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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  05 TL - 2005 Acura TL
  By mike t - July 11 - 11:13 pm

  Just a great car. Interior design makes it a pleasure to drive. Excellent power and handling with good gas mileage (26 mpg). Overall design is flawless and luxurous. Highly recommeded.

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  Just a Sweet Toy - 2005 Acura RL
  By My Toy - July 11 - 7:36 pm

  I was intending to get the Infinii M45/35 lexus GS330 or the Audi A6. This beats them all in all aspects. The SH-AWD is really awesome even in heavy downpour. This is the BEST.

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  Great Vehicle, but could use improvement - 2006 Acura MDX
  By Jim Haynie - July 10 - 11:34 am

  The vehicle is great riding higher than the Acura RL. Acura uses standards across all cars on items like placement of controls and heights of arm rests. However, this vehicle is clearly not the flagship car. The RL has much better features, but you cant put in a new TV in your RL. I love the vehicle but miss some of the features of the RL. MPG is closer to 14 city and 24 highway. Nice interior, but not as fit and trim as the RL.

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  The RSX is the best small sporty car - 2006 Acura RSX
  By jake c borunda - July 9 - 7:25 pm

  Quite simply put the RSX Type-S is simply the best small sporty car offored in todays maket, and will be for years to come. Nothing in, or near its price range is even close to offeringing the RSXs level of refinement, luxury, sportieness, and refinement with a five year fourty thousant mile warrentee. Not to mention the level of seviced recived when purchaseing an Acura. The closest thing out the is Civic Si, and you cant put that and luxury in the same catagory. Not that it isnt a great car. Its just that its not as nice as the Acura, in Type-S form. After this you have to step up to BMW, Infinnity, or Lexus.

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  4 weeks and loving it - 2006 Acura TSX
  By philly - July 9 - 10:57 am

  after 4 weeks of driving i could not fing anything wrong , the bluetooth phone system works great. the seats are very comfortable and the xm radio sounds great. a great but for the money i looked at the 3 series passat and volvoand honda ther features in the tsx were better and costs a lot less great buy my fiend has a lexus and the tsx looks a lot better inside and costs lot less buy from internet dealer better pricing saved over 400 dollars

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  Drive to the Midwest - 2006 Acura RL
  By Nathaniel R. LeDoux - July 9 - 12:57 am

  I drove roundtrip to Canton,MI and it performed flawlessly. The car average 26 mpg which was excellent for a car its size. The SH AWD was outstanding in the mountains of Colorado on I70. Driving the car produced minimum fatigue because it handles so well. My wife owns an E Class 430 that was bought new in 2000. When it was brand new, we drove the same trip and the problems were many as to relability. ACURA is a much better car than E Class 430.

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  TSX - Fun car to Drive! - 2005 Acura TSX
  By John - July 8 - 1:13 am

  The TSX has been a great car to have in my driveway. It is a sports car that doubles as a small sedan. With six speeds and 200 horses under the hood it provides lots of driving fun.

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  TSX - Fun car to Drive! - 2005 Acura TSX
  By John - July 7 - 11:00 pm

  The TSX has beena great car to have in my driveway. It is a sports car that doubles as a small sedan. With six speeds and 200 horses under the hood it provides lots of driving fun.

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  Everything youve heard is true - 2007 Acura MDX
  By chrismredsox1 - July 7 - 6:20 pm

  Just took delivery of my 07 MDX sport/entertainment package SUV. Traded in a Porsche Cayenne S. The new MDX is just about as good as it gets. The electronics integration is perfect, as per Acuras usual standard. The driving experience is just beyond reproach for a vehicle with this size and flexibility. The SH-AWD system with the sport package suspension gives you a great combination of pull through curves, precise handling and a smooth ride with the benefit of the sport suspensions active dampers. You can carry lots of people and/or stuff and have a whole lot of fun doing it!! This 07 MDX is truly as good as it gets!!

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  A Complete Package - 2006 Acura RL
  By jmp - July 6 - 12:37 pm

  Very happy with the RL. Controls are sensibly placed. Im tall but confortable (in the front). Very quiet ride, smooth shifting, good voice recognition and bluetooth. Keyless works good with adjusting mirrors and steering wheel. Its been a pleasure so far.