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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  2005 Acura TL - 2005 Acura TL
  By lewcash - April 18 - 4:58 pm

  Fun to drive. Responsive and very reliable.

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  FUN to own - 2007 Acura MDX
  By jighead55 - April 18 - 4:34 pm

  Bought my MDX a few weeks ago. S far Im having a blast with it. The technology is awesome and driving is fun.

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  What a blast! - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Mark - April 18 - 9:45 am

  I drove all the competitors prior to this purchase. This vehicle truly screams "fun to drive". I almost bought an Infiniti FX35 but could not get over the awesome tech package in the RDX at this price. This crossover SUV almost handles as well as my BMW 330xi. It has great acceleration. In fact if you floor it expect to get pinned to your seat. So far the reliability is 100% better than the Grand Cherokee that it replaced. I cannot help myself from accelerating hard in corners and feeling this SUV handle like a sports sedan. Complaints about poor fuel economy and a harsh ride should be put in perspective. This is meant to be a sporty crossover and it totally meets the criteria.

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  Acura at its best! - 2006 Acura TL
  By KWayne - April 17 - 3:26 pm

  A Smooth, very quiet, well-controlled ride. Engine muted and only emits a soft growl during hard accelleration. Otherwise....silent. Very, very quick accelleration. The suspension inspires confidence around corners and winding curves. The navigation is sweet.....top notch. The safety and convenience features such as the voice recognition programs are top-of-the- line.

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  Great SUV! - 2007 Acura RDX
  By dfjcu1979 - April 17 - 2:42 pm

  I just bought my RDX a week ago and love it thus far. I originally thought I was going to buy an MDX but after driving both, I prefered the way the RDX handled and I do not need the extra room that the MDX has. Mileage is ok, been getting an overall average of 19 mpg, this should improve after a couple thousand miles. I was concerned about going to a 4 cylinder from my 06 TL. This vehicle has plenty pickup and absolutely no turbo lag. The engine is rather quiet too from the inside, as opposed to how noisy it is on the TSX.

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  Solid but boring/ Needs rear wheel drive - 2004 Acura TL
  By Trip - April 17 - 12:20 pm

  This car has all the extras that get you excited about a car. The downside is that the vehicle while powered well does not give you a feel you would want from a sport sedan. The understeer is very noticeable and quite frustrating. If you are looking for a comparable car in the 35K range buy the G35. I made a mistake because I like to drive.

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  Love the car - 2009 Acura TSX
  By Ramold - April 17 - 11:50 am

  Bought this a couple months ago. I traded in a 2007 Nissan 350Z roadster for this. I havent regretted it a bit. The comfort, build quality and features far out weigh the lost HP. I highly recommend the 2009 Acura TSX over anything else in its class.

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  Awesome car - 2007 Acura RL
  By Jim Cogan - April 17 - 7:41 am

  This car is just an incredible vehicle, very high tech, but easy to figure out. The stereo is awesome, love the subwoofer. Controls are very accessible. Voice command system works great. Smooth ride, dont even know you are going as fast as you are (yikes). Gas mileage not as good as I hoped, but it is all wheel drive. This car has many options that you would pay 10k more for vehicle. handling is incredible and steering response is nice

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  Almost perfect - 2007 Acura TSX
  By choosiest - April 17 - 3:50 am

  This car would be perfect if had at least a little more low end power (1st and 2nd gear) and also had a more precise feeling shifter/clutch - more like the 97 Integra.

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  Way Better than my Cadillacs!! - 2003 Acura TL
  By koolkat57 - April 16 - 10:00 am

  We had been driving Cadillacs for a while, and had become disgusted with the typical GM assembly quality and reliability. You just couldnt afford them after the warranty ran out!!! We LOVE our 2003 TL type S!! Its eveything we were looking for and MORE. Quiet, Comfortable, And lots of fun to Drive! The gas mileage is also much better than we expected, almost 35 mpg on the highway!!