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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  jmreissmdx - 2003 Acura MDX
  By jmreiss - October 25 - 2:00 am

  outstanding suv. the voice activated navigation system with the rear backup camera is a must. this is the best suv for any price

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  Fun to drive but not impressed! - 2007 Acura RDX
  By dk168 - October 25 - 12:50 am

  Have had the car for almost a year now. Not impressed by AcuraÂ’s quality. Dashboard started to rattle after four months of having the car now is getting worse, both corners rattle at cooler temperature. Even the sunroof rattles during bumpy road. Turbo lag is definitely noticeable at low RPM with A/C on. I have to put the gear in the Sport mode to minimize the turbo lag when traffic is in a stop-and-go condition this seems to help. Ride is a little stiff (comments given by everyone who had ridden in my car). Poor gas mileage. I am getting averaged 18 MPG with roughly 60% hwy and 40% surface street driving. Okay, with all the negatives mentioned, I must say the car is a fun car to drive.

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  Acura legend review - 1994 Acura Legend
  By e28m30 - October 25 - 12:43 am

  This is a great car. The power is incredible. very fast. this car is very realiable no problems with the car. It has really nice smooth power steering maybe a little too much assist but very nice, the transmission is harsh shifting but it really feels great when really romping on the gas pedal. This car is 13 years old now but it hasnt aged a bit no rattles the body style doesnt look old. The car is really just well put together, Acura really used the best materials. Well besides the leather seats they seem a little too cheapy. But all in all the best car I have ever owned, I really love this car.

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  Not up to Honda quality standards - 2004 Acura TL
  By outside - October 24 - 9:20 am

  When I get this car on an open stretch of smooth highway on a nice sunny day with the sunroof open and the music blaring from its awesome stereo its an awesome feeling that soothes the pain I feel over the 10 days it has spent back at the dealer in the first 1000 miles. Call me a stickler if you want but Ive owned only Honda cars since 1990 and this one doesnt measure up to the quality standard I had come to expect. The dealer has literally had the entire interior disassembled in an attempt to find and repair the constant rattling the goes on inside the cabin. How Honda could let a car like this slide through their QA is beyond me.

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  11 month review - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Scott McCandless - October 24 - 9:18 am

  I came out of an Expedition to buy this SUV and was pleasantly surprised by how much more comfortable the vehicle is than a truck based SUV. The horsepower and performance are up from my previous truck/SUV vehicles, and so is the mileage. Those giving the MDX poor grades for mileage are not comparing it to other SUV choices. I regularly get 22-23 mpg at 70-75 mph on the highway. I chose this SUV for a couple specific reasons: I needed a vehicle that could tow my 23 boat and its trailer, but I wanted a comfortable, economical everyday ride, too. The BMW and Lexus didnt have the tow power, or enough room. The truck based SUV choices didnt have ride & economy.

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  I really wanted to give it 5 stars, but... - 2016 Acura RDX
  By Richard Lee - October 23 - 4:13 pm

  I love this car very much, and I really want to give it a 5 stars review. However, the breaking system seems not responsive enough, I have to press harder in order to make it stop. Within a month, I heard noise while I hit break this morning, within a month! The noise was gone when I drive it during my lunch break, maybe its the temperature, but still, it shouldnt do that because its a new car. Also, the engine is so called "smart V6", it switches from 3 cylinders to 6 cylinders depends on the situation, I can actually feel it. The car vibrate a lot while its on 3 cylinders mode, solid and smooth while its on 6 cylinders. Not very good. While the exterior is superb, its way better than the previous RDX models, but the interior looked outdated compare with its competitors. The Bluetooth is convenient, but it kept disconnected and connected, cant stay connected. Also, only the contact thats input to the speed dial (in car system, not phone speed dial) can display the caller ID when there is an incoming call. There are only 15 space speed dial for RDX. I missed many phone calls because I do not pick up number that I cant recognize, then I found those were actually people that I know but the car didnt display the caller ID because they are not in the car speed dial system. Its pretty dumb and outdated design. Finally, there is a backup camera, but no backup sensor... Doesnt make any sense. The sensor should be standard if the camera is standard. Therefore, I like this car, but I cant give it a 5 stars because of the flaws mentioned above.

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  Best Used Car in the World - 1997 Acura RL
  By Peg - October 22 - 3:16 pm

  Got the car two years ago with 60,000 on it. Two years and 30,000 miles later I am thoroughly pleased with it. I keep up with recommended maintenance, change the oil and replace tires. Thats it. No problems. Nothing but smooth performance. And, frankly, this wonderful car cost far less than I would have spent on a Toyota Camry with the same mileage. They can have their Toyotas. I love my RL.

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  Awesome Car! - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Mark - October 22 - 2:56 am

  We just purchased this bright red TSX last week, and its a blast to drive.The voice actuated nav system is easy to learn and works great. I love the XM radio, just wish it came with a years free membership instead of 3 months. We traded in an 03 I-35 and there is no comparison in the fun to drive category. It handles well, the performance is adequate and gas mileage is great! This is my first Acura and if the car holds up well, it wont be my last!

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  Terrific package - 2008 Acura TSX
  By DB from NC - October 21 - 10:55 am

  My eyes been on this car for some time, but after my first test drive, I thought it was a bit anemic under the hood. Decided it was best to wait for the 09, but then saw a great lease deal and test drove again. Realized with good use of the manumatic, you can really bring out performance. So pulled the trigger on the deal and have no regrets. Its a fully loaded little beasty thats just great to drive. Would match it up against the Lexus IS 250 any day for 5k less.

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  2003 TL is a Great Car! - 2003 Acura TL
  By edmundlee2 - October 21 - 2:00 am

  Excellent drivers car with fun sport-shift pseudo-manual transmission, nicely placed guages and controls. Interior space is good for family use (2 adults, 2 teens) and a sensible trunk. Engine has lots of pull even at low rpm and corners incredibly well. Good feedback from the steering wheel on road surface (how do they do this?). Better than the Volvo S80 (which costs much more) which was also being considered.