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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  Super MDX for 07 - 2007 Acura MDX
  By louieo - May 17 - 11:01 pm

  Traded in 04 MDX for this years upgrade and both my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this new vehicle. Somewhat disappointed in the rear view mirror, low quality for the type of vehicle. Great 18" Michelin tires and the superb stereo system is a joy to listen to. Roomy and very comfortable. Just a joy to drive!

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  Unconvinced - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Larry - May 17 - 7:28 pm

  We have done 2k miles in our MDX now. Other than increased cornering ability and better brakes, this car is a step back from the previous MDX. The steering wheel is seriously uncomfortable and the centre console hurts my elbow if I am resting my arm on it while steering. The front footwells have poor room. The motor is rough for a luxury car and suffers from a serious flat spot between 4500 and 6000 rpm meaning performance is more theoretical than actual. For the NE the ride is real hard and the car bounces from bump to bump as opposed to flowing over the road so it cannot be trusted at speed. This car may be good on a track for a suv but is seriously flawed as a family vehicle for the road.

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  All that and more - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Dennis - May 16 - 9:42 pm

  Bought the sport with ent package in Feb and have already taken 2 trips over 300 miles. Gotten 22 MPG ave about 70-75 on the hwy. In town getting about 16-17. The handling is a dream and plenty of power to spare. Kids love the rear ent and we love being able to let the kids listen to their music while we listen to ours. Kids also love being able to bring the game cube or ps2 and I just love being able to plug it in. Best SUV for the money.

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  Wow!! What a ride - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Mitman - May 16 - 2:50 am

  I didnt have to test drive any other after I test drove the MDX. I bought the car on the same day. The ride is excellent. I love the interior design. With 300 hp, you will feel that pick-up. I chose MDX with Tech package, didnt go for the entertainment package since I dont have kids yet. Good luck.

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  Type-S - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Unicode2021 - May 16 - 2:00 am

  I have the vehicle for over a year now and its the best sports coupe that I have ever hade...VERY FUN to drive and very modifyable.

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  Just love having it :-) - 2007 Acura MDX
  By chennaivasi - May 15 - 5:15 pm

  What a fantastic one. This is our first SUV, and first luxury car. So much difference to driving comfort compared to my earlier Camry. Just feels stuck to road, DVD is awesome, crazy voice commands and GPS is too good to be true, accurate. Too bad I have just one so my wife drives it and I get it only on weekends... something I look forward to the whole week :-)

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  Still Going Strong - 1996 Acura TL
  By Kenny - May 15 - 3:58 pm

  Bought my 2.5TL in 2001 with 27k miles. Now at 145k miles and car still is doing fantastic! Service it every 30-45k miles and this car should run for a while. I have no complaints with this car and hope to get a new TL someday. Hopefully not for another 100,000 miles!

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  Acura RL review - 2005 Acura RL
  By TOMMIE - May 15 - 1:00 pm

  This is an autombile that is a joy to drive and the comfort is unsurpassed. I will say that the RL experience from the day I purchased until today has truly been an enjoyable experience.

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  MDX - 2007 Acura MDX
  By kg - May 14 - 1:48 pm

  Just purchased and have not found many flaws with this vehicle at all. Great features, fun to drive, plenty of space, and it looks great.

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  Best in its class - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Vivian - May 14 - 11:35 am

  Test drove the BMW X3, Lexus RX 350 and the RDX is the best. Its the class leading in acceleration, braking and handling. Its just like a sport sedan and I like it better than my 2006 IS 250 (much faster....^_^). Also, the finish and materials are much better than X3 and even better than Lexus. We love the RDX and my wife is thinking to trade in her 2006 IS 250 for another RDX with tech package. Its our first Acura. I highly recommend people test drive the RDX before you make decision.