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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  Love it! - 2006 Acura RL
  By ed - April 21 - 11:13 pm

  I finally found the car I was looking for - initially the performance is great, the ride is smooth and wonderfully responsive, both on the highway and in the mountains the controls are not as complicated as some indicate, the noise level is the best (lowest) of all the cars I tested, and the interior is exquisite. The car loves to be driven and the driver feels alive and excited. There is plenty of power and plenty of luxury - combined with a sense of sportiness, makes this a competitive combination almost unbeatable. Perhaps a more expensive Lexus might be a better choice, but after hours of homework and many, many test drives, I think I found the perfect combination for what I wanted.

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  Very Satisfied + More - 2006 Acura RL
  By Jay Wolfe - April 21 - 4:22 pm

  Upgraded from a 2005 TL. Checked most others in this category and the RL just offered too much for much less cost. The handling is very good and excellent on wet and snowy payment......Interior well thought out and exterior a "not in your face" classy design. Slow off the mark, but I keep my pink slips in the glove box at my age. Great acceleration when needed to pass or when getting on the highway. After 6,000 miles have average 23.4 MPG. Navi easy to use, bluetooth great, Audio screen really helpful and with a large screen to display ball scores, golf leaderboard and programming. You can see all the words and data lines, not just a few ie Infiniti.

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  Excellent Car. - 2003 Acura TL
  By Jason - April 21 - 3:08 pm

  I purchased this car new almost 3 years ago - thus far, it has been flawless. Nothing has gone wrong with this car. It is quick, it is comfortable, it handles well, and its held up well both inside and out. I have had to avoid 3 accidents with emergency braking and manuvering - each time the car has reacted perfectly along with the anti-lock brakes - the cars performance has kept me out of accidents on both wet and dry roads. My only expenses to date have been the regularly scheduled checkups recommended by Acura (every 7,500 miles - which include oil changes). The dealers service department has been very good as well.

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  This car is SILLY! - 2005 Acura TL
  By lindo - April 21 - 1:57 pm

  I fell in love with this car the first time I saw it and ad to get one. I went with the 6spd/man just for the fun of driving it. The clutch and shifter are awsome! Its a short-throw shifter and the clutch is very forgiving. The only problems Ive noticed are teh performance tires, Ive already had to replace one because the radial came lose...and Acura refused to pay for it!!! and the other thing I noticed is when you honk on it...it tend to lose traction pretty easily on the front end. Other than that...its a sweet ride and my favorite car Ive ever owned...which includes a mustang cobra convertable...I would definatley buy again!

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  Roaring noise from exhaust at 2k rpms - 2004 Acura MDX
  By asharkov2 - April 21 - 2:00 am

  My 2004 MDX makes a low-pitched annoying roaring noise at about 2000 rpms from the exhaust. I took my car to the dealer, and this is what the mechanic wrote: "I test drove the car and could hear the roaring noise at 2Krpm. I swapped exhaust from a new MDX and it still made the same noise. I swapped the air box assembly and it still made the same noise. I test drove another 04 MDX and it makes the same noise" The service manager told me that this is "a characteristic of the vehicle," that nothing can be done about it at this time, and only if Acura gets enough complaints, it may look at the problem, and find a fix.

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  One of the best - 2004 Acura TL
  By Tony R - April 21 - 2:00 am

  This car is even better than the older 3.2TL. For the money you cant beat it. It has everything the big car have.

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  Youll Love it - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Dan-Florida - April 19 - 9:23 pm

  I did an extensive research for almost two months in the mid-size suv market and never found anything that compared to the MDX. If youre looking in the 35k to 40k price range, make sure you check out the MDX. I had an Expedition for 5 years and this feels just as big inside, which I did not expect. I love the ride and the feel on the road and you will too.

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  2004 RSX - 2004 Acura RSX
  By jjthomas182 - April 19 - 6:13 pm

  Ive had my 2004 RSX for 2 years now and I love it! I have had several other sports cars in the past, the last being a mustang. This car is fast, but still managers to be practical, compfortable, reliable, and fuel efficient. It also has the more prestige name of acura with many luxury features, but was suprisingly affordable. definately best in class

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  Regret this purchase - 2016 Acura RDX
  By Nicole - April 18 - 5:46 pm

  I downsized from a GMC Yukon Denali for better gas mileage, and wanted a dependable newer car as my 04 was aging. I am getting better than the 14/miles/gallon but not happy with car at all. In the first month, already had AC go out during 90+ degree heat. Was told it was low on freon. A brand new car low on freon? The navigation system is beyond frustrating and I end up using my smartphone or my TomTom. The integrated voice command is not user friendly, despite spending many hours programing and watching videos on youtube as to how to "learn" the system. As far as handeling, I know this is not a Denali or a BMW, but the handeling was very disappointing. The first time I drove on wet roads I went through a very shallow puddle and I was nearly pulled off the road! The interior is asthetically pleasing and comfortable, but I am very disappointed with the confusing set up of the bluetooth and voice commands as well as navigation. I really would rather have my non-tech Denali back! Car overall feels like a cheap SUV that has luxury interior. The jewel headlights are GREAT and really light up the road at night. LOVE those!

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  MDX review - 2003 Acura MDX
  By Skip - April 18 - 9:41 am

  Always either a Jeep or Jimmy for years. Along with them had problems with the brakes on the Jeeps and wheel bareings on the Jimmy. All I can say about my X is...it is nice to know, if I do not want to purchase a new auto the rest of my life, I wont have to....thank you