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:

• 

  Upgraded TSX 1.0 to 2.0 - 2010 Acura TSX
  By Khiz - August 25 - 3:22 pm

  I traded in my 07 TSX (33k miles). I love the interior, Acura has really improved the TSX in this dept. It feels luxurious and sporty at the same time. The materials look and feel of high quality and there hasnt been any rattles or strange sounds as yet. The paddle shifters take some getting used to. You dont have FULL manual control of the car until you move the gear to "S" which downshifts to 3rd gear and then you use the paddles. I miss the flick of the steptronic to manual mode in my old TSX. Road/Wind noise has improved but I cant say much about the handling. The car seems to float at times when you turn the wheel. Need more HP on 4cyl! Price for standard options is unbeatable!

• 

  Overall, I am still happy with the car - 2009 Acura TSX
  By unlv - August 22 - 9:01 am

  Have been driving the car for 8 months now. I found the ride too firm at first, but now I am used to it. The grill-design has grown on me as well. Steering feel is also fine it is materially better compared to my old car (a 2004 V6 Camry). While not perfect, it is still a very good daily-driver in my opinion.

• 

  Not a bad one - 2009 Acura MDX
  By 1st MDXbuyer - August 20 - 11:57 am

  Got it a month ago after thorough study and many colleagues bought MDX previously. Overall it is a nice SUV and worth with its price. Good handling and smooth drive although steering wheel is too restrained to turn. For exterior I like front design, but tail looks terrible. Power is good, especially like the manumatic shift to satisfy sporty drivers. A typical sport SUV.

• 

  My second Acura ILX - 2016 Acura ILX
  By ilx2013je - August 17 - 8:40 pm

  Got a great deal to trade my 2013 ILX for a 2016 ILX Premium pkg Granite Luster/Graystone interior. I never had any problems with my 2013 and really like the updates on the new one. Performance is up due to the new engine but the old one was efficient and peppy. Good ride quality and very good value in the entry level luxury class. Compare to A3, CLA feature for feature and youll see what I mean.

• 

  Engine stop while Im driving - 1999 Acura TL
  By khiet - August 17 - 1:32 pm

  I bought my car almost 5 years ago and never had any problem until now. My car currently had only 65,350 miles on it. The problem with my car is while I am driving on the road it shuts down the engine (on the busy road). The battery is almost brand new. I think ignition switch is bad. Hopefully, they recall ignition switch so I dont have to pay money out of my pocket.

• 

  My third one... - 2002 Acura RL
  By Mike - August 14 - 9:19 pm

  I owned a Legend, then a 97 RL, and now the 02 RL which I bought in 06 with about 38000 miles on it. It now has 122,000 miles and has been trouble free except for the alarm actuator. It has been maintained according to the manual, mostly by the dealer, whose prices are competitive but whose service is better. He is not competitive on major expenses like timing belt changes. The car is comfortable to ride in, is quiet, and feels safe. It handles most of Ohios snow and ice as long as the tires are newer. The navigation system is helpful. I use mid-range gas with no problem. (Its what the dealer uses.) I prefer this body style over the 05 and would have replaced this car but for the style.

• 

  Great Car with some problems - 2005 Acura RL
  By Steve - August 13 - 5:00 pm

  I read up a lot about this car before I bought and have generally been very happy with it. However, about 2 mos after purchase, a rattle developed in the driver side dash. I have taken it to the dealership three times to have this corrected and they have yet to fix it permanently. They freely admit that this is a common problem with this new model and that the factory has no good fix for it. A $50K car should not have a problem like this. I like the way it handles and the overall comfort level. The voice activated system is "over the top" and generally unnecessary (there are more that 4 ways to adjust radio volume alone, why not just turn the knob?). The all wheel drive is great.

• 

  The 07 TL Type S won in my comparison! - 2007 Acura TL
  By rl6569 - August 11 - 3:56 pm

  I recently was in the market for a new vehicle. I looked at everything from the 07 Mercedes C350 Sport Sedan, to the BMW 5 Series, and the Lexus IS 350. I drove all of the vehicles. But, it only took one drive of the TL Type-S to realize the value for the price. I wanted daytime running light, side airbags, great sound system, alarm, good crash ratings, and navigation. All of my requested items were already standard on the 07 Acura TL Type-S.

• 

  Plain, every-day car - 2006 Acura RL
  By Marcin - August 9 - 8:43 pm

  I purchased this car wanting to buy Infiniti M but was annoyed by the dealership and harsh ride of the Infiniti. Overall, good car and good buy, however, not as comfortable and refined as I expected. Suspension is mediocre and outside looks, well.... not that great for many. The value of this car is in its sophisticated technology features, all wheel drive, engine and the interior. I think I could buy the RL again but Acura needs to improve its looks and image as compared to BMW, Audi or even Infiniti.

• 

  Good handling - 1996 Acura Integra
  By integra owner - August 9 - 3:58 pm

  25 mpg for a car that gets to 60 in 8.5 seconds isnÂ’t great. It is very reasonably priced though. For an msrp of $18,000 it is very sporty.