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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  My First Luxury SUV - 2004 Acura MDX
  By myfirstacura - November 7 - 11:56 pm

  We recently traded in our 2003 Suzuki XL7 Limited for a brand-new 2004 MDX Premium package since it was closeout to make room for 05s. What can I say - I absolutely love this car! The seats are awesome and there is very little body roll. The interior design and materials quality is much better than the SRX and is almost as good as the RX330. Overall, we are getting about 16-17 MPG in the city right now.

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  acura rocks - 2003 Acura TL
  By fumi - November 7 - 7:43 pm

  best decision i ever made. the horsepower is unreal compared to my last car a chrysler. handling and dependabilty are great. the looks i get in this car are worth every penny i spent on it. people say that its a souped-up honda. its so much more than that. i have had no problems with it so far except that the passenger side seat heater doent work, but i dont sit on that side anyway. great car up and down would recommend it to anyone, young or old.

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  Love this vehicle, it fits my busy life - 2004 Acura MDX
  By kelshine - November 7 - 4:35 pm

  Great SUV! Fun to drive, love the flexibilty it offers from carrying 7 people to schlepping bicycles in the rear, to hauling a boxed full size washer in the back. Very easy to lay down seats to gain full access to cargo area. The DVD was great on vacation with the girls, not once did we hear, "Are we there yet??" I love the back up camera, very helpful when small children are around to make sure is is safe to back up. Love the 77 inch width on SUV, I feel very safe, even when windy on highways not getting blown over! Only complaint, I have had 3 dead mice inside my blower in 4 months! Have had to take to dealership to have them removed. This makes our 4th Honda vehicle since 1986.

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  My Opinions - 2004 Acura MDX
  By Garnich - November 7 - 1:28 pm

  I am very pleased with this vehicle. It delivers everything that it promises. It is peppy, comfortable and very driveable.

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  Post purchase review - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Urugly - November 7 - 3:43 am

  I just got the touring MDX with Navi and love it to death. I have always like this car since 01 when it came out. All the gadgets that it comes with in its class cant be beat. Heated seats, power everything, 3rd row seating, AWD, Blue LED interior lights, Onstar, XM, voice activated navi and control.. the list goes on....

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  Acura RSX 2005 - 2005 Acura RSX
  By I Lov My Acura 2005 - November 5 - 10:38 pm

  Great Car for the Price.

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  my rsx-s - 2004 Acura RSX
  By marvin schultz - November 5 - 12:13 pm

  I purchased my RSX-S about a month ago and am very satisfied. Its not only fun to drive, but is very practical and affordable. Acura has a winner here. with more power than the Lexus IS-300 and more stylish than the compact Infinity. It has superb handling and its race inspired seating, you really feel in touch with the road. In a rating of 1-5, I give it a 9.

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  The best car I owned - 2005 Acura TL
  By R.H.W. - November 5 - 7:53 am

  Best car I owned. Bought more than 20 new automobiles, all types. This 2005 Acura TL has it all. Excellent handling, power, comfort, looks and safety plus the best sound system. Loaded with many extras.

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  Great Ride - 2002 Acura TL
  By snarisetty - November 4 - 6:31 pm

  Overall performance and build quality is great. Had to replace tranny @52K. Acura service was great, and replaced the tranny under warranty.

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  Great Ride! - 2009 Acura TSX
  By Rybes - November 3 - 10:30 pm

  New & improved! Quite an upgrade from my 06 TSX and I thought that car was nice. This car is hot! Better lease than Accord EX. Civic Si on wish list but doesnt compare! Smooth highway ride with less wind noise. Better turning radius, great steering. Decent MPG, comfy seats like Volvo. Smooth shifting 6M. Grigio Metallic great alternative to silver/gray. Only gripe is the interior trim looks cheap as do the door handles. Acura has made a believer out of me. Loyal customer for life!