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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  Amazing car!!! - 2007 Acura RL
  By Chris - December 18 - 4:55 pm

  Just came from a Lexus GS 430 and the Acura RL wins in almost every way the ride is excellent the interior is perfect I miss the low end power of the Lexus V8 but the all wheel drive system is a plus in the Utah snow Great car highly recommend excellent value for the price.

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  Pearl white gem of a car - 2011 Acura RDX
  By Mary Prettiman - December 14 - 8:03 pm

  Owned 4 Acuras-Loved them all but this one is the best. Great pickup (turbo), good gas mileage and, like all Acuras, complete dependability.

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  Love my Acura TL Type-S - 2003 Acura TL
  By mary patterson - December 13 - 7:39 pm

  My only complaint is that the car requires premium gasoline.

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  Sensible Luxury at an Affordale Price - 2013 Acura RDX
  By jack.beecher@gmail.com - November 28 - 10:03 pm

  Drive the RDX -- it handles well and is appointed like cars costing much more... and it hold sits value as well. We have enjoyed driving it.

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  Perfect car - 2010 Acura TL
  By Courtney - November 28 - 1:01 pm

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  225K and going strong - 2007 Acura RDX
  By K Smith - November 26 - 11:22 pm

  Ive had no maintenance or repair problems with my RDX. All maintenance at Acura dealership. No repairs beyond scheduled service. Drive 25K/yr in Northern and Central Valley California. Most miles on I-5 at 70 mph. Also into Sierra foothills in light snow. Acceleration is great entering highway and passing on 2 lane roads. Only negative comments - suspension is very tight. Wonderful for cornering but bothersome on poor roadways at highway speed. I still prefer it to my wifes 2007 MDX. Premium fuel required but knew this when I bought it. Interior is great except center console armrest is thin vinyl that began to wear and tear after 4 years. Mentioned to dealer and they acknowledged that other owners had same complaint. Overall great car, hoping to get 50K more on it waiting for Tesla Model 3.

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  Hate to part ways - 2010 Acura TL
  By Robert Dictor - November 25 - 9:11 am

  After six years of comfortable trouble free driving, Im ready for a sportier vehicle with a convertible top. The Acura TL has been a great vehicle, fun to drive and very reliable. Whats made it even more responsive is the Pirelli replacement tires. They take the turns well and perform well in the frequent Florida rain.

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  Great Car - 2015 Acura RLX
  By TMW - November 24 - 12:09 pm

  Just to give a little backround, my last two cars were a Lexus GS and an Acura RL. I did not like my Lexus at all and got rid of it after less than two years. I had that Lexus in the shop 7 times in those two years for various problems. Up until then, I had pretty much owned only Toyota or Lexus. In 2008, I decided to get the Acura RL to replace the Lexus GS. The Acura RL treated me very well for 6 years until I gave it to my daughter. When it was time to get a new car, I considered many different luxury brands but kept coming back to Acura. So far, I have 13,500 miles on the car. I can honestly say, this is the best car I have ever owned. I look forward to driving it everyday. There were a couple of recalls which were easily taken care of...I was not having problems before the recalls. If I had to do it again, I would not hesitate to get the RLX. I would love to have the hybrid version but it was not available when I bought my car. I had a deposit for one with the dealer but after waiting a year, they finally told me they werent sure when they would available. I guess that would be my one complaint with Acura...they had a predicted release date for the hybrid and it kept getting delayed and there was no information available as to if and when they were going to come out with the car.

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  So Good Makes You Wanna Slap Your Momma - 2004 Acura TSX
  By Ari - November 23 - 9:36 am

  Bought my 04 TSX 6spd man in June 15 with 60,000 miles and it still feels like new. All of the cars controls have a responsive, precise feel to them. Lateral cornering grip is fantastic and the car goes exactly where you point it with minimal understeer. The steering is precise and the manual transmission feels like it came out of a sports car, with very short throws and a buttery snick snick feel to it. Its not a very fast or sexy sounding powertrain, but the power is sufficient. The interior is beautiful with quality expensive looking materials. Styling is very handsome inside and out and has aged extremely gracefully over the last 10 years. Tinting the windows and installing a lip spoiler completed the exterior, and ipod aux cable is a quick install. This cars practicality, reliability and fun to drive characteristics are unmatched in this price range.

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  Nice ride - 2015 Acura RDX
  By ML - November 22 - 9:26 pm

  Reliability of a Honda, better interior, really a great ride. The reliability of the Audi and Volvo scared me away. The move to the 4 cylinder engines have poor performance and depending on where you live, are not that safe to drive. The twin turbo/supercharged engines will obviously have thier issues in time, so this feels like the right choice. However, the BMW, cruises on the open road a bit nicer. This starts pushing the rpms at about 75, while the bmw will cruise up to 100 without breaking a sweat. There are minor advantages to each. Overall, I went with the reliability of the Honda brand. At 13K miles, it has been a great decision.