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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  No complaints - 2002 Acura RSX
  By rj - May 7 - 10:00 am

  Ive logged about 4000 miles on my RSX- Type-S and have no complaints at this point. It rides like a dream and provides an extremely comfortable driving environment for the driver (and front seat passenger).

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  Excellent car - 2003 Acura TL
  By Anjana - May 7 - 10:00 am

  Wonerdful Luxury car with Navigation system-its simply cool......

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  TL-S Navi - 2003 Acura TL
  By Sheng - May 7 - 10:00 am

  Exellent exellent car, smmoth quick performance, solid handling, comfortable seats/driving position, very user friendly navigation system.

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  For your moneys worth. - 2005 Acura RSX
  By Moses Q. - May 5 - 1:33 pm

  I just wanted to state a fact for everyone out there and that is this car is worth every cents given. The performance, ride, comfort, every aspect of the car is great. Especailly the power in this small car. You wont believe it until you experience it yourself.

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  The faster it goes, the better it feels - 2005 Acura TSX
  By al - May 4 - 11:30 pm

  Great car, fun to drive, and a surprising amount of room

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  great car - 2004 Acura TL
  By r2000gt - May 4 - 10:00 am

  great car no complaints

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  I LOVE MY NEW CAR - 2004 Acura TL
  By COVERGIRL - May 4 - 10:00 am

  THIS CAR IS AWESOME. I LOVE DRIVING MY NEW ACURA TL EVERYDAY. EVERYONE LOVES MY NEW CAR. THE TL HAS SUCH A SMOOTH RIDE. IT IS ALSO A BEAUTIFUL CAR TO LOOK AT! IN A SCALE FROM 1 TO 10. ITS A 12! I RECOMMEND EVERYONE TO TEST DRIVE THIS CAR. ONCE THEY DO THEYLL BE NEGOTIATING A PRICE WITH THEIR SALESPERSON.

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  A compact delight - 2005 Acura RSX
  By Old Sport - May 3 - 11:41 am

  I owned a 90 Integra that was an excellent fun to drive car that got handed down to both my kids. The 05 RSX-S is twice a much fun to drive. The handling is exemplary, the smooth, high-revving engine gives sensual pleasure to everyday driving, and the 6-speed transmission is impressively precise in shifting. Those that complain about the transmission might be happier driving M-1 tanks for the First Armored Division. This is a well- executed, high-spirited, 2+2 sports coupe at a very fair price. It gives the most pleasure when it is driven with skill - not flogged like a dirt bike.

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  Silver Rocket!! - 2005 Acura RSX
  By Tom - May 2 - 12:13 pm

  A fantastic car! Amazing performance from a 4 cyclinder engine (and good fuel economy as well). Short-throw 6 speed is perfect. Build quality is exceptional. Feels tighter than a drum. Stock stereo is quite good as well. Perfect car for those who want great performance but dont want the higher fuel costs and "boy racer" looks of some of the others.

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  Biggest Bang for Your Buck - 2002 Acura RSX
  By jer - May 2 - 10:00 am

  The new RSX fixes the few problems the Interga had. The best improvement is the seating. These seats are built for americans. They are large and comfortable, compared to the old integra. Furthermore, the 2 1/2" of additional height helps me from not hitting my head on the ceiling. This car is really complete also. The only options I had added to my fire pepper red Type-S was the rear wing, the upgrade wheels and the fog lights down in front. It is an incredible car; leather, great sound, 100hp per liter with under 3,000 lbs, hot as a pistol and all for under $26K!