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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  The True Flagship - 2004 Acura RL
  By Ozz - May 15 - 2:00 am

  Its the best built and reliable car!! Less maintenance then a bmw or benz!!

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  MY SECOND R L - 2004 Acura RL
  By DUFF - May 15 - 2:00 am

  FUN TO DRIVE. VERY FAVORABLE COMMENTS FROM PEOPLE WHO SEE AND RIDE IN IT. ADAQUATE TRUNK ROOM. THE SATALITE RADIO IS A PLUS. I HAVE USED THE MAP FEATURE AND LIKE IT

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  a great car for thr price - 2004 Acura RL
  By kal4 - May 15 - 2:00 am

  1 year after leasing a rl 3.5,i have all praise for this luxary car.i have leased lincoln.caddys,lexas.they dont compair to the acura.the 3.5 is comfortable,.easy to drive,super turning ratio.the on-star-xm radio-map guidance are all a joy to have.1 radio station from nj to florida....

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  The best car Ive ever driven!!! - 2005 Acura TL
  By Chris M - May 14 - 5:56 pm

  Ive got to tell you that cars typically do not excite me, Ive had dozens of new company cars all my life... but this one is different. The TL makes me want to drive, it begs to be thrown into turns, it pleads for you to pass slower traffic, it demands you go buy 70s Rock DVD-Audio discs and play them very loud. And yet it does all this while maintaining the image a 47-year old like me needs to portray. If I had to sum up the driving experience in 3 words it would be exhilarating, confident and fun. Go buy this car... you wont be disappointed.

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  Immaculate Car - 1991 Acura Integra
  By xpnsve - May 13 - 2:00 am

  This car is the best car Ive owned. Its fast, fun to drive, economical, spacious, the interior is immaculate even at its age, the suspension is smooth and stable, the steering is tight and responsive, highend rev power is superb. To top it off.. its very very SEXY!

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  Car is the Bomb!! Nothing like any other - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Cali - May 13 - 2:00 am

  I love my car! I test drove everything out there and nothing compares!

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  Recent TL W/NAV & ProPackage purchase - 2006 Acura TL
  By shalebrook - May 12 - 9:53 pm

  Bought my TL last week and have put 300 miles on it. Also considered the Lincoln Zephyr (dropped it-the hp and performance was below par for this class and it will be replaced this Oct.by a car with more HP and all wheel drive option-too late for me!)the Avalon-too big and boxy for me and it has major reliability issues, the Cadillac CTS-rear wheel drive only turned me off, and the BMW 325xi. Like all wheel drive, but it was much smaller and lacked the acceleration of the TL, plus it lacked the NAV, sound system and other features of the TL at a lower price. I am 67" tall and weigh close to 240 pounds, so interior room was important to me. Space up front is ample.

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  A Fine Automobile - 2005 Acura TL
  By A Roberts - May 12 - 5:16 am

  The car is a head turner. Excellent styling, quality and performance. Just fun to drive. I got the blue/q best looking of all color combos except black/black.

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  sheer amazement - 2003 Acura MDX
  By shark3716 - May 12 - 2:00 am

  this car is amazing...we looked at several suvs including the new lexus, other lexus suvs, the volvo, the mercedes-benz, and the bmw...this one beat them all. the navigation system is amazing and same for the entertainment system. make sure to get the touring package.

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  TL-S white- good value at $30K - 2003 Acura TL
  By edmondso - May 12 - 2:00 am

  Having lookes at Passat, Accord, Camry, and the TL, I went for the TL-S. I liked the TL, but it was short on headroom, so I went for the type S (the seat design is different, giving more headroom). The handling is very good, you can actually feel the road. Design is actually cool, according to my teenager. Have yet to use more than a fraction of the power, that could be interesting.