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 car ever - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Diego - January 27 - 3:58 pm

  Best car that I have had. And believe me, Ive had every make out there. Its very fun to drive!! Its impossible to learn all the features it has. They just pop out and you think "Theres onother feature I didt know!!" Its a great car, its an SUV sports car.

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  Acura Quality Questionable - 2001 Acura MDX
  By FC - January 27 - 10:13 am

  Bought used 55000 and it filled up with water in first rainstorm - bad caulking on firewall seals. Broken front spring replaced. Oil jet kit installed. Tach surges 50-100 rpm every 2-3 seconds - dealer cannot diagnose after hundreds of $s - now thinks it is torque converter. EGR valve replaced on warranty. Plastic vent controls snapped off. Rear wiper droops. Brakes cost > $600 to fix. Road noise excessive. Stereo system is weak. Fuel mileage is poor, especially in city.

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  Thrifty but Nifty - 2006 Acura TSX
  By Tim - January 26 - 6:39 pm

  The Acura TSX is simply a great car! Fantastic build quality interior fit and finish is simple yet refined. Every relevant option under the sun is included as standard definitely a car with attributes to be envied by ALL other manufacturers.

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  I Love my RSX! - 2003 Acura RSX
  By Chris Mr RSX - January 26 - 10:00 am

  The best car in its class. Its a joy everytime I get in my car. I love the leather and interior design, especially at night. whoo. this car blew me away. I was going to get the Type-S but the 5-speed felt better to me and its alot more drivable in city driving.

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  Tremendous Value - 2003 Acura RSX
  By RSXman - January 26 - 10:00 am

  Before purchasing this car, I drove and considered the following: Eclipse GT, Celica GT-S, Volkswagen GTI, Honda Civic, Honda Accord Coupe, Pontiac Grand AM GT1. The Acura is so far above these other cars in every way, Im still amazed. The build quality is astounding, the materials used inside are very nice, not just cheap plastic. Buying experience very easy, there are no options other than useless crap you buy at the dealer, so finding the right one is easy. If youre looking for a car with NO compromises, this is the one. Very fast, handles extremely well, lacks no features, and still gets almost 30MPG in the city.

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  We love our MDX - 2003 Acura MDX
  By TMT - January 26 - 10:00 am

  This is the first vehicle that I have purchased "outside" the Toyota family. My wife and I were both surprised about how the car performed versus the Lexus RX 300, RX 330, and other Toyota SUVs in the test drives. This SUV has a nice balance for our needs - image, 7 seats, build quality, price, and safety equipment.

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  Good Gas Milage, but need an improvment - 2003 Acura MDX
  By BenC. - January 26 - 10:00 am

  Overall the MDX is a great SUV. It has good gas mileage, but I think someone needs to come out with a hybrid or fuel cell SUV and who would be better than Acura? If Acura did develop one, then dont you think they would be leading the way in hybrid or fuel-cell SUVs.

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  Love the Type S - 2003 Acura TL
  By Bob Mattivi - January 26 - 10:00 am

  Great car. I would buy another one. The only problem is that we needed brake pads after 12,000 miles. No problems in 16,000 miles. A great car.

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  a fine car - 2005 Acura TSX
  By zirconahoo.com - January 26 - 1:20 am

  The tranny and engine pairing is excellent, the interior is beautiful. The engine is a little weak on torque low in the power curve, but it picks up quickly.

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  Unfairly Overlooked and Ridiculously Underrated! - 2017 Acura RLX
  By Acura host - January 26 - 12:26 am

  I test drove just about every luxury sedan in this price range--BMW, Audi, Lexus, Infinity, Porsche (suv), and some midlevel sedans as well, and I can honestly say this is the best one out there. Why? Well,....it depends on what you want. I wanted Quality (Ive always loved the way Acuras drive and last), Safety (NHTSA and IIS best ratings --with suite of safety features), Visibility (you can actually see out of the car and over your shoulder), Dependability (not one issue with it for over a year), and Ease of Driving (the smoothest engine and most maneuverability Ive come across), ---(btw, the steering IS very connected to the road and incredibly sporty for a large sedan). Not to mention--- the roomy, rear seat, , the quiet cabin, the improved suspension, the way it climbs a hill and never downshifts, not to mention its classic, elegant appearance. The RLX is a fantastic vehicle and its a shame that it doesnt get more love in the press. Read reviews from actual owners!! Test drive it yourself, and youll be extremely surprised in the best possible way. Pricing is high, but check around to get a good deal. They are out there. There is nothing sedate about this top notch sedan. It is thee hidden jewel at Acura!