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:

• 

  Gets it Done - 2005 Acura RL
  By bbyrone - May 20 - 5:19 am

  Probably the best riding car Ive ever owned.

• 

  Great Car - 2006 Acura RL
  By Robert - May 19 - 10:22 pm

  I test drove the BMW 530 and Benz E320. The RL was far superior to both at much less price. The techno gadgets are amazing. I have had absolutely no problems with the car.

• 

  How can you drive this car slow?? - 2003 Acura CL
  By stejus - May 19 - 2:00 am

  Just picked up a 2003 CL Type-S a week ago and I love it. Had to put it in storage until April when the warm weather returns (Winter in Massachusetts too much!). I cant believe the power under the hood of this car. I traded in a MR2 which I thought had power, but this Acura CL TypeS is twice as fast off the line! Cant wait for spring to arrive!

• 

  CL MEANS VALUE - 2003 Acura CL
  By mac wall - May 19 - 2:00 am

  Value is not a meaningless word to me and I translate it into my word with virtually everything. When it comes to autos, the Acura TV and CL simply beat the competition hands down. The BMW, the Lexus, the Audi and Volvo want to compete but they fall short in drive, fit and finish and performance. The CL could be light years ahead with so little attention on the part of designers. Why create a car that wins the VALUE competition yet let some other areas fall so short?

• 

  Best vehicle Ive ever owned! - 2003 Acura RSX
  By jtwcol - May 19 - 2:00 am

  I test drove the Acura RSX-S, Mini Cooper, VW GTI (1.8 & VVR)& Subaru WRX. Each car had its own set of positives and negatives. I felt the best vehicle is the RSX. It is a good looking car, has gobs of power, handles very well and is built better then any car I have ever driven. My decision fell to either the GTI 1.8 or the RSX, in the end, I could not ignore the top notch quality and value of the RSX Type S.

• 

  Great Car!!!!!!!!!1 - 2003 Acura RSX
  By SPeedFreak S - May 19 - 2:00 am

  I am 16 and i purchased this as my first car. I was looking at the Lexus IS300 but in the end i decided to go for pure performance. This car is just that. The shifiting is great, it looks like a ferrari from the back, and has a beautiful interior. Its price is also excellent. This car is about 5 thousand dollars less, than it probably should be. Great Value, Great Car.

• 

  After lots of research...a happy driver - 2003 Acura MDX
  By Hiker23 - May 19 - 2:00 am

  A great deal of time was spent in researching and comparing vehicles (thank you Edmunds!). During our "quest" we looked at the Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, Nissan Pathfinder, Acura MDX, BMW X5 and Lexus GX470. All have great build quality but the value equation for the MDX was the best. It represented the perfect blend between family hauling, luxury, and "sportiness" for us. The 260 hp certainly gets it moving in a hurry (unsuspecting drivers are quickly dispatched to the rear-view mirror)but this is no Boxster S. Needless to say I expect to get atleast 10 years of faithful service from this great machine.

• 

  Tire performance - 2004 Acura TL
  By Warren k Hoen - May 18 - 11:16 am

  I purchased this car new in May 2004. Last summer I drove from my home in Florida to Tucson, AZ where I spent 1 month touring. I returned to FL in Sept. and noticed severe tire wear and road noise. I had the tires replaced at 17000 miles. After driving on the new tires for 5000 mikes I noticed more tire wear and tire noise. Also the car has a noisy engine. I traded the TL in for a new 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid with navigation on March 15, 2005. It comes with Michelin tires and is amuch quieter car all around. I much prefer it to the TL. The performance is great with the V6 engine and electric motor producing 250HP. I recommend this vehicle very highly over the Acura TL.

• 

  In love w/ my TL - 1999 Acura TL
  By Crane - May 16 - 7:48 pm

  Unquestionably the best car Ive ever owned (Ive had over 25 including company cars). I have over 180,000 miles with only expected maintenance. Still cruises effortlessly at 80 mph, is quiet and solid. Will probably spend more than I should to keep it since I love it so much (leather seats need repair, lots of dings and nicks from high-speed driving).

• 

  The best car I have ever owned! - 2005 Acura TL
  By Christopher A Wolter - May 16 - 6:53 pm

  The quality of workmanship is far above that I have experienced in any other car. Everything fits perfectly and works perfectly. My new Acura was totaled on 6-4-05 by a Chevy Suburban who smashed into the rear while doing 50 mph. When the insurance pays off, I plan to buy ANOTHER Acura TL. I have no interest in even looking at other cars!