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:

• 

  Suspension - 2015 Acura MDX
  By Tom vaiarella - January 17 - 2:44 pm

  I saved up my whole life so I thought I would treat myself to a luxury suv when I retired . I bought the 2015 Acura MDX awd . It is wonderful except for the most poorly designed suspension!!! When I go over the slightest bump or man whole cover it sounds like somebody is playing base drums in the cabin and the car shakes like the wheels are going to fall off!!! If wasnt for that I would love the car. I hate that noise so much that I am seriously thinking of trading it in with 7000 miles on it !!!

• 

  Legendary Acura - 1990 Acura Legend
  By Reinzcarnation - January 8 - 12:27 pm

  Parts for The 1990 Acura Legend are available (new & used) as any vehicle will need repair after 100K miles. The "VG new cars make VG pre owned cars" has a picture next to it of my car!

• 

  MDX outshines previous Volvo - 2014 Acura MDX
  By CH - January 8 - 10:26 am

  We got this because we needed more space and a 3rd row. This vehicle is great! We love the comfort and space. Would highly recommend it!

• 

  Best value I could find under $65K - 2014 Acura MDX
  By Frank - January 7 - 5:13 pm

  Family SUV dream car. Very satisfied and will keep it for at least 10 years.

• 

  Love the Acura! - 2012 Acura TSX
  By T. Judge - January 7 - 1:16 pm

• 

  Love my RDX - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Harriet Parker - January 7 - 12:51 pm

• 

  Noisy Car for the money - 2012 Acura MDX
  By Dissatisfied - January 4 - 11:37 pm

  I have taken my MDX 2012 to the dealership several times to complain of a terrible grinding sound during low speeds and when coming off the highway. Several times have been told by dealership this car is fine and it sounds terrible. When turning at low speeds it sometimes makes a loud thud and clunk mostly after rain or bad weather when in reverse or parking the car.

• 

  Acura TLX Better Than Lexus ES 350! - 2015 Acura TLX
  By Paul Grasewicz - January 4 - 7:11 pm

  Drove a Lexus ES-350, Mercedes C-300 and the Acura TLX V-6 Advance. The Acura was more spacious inside, it is wider and there is more headroom. Very quiet interior and the car seems to float over the road. Too much road noise in the Lexus. I really like the Acuras separate screen for the navigation and one for the sound system. The ELS 10 speaker system with surround is wonderful. The car has good acceleration and gas mileage. There are more technology features than other similar luxury cars. Plus it is priced lower than the Lexus and Mercedes C-300 (which is a small car). I highly recommend the Acura TLX. You get much more for the money. Test drive one, youll be convinced like me.

• 

  300,000 plus - 1999 Acura CL
  By Kuntree TLR - January 4 - 4:44 pm

  I havent. Had trans issue I got the car in 2012 with 181,000 replace starter ,battery ,

• 

  A better idea 12 years ago - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Gilbert Frey - January 2 - 2:57 pm

  Car is not overly comfortable on long road trips. Rear visibility is poor. Blind spots are bad for lane changing. Backup camera is a must (I added this myself). Rear seats are small and cramped and uncomfortable. Hard to exit the car gracefully. Parts are noticeably expensive (had to replace starter recently).