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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  90 ls hatch - 1990 Acura Integra
  By russ - February 22 - 11:06 pm

  Ive got 176000 miles on my Integra LS. It has been a great car. Of course Ive "made it my own" by adding all of the bolt on tuner parts. I beat on this car everyday and never have a problem with it. It starts everytime and runs great. Plus, its fun to beat a new Civic with my "old" Integra.

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  AWESOME CAR - 2005 Acura TL
  By Jaybeezie - February 22 - 7:30 pm

  I bought this car in 2004 and am still madly in love with the car. It has everything that you could possibly want in a car and more. Highly recommended!

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  Power to Please - 2005 Acura TL
  By Doc - February 22 - 1:53 pm

  This was my first venture into an Acura and boy was I pleasantly surprised. The car handles real tight and has power to spare. No passing problems here! Love the navigation system which is integrated into the dash with a very easy to read large screen. Probably one of the best built cars that I own.

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  Sedan on steroids - 2004 Acura TL
  By Trace - February 21 - 11:20 pm

  The car comes fully loaded and is a must with the Nav system. I drove an automatic version and the 6 speed is much more fun to drive and more responsive. The 270 hp advertised is only at the high rpm range near red line. Only drawbacks: with its front wheel drive, the wheels torque up in a turn under high power and it pulls on the steering. The brembo brakes sometimes squeal when braking into a slow turn as in turning into the driveway. This is common and is not an issue for concern though the squeal can be bothersome at times.

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  MG - 2005 Acura RL
  By MG - February 20 - 10:33 pm

  A very quiet car to drive and the Bose Stereo system is something to be heard. Incredible sound and with the quiet ride it makes the experience even more enjoyable. The navigation system, sat radio and other voice activated features are very easy to use and interface with. Cornering capability is tight and holds the road very well. At night the road is well eluminated by the adaptive headlight system.

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  Not too shabby - 2005 Acura RSX
  By ElecDave - February 19 - 5:21 pm

  I just bought my 2005 Acura RSX two weeks ago, and this is by far my favorite car I have owned. I went with the Type-S and all I can say is WOW! It has amazing power for looking like such a small car, and only having the 2.0 liter.

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  Honda of Japan did it again! - 1995 Acura Integra
  By revaniki - February 18 - 12:56 pm

  This is an excellent quality made Japanese vehicle. Three set ownership car 1) Feed with 93 grade gas 1) 2) Lubricate with oil ever 3,000 3)Check/Replace timinig belt ever 80,000. Bulletproof engine, stunning handling, luxurious build quality, super reliable. Bought mine with 165,000, have driven it to 190,000 with no problems. Even took it to the track once and ran a 15.5 1/4 mile with only the addition of OEM intake and Magnaflow exhaust. Keep in mind that a new one back in 95 ran a 15.3, 190,000 havent done much to hurt performance! Always starts on first crank, never ever ever gives any problems. Was designed for hard driving.

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  great car - 2003 Acura TL
  By malibu matt - February 18 - 2:00 am

  I havde only had the car for about a month but I am very satisfied. I was shocked to hear about people complaining about the rattles and braking problems. I found just the opposite, this car is rock solid with no rattles (so far). Ive heard alot of discussion comparing this car with german made vehicles but lets get serious, you cant even touch one of those "other cars" for the same price. This is alot of car for the money.

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  Excellent Design and Fun To Drive - 2004 Acura TL
  By bwise - February 18 - 2:00 am

  This is my 4th Acura, and it certainly lives up to my expectations from Acura. I love my new TL, and recommend others looking for a well made, well designed car that is both sporty, and luxurious to check it out.... I dont think youll be disappointed.

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  A "Sport" Sedan - 2004 Acura TL
  By Pat Smith - February 18 - 2:00 am

  Looked hard at the G35, lexus 330, Maxima. Lexus too creamy dreamy ride but best fit and finish, Maxima not much less $ and too many on the road, G35 rear wheel drive all wheel more $, live in MN. cant have rear dr. Defaulted to the Acura. If you want a Sport Sedan this is it for this class of car at this price point.