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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  whoa - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Tesser - September 27 - 2:00 am

  The Acura RSX is awesome. Really fun to drive, with great handling. Fun on sharp curves too...hehe

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  its hot - 2004 Acura TL
  By sjor - September 27 - 2:00 am

  it is one of the best cars if not simply the best entry level luxury sedan at this time in the automobile industry.

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  TL Interior Noise around Windows - 2006 Acura TL
  By David Alexander - September 26 - 4:42 pm

  Both driver and passenger windows leak air having no frame around the top and sides. Sunroof leaked air with dealer installed visor, money refunded for poor design. Front seats need adjustable side supports, for they are fairly wide buckets. Nav system large display very nice, but system does take practice to use. Keep the nav book in the glove box for quick referance. Door side moulding worth the money, as well as flaps for the wheels. Plenty of power and rides well, with good balance of ride and handling. Gas mileage is very good for the size and power you get in return. Has a refined, yet sporty look.

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  Very pleased with this vehicle - 2016 Acura RDX
  By Pete Pop - September 26 - 9:43 am

  This vehicle is fantastic! I test drove a Ford Explorer, Nissan Murano, Hyundai Santa Fe and I bought the RDX with the tech package. The reliability reviews over the others was one of the main points but after owning it I really have come to appreciate its high points. The ride is smooth, powerful and really quiet. The sound canceling system (like Bose headphones) does a great job. Being a musician, I was impressed with the stereo and during my test drive we adjusted the base and subwoofer to full potential and I was blown away. The sound quality with the ten speakers in neural mode (surround sound) is amazing. Some reviewers complained about having two screens. I prefer it and it’s much more pleasing to be able to still see your audio screen while navigation is showing on a different screen. Brilliant! They recommend 91 octane which basically doesn’t exist anywhere so I need to use 93. I’m not thrilled about that but at least gas is cheap now. I drive both highway and city to get to work so it seems I’m averaging around 19 mpg. No long trips yet to really see highway mileage. I live in South Florida and I can say that the air really cranks. Most of the time I only have the fan halfway even though the leather seats in summer can be hot. The advanced package has ventilated seats but will cost you at least $3500 more on your out the door price. I passed. The shortcuts menu, speed dial options, voice prompts and other technology is a big plus. I went from a stupid car (Honda Accord 2007) to this so it’s like walking onto the Enterprise! I can’t imagine anyone buying this car and not liking it. I paid $40,000 even out the door which seems to be a pretty decent price for a 2017 with the tech package. Updated11/3/2016. I can now confirm highway mileage on a long trip at 29 mpg which is as Acura estimated. I like this car even more now as Ive been using more of the bells and whistles. I REALLY appreciate the back up cross traffic alert.

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  MPG is Poor! - 2002 Acura CL
  By cangold - September 26 - 8:14 am

  This is a pre-cert w/ only 35K. The CL looks like new. I bought w/extended warranty 4/48 because of the tranny issues. Drives like a dream. I do a lot of hwy driving and only avg 18-20 MPG. Did better on my 93 Lexus. Hope to keep for at least 4 yrs.

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  Best car - 1992 Acura Vigor
  By jfrazier - September 25 - 11:20 pm

  This has been my most favorite car to date. I drive it hard and it hasnt let me down. Im very lucky to get to drive it at speeds of 160kms to 180kms for hours. Great car!!

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  Love this car! - 2008 Acura RDX
  By neumogirl - September 25 - 1:31 am

  Have had this car for about two weeks and love it. Test drove all the CUVs from upscale/luxury to affordable/no frills from ML350 and X3 to the Ford Edge and Mazda CX7, even drove a Hyundai Santa Fe. None compared to the RDX for the money and the features. Its so much fun to drive and is extremely comfortable. Came from Infiniti M45 so I know comfort and this RDX is just as cushy. Look forward to showing it off to my friends. It was a long process to decide but Im sure glad I took my time and chose the RDX. It was the best choice for my money! I ordered chrome wheels and now its looking so pretty!

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  Enjoying 3rd gear a lot :) - 2008 Acura TSX
  By Knight1 - September 24 - 11:56 pm

  I went from a 1993 Honda accord with 250,000 mi on it to this brand new 2008 TSX 6 speed manual. The car is fun to drive, love the interior, tame when you want it to be, and gives you that push back in your seat feel. Plus it is fully loaded. Your options are, with nav or without. This is what I did not like about the Lexus IS 250, you had to compromise on gadgets.

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  Excellent SUV - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Garg - September 24 - 10:32 pm

  I love the F1 system, drives smoothly, love the interiors, blue light is amazing. GPS is awesome. Fuel economy is bit poor but justified when you buy RDX.

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  Technology Package - 2008 Acura RDX
  By dan - September 24 - 12:53 pm

  If you get bored easily, opt for the technology package. Not only will this car talk to you but it will let you know exactly whats going on performance-wise down to each wheel. The rumors of turbo lag are true from stand-still acceleration. However, when the turbo kicks in, its like no feeling a V6 can offer. You feel like you are being lifted off your seat then pushed back into it. My wife has a Murano. This car is much smoother, ride, acceleration, braking and even the seats are softer. If you want the performance that may outrun a BMW 3 series but need room for the family pet, this is the vehicle!