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 with a few exceptions - 2008 Acura TSX
  By Skip - April 9 - 10:20 am

  I couldnt find another entry level luxury car that came even close to the TSX for features at the price. I handles well, if a little slow off the line. They need to equip it with better tires and a more reliable braking system. The heating on a cold day takes a long time to come up to temperature. See suggested improvement section for comments on tires and brakes which are terrible.

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  Great car if youre short - 2010 Acura ZDX
  By Reeblover - April 5 - 5:44 pm

  Everything about this car is typically Acura. Great build. Excellent ergonomics. The only thing lacking is head room. With the drivers seat all the way down my head was within 2" of the ceiling. (I am 6 foot tall). I couldnt get into the back seat. Not only was it difficult physically, but my head touched the ceiling. Loved the car but would never buy one.

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  Lexus E350 Replacement - 2010 Acura TL
  By Bartco - March 31 - 9:37 am

  Bought this car to replace a Lexus E350 that we had lost confidence in (wife was afraid to drive it due to reported acceleration problems). The Acura TL AWD is a remarkably tight car with outstanding suspension, excellent seating, and nice interior enhancements. The tech package is superb and easy to learn to use. Stereo surround sound on CDs is remarkable. The one complaint we have is that the road, engine, and tire noise (low profile, high performance tires?) is annoying! Its as bad as my Ford pickup. This is, however, a great car for the money.

• 

  So much better than the 06 MDX - 2010 Acura MDX
  By hamish - March 27 - 9:27 pm

  Have had my 10 base MDX for all of two days now. Biggest difference vs. the 06 MDX is that you actually look forward to driving this one! Reminds me of my 03 TLS, fun to drive, responds well, too fast for the kids to drive on their own!! Handling is very good, sticks to the road like an audi quattro, sporty handling, very little body roll for an SUV. Also very good for tall folk, my 6 ft 4 son, finds it very comfortable as both a passenger and driver.

• 

  Been a Good SUV - 2005 Acura MDX
  By GatorJeff - March 26 - 9:54 pm

  Overall this has been a solid vehicle. The only problem has been the torque converter at 57,000 miles. Acura paid a large portion of the repair cost though. I really love the MDX and cant seem to find anything worth selling it for. I usually keep cars for three years but after 5 I want to hang on to it for a while longer. I really like the design and interior technology.

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  Know what youre buying - 2009 Acura RDX
  By Nick - March 20 - 11:21 am

  We wanted a AWD vehicle to travel in winter to Northern NV and Sierra Nevada mtns. We wanted a small SUV. We loved the CR-V but it was a Dog (4 Cyl.) and the Rav4 was stylish 10 years ago, so we checked out the RDX. It has impressive quickness & handling and its really fun to drive. What we didnt expect is the gas mileage. We have only gotten 17 mpg in town once and highway isnt much over 20. On long trips be prepared to gas up frequently (and always with premium). Overall I really like the SUV and the fact that the turbo doesnt lose power with elevation. Know what your buying -an AWD SUV w/ a turbo- and accept that you wont get great mileage.

• 

  Great Car, Buy it again - 2010 Acura TL
  By Kiran - March 19 - 2:25 pm

  This is my second review. I bought this car in December of 2009. I didnt get a chance to check the SH- AWD out in snow because of traveling, but now, I am testing that. This car loves corners. sometimes, it scares the sh*% out of me, but it never oversteer or understeer. It handles corners like it wasnt there. Im always on the road in weekends and I love driving. only problem is that the GPS maps. My friends house has been at this location for over 20 yrs and it cannot find it. GPS says that it does not exist. They need to do better job at MAPS. My tomtom finds that house good and its 4 years old. Clutch on this car is easy. it doesnt take a lot to push it down, which is good.

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  very good but could still be better - 2007 Acura TSX
  By unsure - March 17 - 6:42 pm

  I really like this car, compared to what else is available and in the price range but I wish Acura would make a somewhat smaller version that is sportier in both looks and performance. And also get rid of the electronic crap that causes it to act strange sometimes--like when the brakes wont work because I drove over a bump. The shifter could also be a little smoother

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  Its almost one year - 2009 Acura RDX
  By giri80 - March 16 - 3:34 pm

  I bought this car as a graduation gift for my self! I already have 25,000 miles on the car drove all across the country. So far the ride is fun. Cabin can be a bit quieter, awesome 4 awd handling its fun to drive in rain and snow. Fuel economy is excellent on hwy (24) but not good in city (17- 18). Interior materials can be of better material. Plastic used is of low quality. I love the seats though. Climate control, audio, back leg room and cargo space very good. I would suggest this buy over a crv, rav4 or Forester any day.

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  Best car I have ever owned - 2007 Acura TSX
  By Nick - March 16 - 10:07 am

  Car is made 100% in Japan, have had no problems with it. Have 88,000 miles on it. Have a ton of confidence in the reliability of this car. MPG is good on Hwy and back roads, around 31- 33 on average. Stock stereo is nice, good sound, XM and MP3 work great. Decent acceleration, smooth quite ride. Acura service is great and reasonably priced.