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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  Unbelievable - 2007 Acura MDX
  By pete - June 19 - 4:18 pm

  Just bought this vehicle and it is best Ive ever owned. m getting 18.5 MPG. For 300 hp, no complaints there. I got the base and added roofrack, crossbars, sport rails and daynight mirror and still came in literally 15k less than BMW, 7k less than Lexus (RX 350). Great ride, great warranty, great afterownership services through Acura. Safest SUV on road, Make this your last test drive and you will buy it no other automaker can justify the price difference.

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  Great Second Car - 1994 Acura Integra
  By Tiger - June 19 - 11:47 am

  Acura reliability, style and fun to drive. This car is 13 years old and I havent had to do any major repair work to the engine and transmission. Love the gas mileage and the sporty driving experience. Only thing to watch for is the body around the back wheel wells. If theres too much salt, it will rust. Otherwise, outside of having to replace usual wear and tear items, it has been a great car. Very reliable.

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  Finally a good purchase! - 2007 Acura TL
  By mhoule2732 - June 19 - 8:31 am

  To start off, I owned a 2003 Type S as well. I drove the car to 100,000 miles with only 1 problem (a broken axle). I loved the car but sold due to the higher mileage and purchased a 2003 Audi A4 6cyl 3.0 engine. I never liked it and kept only 5 months. I test drove the G35x, IS 350, BMW 3 series, and FX35 Infiniti and chose the Type S again. This car is very fast and fun to drive. The handling is great but the ride is just OK, but I guess if you dont want that type of ride buy the regular TL (still happy). Really no complaints but I do only get about 19 MPG. I guess thats not too bad considering how impossible it is to not drive like a complete maniac.

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  Very Nice SUV - 2007 Acura MDX
  By ToddB - June 18 - 11:24 pm

  Recently traded in my Lexus RX 350 for the 2007 MDX. Living in the mountains of Utah I need something comparable to a dog sled. Also needed reliability. Not as smooth as my Lexus, but plenty of power for the steep roads (manual comes in handy). Love the styling. Its the most unique vehicle on the road - some may say unique = ugly! Takes a while to learn the tech stuff. 19 MPG mixed driving, mostly city. Overall, very pleased.

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  Not that great for the money - 2003 Acura MDX
  By Allen - June 18 - 3:50 pm

  An expensive SUV with mediocre habits. Drives a lot like a minivan. Reliability problems with radio, steering wheel controls (repeated), power windows (repeated), and occasionally its difficult to start. For a luxury vehicle, there is a lot of road noise at highway speeds, but almost no wind noise. Window rattles and they cant seem to fix. Black interior is pretty boring, and the buckets are hard. Rumble in fifth gear around town, dealer says "just leave it in fourth". Nice fix. On the plus side, lots of pep, great fuel economy (19-22 all the time) and tons of room inside. The rear visibility is good also, unlike many SUVs. Tire wear is excellent - they dont wear!

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  Exactly Right - 2007 Acura RDX
  By swiftfootedperseus - June 17 - 6:52 pm

  I really wanted something that had some get-up-and-go and was fun to drive in the mountains. This really fills the bill. Yes, the ride is stiff, but its nearly as much fun to drive as my wifes Mini Cooper, which is saying a lot. In addition, its got one of the best sound systems Ive heard. Dont worry about the road noise.

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  Beautiful!! - 2007 Acura RDX
  By acurafan - June 17 - 12:19 pm

  Just purchased the Acura RDX with Tech Package. The moment I drove it off the lot, I knew I had made the right choice. Beautiful, smooth but powerful engine, excellent handling for an SUV and quick pickup make this a great ride. The tech package is worth it, the voice recognition rocks and you rarely need to touch any of the menu buttons so long as you know the voice commands. Plenty of room in the back seats and they fold down giving even more room. Great, sturdy car!

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  Disappointing..... - 2004 Acura TL
  By freewaywilly - June 17 - 10:00 am

  I had high expectations of this car and have been disappointed. Performance is good, but not excellent. Build quality is not good. Interior rattles too numerous to ever fix. The car has less than 4000 miles on it and rattles like a 20 year-old Yugo! The dealer is no help. Sound system is excellent, but dont plan on enjoying anything with much bass as speakers and door panels vibrate and rattle with only moderate volume. I had moved from a Saab 9-5 to this car expecting higher quality and more luxury. Im working hard to find a way to get out of this and back to Saab or BMW. No comparison!

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  2005 Acura TL A-Spec 6-speed, with Navigation, 1 - 2005 Acura TL
  By MARK KRUGER - June 15 - 6:29 pm

  The 6 speed manual really makes this car come to life. I highly recommend driving one if you can find one, especially the A-Spec edition like I own.

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  An SUV with a High FTD Factor - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Bish - June 15 - 12:37 pm

  The best thing about this vehicle is its high fun-to-drive factor. I have owned 3 VW GTIs because I loved the combination of practical, usable room and sports car handling and acceleration. I never though I could find it in a family car, much less an SUV. The ride may be a bit firm for some, but one feels noticably relaxed even after a long trip. The Tech package is worth every penny. The nav system and stereo are outstanding. The main drawback is gas mileage. I cant get much over 17 in the city and 21 on the highway. But, take a look out there, other than the RX 400h ($55K !!), this combination of FTD factor, room and tech cant be found with 20+ mpg!