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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  TL - Luxury on a Budget - 2004 Acura TL
  By Webman - December 21 - 10:00 am

  Traded in Mazda RX-8 I bought last summer, because I missed that Acura luxury. This car is great. It rides like dream, has some get up and go, and the DVD audio sound system is fantastic. I usually trade cars in every 1 - 2 years, but cant imagine doing that with this one. It has it all, and I can still afford to send my kids to college. Also, I look forward to having front wheel drive again this winter. With the RX-8 I found myself borrowing my wifes and sons cars last winter.

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  Former Lexus Owner - 2002 Acura RL
  By Perry P - December 17 - 9:22 pm

  We owned 2 Lexux prior to leasing the3.5 RL. Nice car. Rides smooth on the highway. No major problems. Pretty good mileage. Nice stereo system. Pretty comfortable on long trips. I think my wife prefers SUV and we will probably go back to the RX330 when lease is up.Only other disappointment is the selling price. Seems to be overpriced by $5.000.00

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  Great Value in the sport sedan group - 2004 Acura TSX
  By JoeD - December 17 - 5:01 pm

  The features on this car are amazing for the price. Stability control, heated seats, 17 inch alloy wheels, high safety ratings, and smart rearview mirror for starters. The only disappointment has been a creaking sound on the passenger side dashboard/ windshield area when I go over even small bumps on the road. The car is very fun to drive in the city or on the highway. The understated exterior design belies the specd out interior and performance.

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  Fantastic car - 2005 Acura TL
  By DRM - December 17 - 2:36 am

  Took delivery of my 05 a week ago as part of a promotion package, replacing my much loved 03. I cannot fault it, the stereo is superb, the power awesome and the quality of materials is much uprated. My one word of warning is that Acura are clearly gunning for the BMW market. The ride is firm and the power leads to a very engaging and involving ride (it really reminds me of a series 3 I drove a few years ago). My 03 was a smooth elegant (Lexus like) ride. The 05 is more of a bad boy, aggressive, fast, fine competition for teutonic offerings but at an exceptional value price. If you want this, the car is for you. If you want a softer, entry level luxury comfort ride, maybe not. Your choice.

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  AWSOME CAR - 2003 Acura RSX
  By SpeedyJ - December 17 - 2:00 am

  an awsome car, fast, awsome handling, great interior design, a real head turner........and its fun to drive.....

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  I love my "teg" - 1994 Acura Integra
  By AutoX - December 16 - 1:51 pm

  I got this car with 99k miles on it. Had it for 2.5 yrs now and it still drives like new with 123k miles! Ive taken this car to a few autocross events, have done suspension mods and upgraded brakes. I love the exterior appearance and trunk space, the seats have above avg lateral support during hard cornering. I have yet to see a car in that price range (new/used) with seats like these. Only the radiator gave out at 100k miles (typical problem for the plastic/aluminum radiators), bought replacement for $100. I think it still has the original clutch and never slipped on me! Nice handling and fun to drive great car for beginner car tuners/racers. I bought an EVO 8, have to part with Integra :(

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  2005 Acura RL - 2005 Acura RL
  By Waltermac - December 15 - 12:56 pm

  We had a bad accident in the rain in an FWD performance car (Volvo S60). The car spun out of control when the front weels hydroplaned. RWD and AWD had to be considered for the next purchase. I tried a number of all wheel drive alternatives (Audi, Volvo, BMW) and the RL was the only one that didnt plow around corners at speed. The responsiveness of the RL to driver input is terrific, and the handling is better than a BWW or Mercedes, IMHO. I think the cars exterior style is much better than you can you can see in photos. In person it has a wonderful agressive stance. The interior is beautiful, and well assembled: no rattles, very quiet, very Lexus like.

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  Unassuming excellence - 2004 Acura TSX
  By jbl - December 15 - 10:00 am

  After a few agonizing months and countless test drives on various used and new BMW 3 series, Audi A4, Jaguar X Type, Lexus IS 300, Volvo, took the plunge and got myself a TSX. In the final weeks I agonized between the TSX and the A4 and finally settled for the TSX. It is by far the best overall value as well as top on reliability. A4 has a more recognizable exterior styling and perhaps the quatro is an advantage, even though not so much if you consider the decent VSA in the TSX. At anything else the TSX is just the better choice. Not to mention the price for similar equipment. Just go to an Acura dealer and see how many used A4s youll find vs. how many Acuras at an Audi dealer.

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  Love this Car - 2004 Acura TL
  By Andrew Milliner - December 15 - 10:00 am

  Picked this car up at New Years eve and had a small problem with the starter relay for the fuel injection. It would freeze when below -25C (temps we see a lot up here in Ottawa Canada) After this was repaired my next trip was 9 months later to change the oil and check the transmission (recall to install oil sprayer) Other than that it has been a joy to drive each and every day.

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  Best Car Ive Owned - 2004 Acura TL
  By Lin R - December 15 - 10:00 am

  Im very happy I bought this car. I wanted a great looking, reliable car with a lot of HP and manual transmission. The Acura TL provides so many features and is exceptionally fun to drive. I actually wish my commute to work was longer!