dollar level, this is very good.Im in my 70s and very impressed with this auto. Fun to drive daily.

• 

  Great and underrated - 2008 Acura TL
  By Chris - January 24 - 5:22 pm

  I purchased my TL after owning a Saab 9-3. The car is exactly what you expect from this type of Acura. This is my third Acura and plan on a new MDX this summer. The one thing that bothers me is that the TL is constantly compared to the Lexus IS, BMW 3-series, Infiniti G35, etc. However the TL is bigger than all of these cars and actually the size of the Lexus GS & M45.

• 

  Best-kept secret among luxury sedans - 2006 Acura RL
  By dwboston - January 24 - 12:13 pm

  Hands down the best handling car Ive ever driven. SH-AWD completely transforms the drviving experience and benefits both inclement and regular weather driving. Build quality and materials are top-notch and the amount of technology in the car for the price is incredible.

• 

  Went Downhill - 2006 Acura TSX
  By not_so_sure - January 23 - 8:31 pm

  I loved the car when I first bought it, but two years later, I am looking to get rid of it. The interior road noise is louder than my truck. The wipers were very streaky from the day I bought the car. The car does not handle well in snow. My leather seats are already wearing out. I drive over 60 miles a day and every day I grow to dislike it a little more. The gas mileage when when I frist bought it averaged between 30-32 MPG, now I am lucky if I can get over 25 MPG. My seats take forever to heat up now, at first they were HOT in a flash. On the plus side, Acura DOES give a lot of options for the money. Very sporty and fun!

• 

  TSX aka EuroAccord - 2004 Acura TSX
  By tcgrubbs - January 23 - 10:00 am

  Great smooth shifting 6-speed manual; really fun to drive on mountain highway curves.

• 

  debs - 2004 Acura TL
  By jesnme2 - January 23 - 10:00 am

  This is my second TL in the past 2 years. I owned a 2003 type-s but once I saw the 2004 I knew I had to have it! I am extremely picky and the few-very few bells and whistles that the 2003 were lacking the 2004 had! Love everything about it!!