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 gotta love - 2005 Acura TL
  By lexing1 - June 7 - 7:37 pm

  Great vehicle but some have reliablity problems. just had an electrical problem that shut down my throttle completely.

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  ON TO # 2 - 2006 Acura TSX
  By BizzyB - June 7 - 1:40 pm

  I am now onto my 2nd TSX and I would have to say that my 06 is far better than my 04 and I absolutely loved my 04. I went with the pearl white/parchement and I cannot stop the compliments! The blue tooth is amazing and handy, sound system is more than adequate. Overall a real winner when I considered a BMW and a Mercedes and I keep coming back to the TSX!!

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  Beautiful Vehicle - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Tom - June 7 - 10:42 am

  This is our first Acura. Although it has only been a month, this car has been a pleasure to drive. No vibrations or problems with shifting as mentioned in other reviews. The ride is smooth and comfortable, more so than with the Lexus RX350 that we tested prior to purchasing the MDX.

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  Primo - 2003 Acura CL
  By Primo - June 7 - 10:00 am

  I have owned my CL type S for 8 months. Overall I am very satisfied with the car. Having been a previous owner of a Legend Sedan I was familiar with the quality and performance of Acura cars. As mentioned previously I dislike the low gas mileage particularly in the city. The auto stick does not allow you to shift into first gear the computer overrides this function. The turning radius is too wide. The fake marble interior is cheesy and the sound system is subpar for a vehicle of this price.

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  Awesome! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By dmitry78 - June 7 - 10:00 am

  Ive been driving my new RSX for two weeks, and I love it! It drives like a dream and definitely turns heads, too! My previous car was a Ford Focus ZX3, and, by comparison, this is a higher- quality, better-handling, and more sophisticated vehicle.

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  RSX - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Raymond Young - June 7 - 9:06 am

  This is the second RSX that I bought in 2002. The first one my wife hit a parked car doing 60 mph she walked away with only a broken pair of glasses (the air bag). We bought the second RSX exactly like the first. It is fun the drive and we have had zero problems.

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  Excellent blend of luxury and sporty - 2006 Acura TSX
  By TSXer_MD - June 7 - 7:42 am

  Have had 2006 TSX (Nighthawks) w/o NAV for over a month and love it! It has plenty of power for me to ride on busy DC Beltway with lots of fun. It is so nice to have everything (nice and yet useful) loaded in a package. Hands- free/Bluetooth works fantastic with my Motorola V600. Memorized seat positions allow my wife to drive on weekends without manually adjusting seat anymore. I am afraid she is abandoning her Odyssey for my TSX (kidding - Odyssey works great for the family). Sound system is excellent (still enjoy free XM for now - $15/mo seems worthwhile if you have long commute). Surprisingly the purchase experience was very pleasant (paid INVOICE PRICE exactly).

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  Perhaps the first year had more lemons - 2001 Acura MDX
  By Jen Tow - June 7 - 12:02 am

  Excellent vehicle for city drivers who need a large car. Runs smoothly and has huge carrying capacity. It is not a good 4x4. My previous car, a jeep grand cherokee, was far superior off- road. The Acura transmission overheated on one trip (luckily it has a light on the dash that warns you). On another the power steering failed (luckily the new steering rack was under warranty). The huge coil spring on one of the wheels even broke going over a regular pothole. It is rather delicate, not rugged. But if you keep it on paved roads you will enjoy the smooth ride, quiet engine, easy to use rear seats and cargo room.

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  I actually dont mind making my payments - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Tom - June 5 - 2:19 am

  Im not particularly a car person, but I have to say I really like this SUV. Its my first Acura and my 5th SUV. Its very quiet, spacious, comfortable, and the navigation is fantastic once you learn commands. (At first I didnt think the voice rec. worked well but it was mostly my lack of understanding it. Fine now.) Body style is least favorate but added wheel flares, side molding, and running boards that help make it less bulbous.

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  Review - 2005 Acura TSX
  By John - June 4 - 11:46 am

  Car has plenty of power, smooth transmission and very responsive. I cannot imagine a better car for the money.