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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  Love it - 2008 Acura RL
  By Michael - January 3 - 9:54 am

  Traded in 2003 3.2 TL. Had A4 before that and living in Northeast missed the AWD. Ratings lower for fun to drive as it is a matter of what you want....a small fun car like an A4 or BMW 3 Series to zip around and corner in or the luxury of a bigger car. I went for the luxury and am happy I did. The lower rating for the exterior design is because lets be honest this does not have the flash of some rivals. Otherwise, I love this car. Great upgrades, interior, loaded with bose stereo, bluetooth, nav. system. AWD fantastic thru 3 snowstorms that would have crippled TL. Car is solid and feel safe. Lot of highway, getting 21 MPG! TL never a prob, anticipate same or better with RL

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  I love this car!! - 2008 Acura RDX
  By sfduckie - January 2 - 12:59 pm

  Ive never owned an Acura before but Im now a huge fan! The RDX is fun to drive, has great visibility, and the base model comes with absolutely everything youd want (CD, bluetooth, MP3 hookup, XM radio free for 3 months, moonroof, seat warmers, etc). Also, the driver interface (at least on the base model) is intuitive and uncluttered. It feels like they really have the driver in mind. I highly recommend this car! Im so happy I bought it!

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  Great car for the $ - 2006 Acura TSX
  By David S. - January 2 - 12:57 pm

  Great car, reliable, frugal on gas, fun to drive, with enough amenities to satisfy anyone in the upscale sedan class.

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  Nice - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Reed - January 2 - 11:18 am

  I have owned my 04 Acura RSX as original owner. I have not had any problems mechanically. Brakes and tires and maintenace is very reliable. I have 66,000 miles to date and wouldnt get rid of it, except its kinda small in the back and a little bored with it. If you like coupes its great. Dependable. Moderately quick and pretty fun to own.

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  Great car, but dealership needs to imprv - 2003 Acura MDX
  By jhc - January 2 - 10:00 am

  What a great car. This is my second Acura. My first Acura was TL and it was a good experience overall. Hoping the same experience, but for MDX the dealerships were too arrogant. I almost did not buy this car until I went to this dealership where I bought it from. Had to buy this car, because there is nothing else that could match the features/performance/quality at this price.

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  Perfect car at the perfect price - 2007 Acura TSX
  By Mikey - January 1 - 5:48 pm

  Plenty fast enough for daily driving, gives me an average of 33 mpg at 75 mph cruise control on long drives. Its not necessarily "sporty" compared to actual sports cars. It has stone hard economy tires and a soft luxury suspension. So take it for what its worth or upgrade your tires and suspension. Looks are subjective but I still think it looks nicer than most cars even after the 4 years its been in production.

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  Great Car - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Brocktune - January 1 - 5:38 pm

  Bought this car new in March 05 and have loved every minute of it. My only regret was not talking the wife into getting the Navi. Test drove all the competitors, but the MDX blew them all away. I love the car-like handling. The bluetooth can have trouble picking up my voice when the air or heater is on. It has led to some frustrating exchange (me--"dial 911" MDX--"now calling 753." Also, there is a sloshing sound from the gas tank. I took it back to the dealier shortly after purchase, but there was nothing they could do about it. Eventually, I just got used to it, and I no longer notice it.

• 

  A drivers SUV - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Al - January 1 - 11:30 am

  About 3 weeks into my ownership, and I love the MDX so far. It is probably the most comfortable drive of any vehicle I have owned, including luxury sedans. I narrowed my choices to the MDX, Q7 and XC90 and the MDX won without too much thought. And the value is outstanding for what you are getting.

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  Fun to Drive and Reliable - 2002 Acura RSX
  By M Anderson - January 1 - 7:14 am

  Not only is this vehicle a blast to drive, but I get to drive it (vs. in the shop for maintenance and repairs). The sound system is incredible as well. One downside: not great visibility for a shorter person.

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  Love It !! - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Tami - January 1 - 12:33 am

  Love the RDX/ Tech Package. Ive had the car for a month now and love driving it!! BUT Im getting really bad gas mileage 12.5 mpg in the city really bad at average speed of 14 mph. Other than the poor gas mileage I love everything else about the SUV.