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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  Acceleration plus! - 2007 Acura TL
  By copierdduude - February 24 - 8:03 pm

  Being a California driver our freeways often have slow pokes and indy drivers mixed in the fray. I can not tell you how much confidence this car gives me to pull into another lane and pull away from somebody running up my rear camera. I have had the porsches, bmrs, and mbz. This car is a kick in the pants, awesome sound system, and good looks to boot.

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  rsx - 2002 Acura RSX
  By ragav93 - February 24 - 10:46 am

  great

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  Performance/Durability - 2009 Acura TSX
  By bwmusicboy - February 24 - 4:33 am

  I am now on my 2nd TSX. I leased my first one in 05 and just recently proceeded to my second. At first I was a little unhappy due to it being somewhat bigger. After having it one week I was already in favor of the size. It is amazing how much smoother the ride is due it being a little wider and longer. I already knew it was built off the previous TL frame. When I drove it off the lot it had 280 miles on it. It now has 1200 on it and Ive only filled the tank twice. I purchased the manual this time and the gas mileage is amazing! They say the auto. is to get better mileage, I dont think so! I got 450 on my first tank, 450 on my second! Go buy it! Seriously!

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  Cool - 2003 Acura MDX
  By barg - February 22 - 2:00 am

  This car is awesome. We went to many places with this car. I would recommend.

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  my 7th honda product - 2002 Acura RSX
  By sam - February 21 - 8:50 pm

  the most fun car since my 93 prelude

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  3.7L SH AWD - 2012 Acura TL
  By Nick - February 20 - 5:49 am

  Bought this car from a nj dealership in aug.2015. Traded in my truck and just needed something to get me from point A to B. Quite frankly, this car rocks!!! I took this car on the highway-- I-80 North..it took my breath away when it hits the corners. The AWD drive is just unbelievably impressive, even at high speeds. The seats hugs every inch of your body, keeping you sucked in as the car hits high speeds in twist and turns. Not muscle car status, BUT it delivers a wallop of a ride. Good job Acura. The voice recognition and Bluetooth are very responsive, in fact the entire tech setup is ergonomically satisfying. Only objection: TOO COMFORTABLE.

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  Its Got It All - 1996 Acura Integra
  By CEEDUB - February 20 - 2:00 am

  This car had everything I was looking for: low maintenance, reliable, sporty, nice handling, fast yet good on gas, nice-looking. Lots of upgrades available through aftermarket channels. My car has over 155,000 miles on it and it still rides almost like new. The only repair Ive had was the clutch pressure plate cracked and chipped at 120k, so I needed a new clutch (replaced original). The rear wing could be repainted, too. The sun, rain and wind have worn down the paint on the corners. Other than that, I love the car. Only drawback is its high theft appeal.

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  Getting The Looks - 1996 Acura TL
  By SCB81 - February 20 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car with 71,000 miles. It now has 87,000. this car has been good to me so far. The only problem Ive had thus far is a ball joint is starting to fail and cause a loud squeeking noise from under the drivers side fender. I replaced the stock wheels with the 02 3.2 TL Type S wheels and the car looks almost brand new, despite the fact that its 8 years old. This car always turns heads. I love it!

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  Bullet Proof CL 3.0 - 1998 Acura CL
  By undertoad - February 20 - 2:00 am

  Never once has this car let me down. The only failure Ive had was the thermostat ($22.). At 112,000 miles the original exhaust system and battery are still fine. Outside of recommended maintenance, only tires and brake pads have been replaced.

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  Great Car!!!! I love it!!!! Buy One!!! - 1999 Acura TL
  By john32 - February 20 - 2:00 am

  I love this car. I have one with 109,000 miles on it and it has never had any problems. You should buy one if you want a reliable, fun to drive, best exprerience of you life kind of car.