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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  Great SUV - 2005 Acura MDX
  By WB - June 9 - 4:43 am

  Great handling on the highway, and the rural areas where I drive. Super Navigational system, it is easy to use. There is a lot of leg and shoulder room in this SUV. I have had Jeep Limiteds before, and this SUV is built solid.

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  Excellent car to own and drive - 2004 Acura RSX
  By MizouKev - June 9 - 2:00 am

  This is the best car I have ever owned. It is the perfect combo of a luxury and sports car. Great perfromance and handling. Very responsived steering.

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  3500 miles of pure driving pleasure - 2004 Acura TL
  By Dr. EB - June 9 - 2:00 am

  Ive had this car for almost 2 mths now and I can honestly say this car is the best car I have driven, (not to mention owned) ever, regardless of price. The performance, luxury, amenities and build quality in this car, especially when you factor the price just dont exist anyhwere else in the car market. I previously owned a 2002 TL type S, which was a nice car, and when I tested this car, surprisingly, I found it to be superior to it in every way. I bought it on the spot. If you are in the market to buy a vehicle in this price range and fail to test this car you will be very sorry indeed!

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  Love it - 2004 Acura TL
  By toflo - June 9 - 2:00 am

  Its been two months and I love this car. Im clearly not a true autosnob since the only difference between this car and the RWD vehicles I looked at (Infiniti G35, Cadillac CTS, BMW) is that this car is simply better. Its comfortable, drives well and has the best stereo anywhere. I love XM radio and all cars should have a bluetooth connection for cell phones. My only gripe is that the headlights should be fully automatic.

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  Very comfortable car. - 2006 Acura RL
  By AcctProf - June 8 - 4:42 pm

  You can tell it is a heavy car, but the 290hp V6 moves it along fairly well. It cruises effortlessly at 80. The Voice Recognition is the best of the ones I tried (Lexus & Infiniti). And, you can change or cancel destinations on the fly. The seats are very comfortable with plenty of leg room for me (511"). I love the XM radio. I keep it on most of the time. The car is very quiet. I guess that is a combination of the Active Noise Cancellation and the sound deadening materials. The Bose stereo sounds great. Around town my mileage is 15-16, but I have a lot of traffic lights. I drive a lot of back roads at 65-70 and consistenly get 28 mpg. I have about 1,500 miles on mine so far.

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  06 with Tech Package Excels 05 - 2006 Acura RL
  By klister - June 7 - 8:05 pm

  Recently traded my 05 Acura RL for the 06 with Tech Package. What a great upgrade -- virtually all the bugs worked out and great new technology. Ride and handling seem to be improved with the stiffer, larger PAX tires. Little nits like a warning when lights left on auto and a warning when key leaves the car are fixed. No rattles and no squeaks so build quality seems solid. Navigation appears to be a release later with better graphics and more accuracy.

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  ON TO # 2 - 2006 Acura TSX
  By BizzyB - June 7 - 1:40 pm

  I am now onto my 2nd TSX and I would have to say that my 06 is far better than my 04 and I absolutely loved my 04. I went with the pearl white/parchement and I cannot stop the compliments! The blue tooth is amazing and handy, sound system is more than adequate. Overall a real winner when I considered a BMW and a Mercedes and I keep coming back to the TSX!!

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  Beautiful Vehicle - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Tom - June 7 - 10:42 am

  This is our first Acura. Although it has only been a month, this car has been a pleasure to drive. No vibrations or problems with shifting as mentioned in other reviews. The ride is smooth and comfortable, more so than with the Lexus RX350 that we tested prior to purchasing the MDX.

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  Primo - 2003 Acura CL
  By Primo - June 7 - 10:00 am

  I have owned my CL type S for 8 months. Overall I am very satisfied with the car. Having been a previous owner of a Legend Sedan I was familiar with the quality and performance of Acura cars. As mentioned previously I dislike the low gas mileage particularly in the city. The auto stick does not allow you to shift into first gear the computer overrides this function. The turning radius is too wide. The fake marble interior is cheesy and the sound system is subpar for a vehicle of this price.

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  Awesome! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By dmitry78 - June 7 - 10:00 am

  Ive been driving my new RSX for two weeks, and I love it! It drives like a dream and definitely turns heads, too! My previous car was a Ford Focus ZX3, and, by comparison, this is a higher- quality, better-handling, and more sophisticated vehicle.