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:

• 

  Best first car ever! - 2001 Acura Integra
  By xjennat - September 18 - 9:00 pm

  Well actually my first car I purchased was a 1994 LS Integra. I had it for about a month till I got in an accident (not my fault) and my poor integra was totaled. It was pretty much devastating. About a month or two later I got my new 2001 LS integra w/ 92k miles and its been a great upgrade. Its a little smoother to drive than my previous 94 but they were essentially the same. After the crash the only other car I wanted was another integra... My integra is so much fun to drive and its the cutest little thing ever. Its perfect for a high school/college student who wants good looks and good MPG. I get about 25 city.

• 

  Great Ride Except for Transmission - 2003 Acura MDX
  By justman - September 14 - 6:46 pm

  I love my MDX, but now have to to trade it in and dont want to or have $5,000 for a new one. These SUVs are known to have transmission problems, wish I would have known that before I spent so much on it. But, I will say, I bought mines brand new and have had it for 8 years with now major issues. Just normally wear and tear. Would love to get another one, but Acura still has issues with the tranny. So, I think Im going to go green and get a KIA Sorento. Better gas mileage and it doesnt cost so much.

• 

  Used Acura - 2005 Acura RSX
  By robertbaseball - September 8 - 12:50 am

  So im a new driver and i just bought a 2005 AcuraRSX as my first car. Ive driven other cars and the engine noise isent so loud. Is it just my car or is it just a noisy car? Other than that i love it! Leather seats but very sporty bucket seats. Interior is a little plain but has plenty of room to add an indash navigation system which will do soon. Plenty of horse power even in the non S type. Great car!!

• 

  Wife choose a weird looking Crossover - 2011 Acura ZDX
  By ginter2 - September 6 - 8:10 am

  Its either you love the way it looks or you hate it. Great on the highway but living in the NY area driving in the city can be a bit nerving. Lets face it , there are numerous blind spots and Id never ever drive it in the city if it didnt have the Advantage Pkg. This SUV is heavy @ 4500 pounds and you feel it. When I drive it I keep it in sport mode. Their are soooo many bells and whistles that it may take a good 6 months to learn them all. You never need to take your hands off the wheel. Just tell the car what you want and it does it.....short of driving itself. You feel very safe in this monster. Hense the huge price tag. Its only been about 3 weeks. Just add some wings to this baby!

• 

  4 yr. ownership review - 2007 Acura TSX
  By hborgaonkar - August 31 - 2:19 pm

  4 yrs almost up for our Artic Blue TSX. Its been a fun car to drive. gives decent mileage. All the tech goodies are still up to date in 2011. We had to replace brake pads recently due to mild brake shudder but otherwise its been reliable. This car is definitely a keeper.

• 

  Best looking Plus Sedan Out There! - 2010 Acura TL
  By ytb - August 24 - 8:16 pm

  Im in my third year of a lease of an Acura TL. I love to drive it for a number o reasons but I love its performance and the way it drives. I get many compliments on the style and design. I have a black exterior with a light grey interior sedan and its the sharpest car out there. Smithtown Acura sales and service department is top notch. Colleen is a caring and knowledgable sales representative. Her goal is to make you happy with your selection and she continues to provide help when needed and she gives my family good advice on future cars. The omly service I had to do on my car was a broken front speaker. I got an appointment quickly and the speaker was replaced. They are the best

• 

  Love the Type-S! - 2003 Acura TL
  By corbin12 - August 19 - 10:16 am

  We bought our TL Type-S 6 months ago with 76,000 miles on it and we absolutely love it! Its fast and sporty, yet big enough for the whole family. The exterior is beautiful...(dual exhaust adds a ton!) and the interior is flawless. The only problem we had was that something went majorly wrong with the air conditioning system. Many of the parts were worn out and the air was completely warm. The whole system needed to be replaced to the tune of $860. Keep in mind that this car has been in Wisconsin its whole life so its not like the A/C gets used very often. Other than the crappy A/C we have no problems and no regrets. The Type-S does require premium gas but the extra power given is worth it!

• 

  Save yourself $17,000 now and avoid headaches later - 2012 Acura TL
  By burghboyb - August 9 - 11:10 pm

  I was all set to buy the new Audi A6. I also seriously considered the BMW 535iX (sold at the same dealership), and the MB E-class. Then I drove the TL-SH AWD. It corners and handles as well as any of the Germans and will be significantly more reliable - and less costly to repair when needed. Very comfortable Sport Seats, terrific audio, lots of room for my frequent tall passengers. People complain about the number of buttons but at least that gives you instant control of the desired function instead of doobling thru endless onscreen menus. When you enter a curve the car just begs you to go half-again as fast because the torque-vector system whips you thru with total command.

• 

  Best 7 Seater Luxury SUV - 2011 Acura MDX
  By ploftis - August 2 - 12:32 pm

  Weve had the MDX for about 2000 miles now and absolutely love it. Its extremely comfortable and has a very smooth ride which is balanced with excellent handling for something so large. Power is always there, but shines with highway passing which is exceptional Looks beautiful inside and out and has the most comforable interior Ive even been in. The controls take some getting used to but once you do that, the technology is excellent.

• 

  like new (: - 2004 Acura TSX
  By afflictionx3 - August 1 - 10:37 pm

  im 17 & ive been looking for a used 2004 - 2006 acura tsx for months. finally, i came across one and when i test drove it i knew right away i found the one. it had 73k miles & in great conditon (a doctor owned it before me) got it for $12,999 . mine is silver with grey interior. cant wait to show it off, since this is my senior year & i can seem myself keeping it for a long time. if you are looking for a reliable car thats super fun and easy to drive, an acura is for you definitely. i went for the tsx instead of a TL (my mom has one) basically for the size. its smaller and funner to drive.