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 quality auto I have owned - 1996 Acura RL
  By J. ANDERSON - August 24 - 2:47 pm

  This vehicle is my first Honda product and I have been very pleased. The car is almost 10 years old and the paint looks awesome. The leather interior is the most durable I have ever had and currently looks to be must younger. These cars do not have the cheap plastic parts that seem to break on most other brands.

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  Instant Classic!! - 2004 Acura RSX
  By RSXorcist - August 24 - 5:25 am

  Ive had the car for a little over a year and I still find excuses to run errands just so I can drive it. I love this car. While I did grind 2nd gear occassionally, I figured it was more user error than anything. The seats are great, steering wheel firm, transmission precise and handling amazing. I wasnt a big fan of hatchback designs but this grew on me. You have to drive it to appreciate it. Ive taken it on the canyon twisties along with a buddies S2000 and it kept up quite well (probably wouldve kept up even better if the stock tires didnt stink).

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  Baby Born to Run - 2006 Acura RSX
  By RSX 2005 - August 23 - 9:52 pm

  I purchased my Acura after trading in a 2002 Civic. The civic has become small, drab, but excellent gas mileage. I went to view the Acura line I was impressed with all models. I fell in love with a greenish/metalic gun color unique to any other care I had seen. The sale was very easy: the car sold itself: solid, sporty feeling and pickup available in manual transmission with a leather interior or a beautiful tan microfiber seat/side interior. My test drive lasted 18 hrs as I moved from Austin to Nashville. At no time during the 1800 mile stretch did I feel cramped, the seat fit my body and was firmly attached to the body, something Civic lacked severely. Leather seats, who needed them..

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  WOW! - 2005 Acura RSX
  By Gar - August 23 - 7:04 pm

  One-week owner Red(!)10 year Prelude veteran (higher torque, lower hp) weekend trip over 12,348 mt pass, both ways 34.8 mpg actual!! Went to test an Accord EX V6--never did. This little devil is a MONSTER! Hugs the hairpins, powers out of curves, quick, precise & easy brakes, and FUN! Never touched the rev-limiter. 200 miles for 5.7 gallons of gas. Worth it. Recommended.

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  Superb Vehicle - 2005 Acura TSX
  By John - August 23 - 2:13 am

  I have a vast knowledge of cars and chose the TSX because it is BY FAR the best value on the market. The TSX comes loaded with everything you would expect in a car in this class for an exceptionally reasonable price. The handling is superb, gas mileage is very impressive, and the standard features are TOP NOTCH! Fit and finish, it is very difficult to find a better car for the money. Make sure to test drive this car because it will not disappoint. It is truly a superb vehicle.

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  Great Car!! - 2002 Acura TL
  By Raka - August 22 - 8:43 pm

  Just bought a 2002 3.2TL-S Fantastic power. Running fine so far

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  My Acura - 2005 Acura RL
  By Acura RL SH-AWD - August 22 - 4:34 pm

  The Acura is a decent car. It should have rain-sensing wipers but hey, not every car is perfect.

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  Great wheels - 2005 Acura TL
  By Patrick madden - August 22 - 4:55 am

  Luxury sedan. Great ride sporty look

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  Excellent overall value - 2005 Acura RL
  By acusacto - August 21 - 8:37 pm

  I went back and forth between the 2005 RL and the 2006 Lexus GS300. The GS300 had a better feel for the road, but you are paying a few thousand dollars just for the name. The RL ride may be a little more boring, but it is much more spacious feeling than the GS300, and the seating position is better to see the road. The RLs standard nav, awesome sound system system, and XM radio represent much better value. Getting around 19 mpg city.

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  A fair review... this is a FUN car! - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Delakhan - August 21 - 8:32 pm

  This car is seriously fun to drive! Its handling is excellent, and combined with a powerful inline 4 cylinder and interior creature comforts, makes this a great road trip car. If youre a racer, this car wont do it for you unless you start modding it. Fuel efficiency is good (I average around 25 mpg), but it still hurts that it costs about $40 to fill up nowadays because it needs premium gas. Ive had to get the brakes and rotors replaced (under warranty) after 7,000 miles, but that says more about how hard I drive this car than the build quality. The most important thing about this car is that I feel very safe in it, I cant stress this part enough.