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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  best car ever - 2004 Acura TL
  By kelcarver - July 21 - 2:00 am

  accelerates very well. great to drive long distances. xm radio excellent. sound system cant be beat. very safe car. have acuras for many years and all are very reliable. wonderful car.

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  Great car, great value - 2006 Acura RSX
  By Albee - July 20 - 8:47 pm

  Just bought a new Type S and couldnt be happier. If youre looking for top performance (i.e. extremely fun to drive) at a very reasonable cost, get this car. It has great acceleration and handling, and working the clutch is extremely easy. The 6 spd is great for the hwy mpg (city mpg is not 23 btw unless you drive real slow. figure about 18-20). Couple issues with the car is it can be a bumpy ride on non-smooth roads due to tight suspension. Also, engine gets loud at high rpms (redline starts at like 7500). In terms of construction, the car is a rock. The Type-S is 100% made in Japan (most Acuras are made in the USA now).

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  Power and comfort - 2005 Acura MDX
  By mdx - July 20 - 6:32 pm

  Best vehicle I have ever owned. Would definately get another in the future.

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  2007 MDX a big winner - 2007 Acura MDX
  By zorro - July 20 - 4:36 am

  Great vehicle! Comfortable and sporty ride, easy and very responsive handling (SH-AWD and ADS), very safe feeling vehicle, very good engine power, great Acura ELS Surround sound system (DVD-audio, Dolby prologic II, 10 speakers), very good speech recognition for Navigation, audio systems and Hands Freelink, front and second row seats are the most comfortable we have ridden in. A first class SUV all around with abundant storage and passenger room. Fuel economy on the sticker is very accurate.

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  Reliable engine, the rest-lacking - 1993 Acura Legend
  By Paul - July 19 - 6:16 pm

  With about 126,000 miles currently the car doesnt have a great deal of wear on the engine. I have never had a problem with the engine. However I have had problems with various other non-mechancial parts on the vehicle. Replacements include: drivers side door handle with electronics, master cylinder and ignition switch. All of those with installation totalled $1000 plus. The engine is fairly powerful for the time period, however the gas mileage is decent at best. I average 16-18 mpg in a suburban area and on the highway 25-30. The ride is smooth but somewhat unresponsive. Turns are clumsy and makes the car feel heavy. Interior is rather plush for the base model.

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  Unique! - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Vitaliy - July 19 - 4:20 pm

  This car is quite comfortable, with a 300 hp engine. A unique design inside and out. I love driving this car.

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  Love my TL - Best Value - 2004 Acura TL
  By Rbertj - July 19 - 10:33 am

  I purchased a new 2004 TL, black with beige interior, 6 speed, no navi. I have 18K on it now. I drive it daily on my commute into Washington, DC from the VA suburbs. Thats a hard drive. I have had no problems. The car still looks great and I still get comments on it. The tires have worn but that is to be expected on these kinds of tires. I havent yet replaced them - hoping to get to 20k before buying a new set. I rotated them every 8k and that seems to have extended them longer than other TL owners have reported. Although I usually dont push the car through lots of hard turns very often either.

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  Few Problems - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Lisa - July 19 - 8:49 am

  I have had this car a year tomorrow and have had nothing but problems and Acura cannot figure out what is going on with the car. When taking off from a stop it sometimes does not go and act as though it is going to stall out. The car also races RPMs for no reason. I have had the radio replaced in the car 4 times since I have had it as well. I loved my 92 Integra and decided to upgrade but after this 04 purchase I may have to stick with the 92 or change the make of what I purchase. If Acura could fix the problem instead of throwing their hands up, I may consider buying another Acura in the future. Until then I will stick with the 92.

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  Great Reliable Car - 1995 Acura Integra
  By nrthcrln709 - July 18 - 7:05 pm

  Great car, thats very reliable. You can rev it up to 7.5 all day everyday with no problem. Comfortable seats. Great handling, and plenty of power.

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  Very nice car - 1997 Acura CL
  By sut - July 18 - 5:50 pm

  This car is superb. I loved it. Indeed old but works very good and looks new. Engine is just great. I think mileage is getting less, but everything is good.