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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  My TL - 2004 Acura TL
  By sbell - April 12 - 9:03 pm

  This is a great car! Its fast and sporty, but it still allows me to be mom. It comes fully loaded and handles like a dream. Tons of trunk space and a fun car to drive. I would buy this car again and highly recommend it. We shopped it against other cars with the same options; it was thousands more.

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  Overall Satisfied - 2005 Acura TL
  By Acuraman - April 12 - 5:26 am

  This car has it all for the price. It was nice to see that Consumer Reports has this car TOP PICK two years in a row. Navigation easy and reliable compaired to other automakers.

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  this car rocks - 1995 Acura Integra
  By badastronuat - April 12 - 2:00 am

  its like vahwwaaah VahwwAAAAAH with a cold air intake and gets 30 miles per gallon. its almost ten years old and far from dying. one of the best cars to buy used.

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  Nice Ride - 2002 Acura MDX
  By Mile High Dude - April 11 - 10:00 am

  I can easily hold a conversation with passengers while going 80 MPH, so it is plenty quiet. I fly with ease through intersections with drainage dips, high crowns, and ruts, that slam others, car or truck. Where others loose traction on rough pavement, bouncing left, and then right, the MDX rides through just fine. Maybe that is why the others need the off-road low range gears :-). They have two hands on the wheel, hitting the headliner with their heads, while Im honking to pass. Nice ride Acura, youve tamed the SUV.

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  Slightly disappointed - 2003 Acura CL
  By Italnprnce - April 11 - 2:00 am

  I really like my car especially the performance from the engine. Faster then everything but a vette. Its like a wolf in sheeps clothes. HOWEVER, I only have 13,000 miles and I am on my 2nd transmission! What is that? This new one is starting to act up too. It jerks at 40 and 60mph. There is a little too much wind noise for $30+ car.

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  Awesome Car! - 2004 Acura TL
  By Shelley - April 9 - 10:00 am

  As a former owner of a 2000 Lexus ES300 I can actually say I love this car even more.It is so fun to drive,I find reasons to do so even with gas prices these days. Its fast,sporty, comfortable and the sound system is amazing.Heads turn as I drive by.And to think I almost didnt even consider an Acura.I test-drove the BMW 3 series,Infiniti G35 & the Lexus ES330..the TL blows them all away!

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  Great Car - 2004 Acura TL
  By David Feather - April 9 - 10:00 am

  This car is the ultimate sports sedan for someone looking for a comfortable, reliable ride that can comfortably move them through their commute briskly.

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  Exactly what I wanted - 2003 Acura RSX
  By Grinner - April 9 - 2:00 am

  I like small cars and needed something with an automatic (I have a bad knee), that would hold its value well, good performance, gas mileage, comfortable on long trips and able to occasionally carry bulky items, like a 32" TV set. I found the RSX to have the best combination of a small engine with an automatic I have ever seen. Its not a racer but it is quite lively and extremely smooth. I also get as much as 32 MPG on the highway but only 16-18 in town. (Heavy right foot, my fault.) In all, its the perfect car for me.

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  2002 RSX Type S - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Kilo - April 7 - 10:30 pm

  An outstanding car for what it is intended to be. The motor is amazing and the transmission is one of the best shifting manuals I have ever used. Seats are extremely supportive, and the interior is very functional and very attractive at the same time. If you are looking for a smaller sports based car, this thing rocks.

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  Love the stick on the LEGEND! - 1991 Acura Legend
  By RVIA - April 6 - 2:00 am

  I have driven this car for twelve years and just cannot find anything I like as much. Part of the attraction is how good the Acura dealership has been in servicing and repairs: Acura STANDS BEHIND its cars and as far as my experience goes, makes buying almost any other car a very hard move. Classy, roomy, and peppy.