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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  Best car ever had - 1995 Acura Integra
  By Zeus - October 5 - 10:38 am

  I bought it with 95000 and it now has well over 130000 and it still runs great. I have never had any major problems as long as you do regular maintenence it should last well into the 2 or 300000 mile mark. If your thinking about buying one just do it.

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  Lesters choice - 2005 Acura RL
  By Lester Gruda - October 5 - 7:54 am

  Of all the cars in this class, by far the best available options available come standard. If you can forego sleek design, the RL is by far the best car available.

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  perfect family suv - 2005 Acura MDX
  By gino mallamaci - October 5 - 1:11 am

  a real pleasure to drive

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  All-around best performer - 2005 Acura MDX
  By dhk - October 4 - 4:29 am

  After doing a thorough research, we settled on MDX and have not been disappointed. This car does not do any one thing better than the competitors Lexus has a slightly comfier interior VW may have better off-road capability. But the entire package is better than the competition. Room for seven Acura workmanship lots and lots of power and fair pricing. We love than Acura wont nickel and dime you for features such as leather seating and moonroof. Everything comes standard. The only negative - and it comes with the territory - is the gas mileage, though it is better than most SUVs.

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  Low price Luxury - 2005 Acura TSX
  By veniceknite - October 4 - 1:35 am

  I love the 6 speed, but realize this is a 4 cylinder car and that limits so much. It is very tight, stubby vehicle with a great look inside and out. Has all the options standard except for navigation. 25 miles per gallon so far at the max.

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  Awesome car - 1997 Acura CL
  By Lucien - October 3 - 7:04 pm

  I have had my car for 5 years. Looks as good as new cars. 1997 design is better than the newer CLs on the market. With regular maintenance and upkeep, had no problems with this car. Best purchase I could have made. Will stick with Acura for a while. They make GREAT cars.

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  The best for the money - 2005 Acura MDX
  By John - October 3 - 1:03 pm

  Great car especially for the price. Extremely smooth transmission and very powerful 6 cylinder engine. Very quiet cabin. Handles like a car!

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  Ashus point of view - 2003 Acura TL
  By Ashtan - October 2 - 10:00 am

  This is an amazing vehicle...it is so powerful, stable and simply fun to drive. The navi system is extremely helpful and even helps locate the smallest of streets.

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  Sporty yet practical - 2003 Acura TL
  By KLarrickCook - October 2 - 10:00 am

  I love my 3.2TL. I am a Stay-at-home Mom with 1 child and feel like I am not compromising the Sport feel with too much practicality. Very peppy drive. Great Luxury vehicle for the $$.

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  A great buy - 2003 Acura TL
  By Liebling - October 2 - 10:00 am

  My Acura wasnt even my first choice when I was looking for a new car. It kept showing up in the comparisons with the cars I was considering, though, and was worth a test drive. This car is great. The transmission shifts almost imperceptably, and even though it isnt the Type S, it still has push-you-into- your-seat acceleration. The build quality is evident all over. This was my first car that didnt come from the big three in over 30 years of car ownership. I got a price lower than the Edmunds TMV, and almost the entire transaction was handled via email.