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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  EXCELLENT - 2004 Acura TSX
  By ERIN - February 14 - 10:00 am

  THE ACURA TSX IS THE FIRST NEW CAR IVE OWNED. PRIOR TO THE TSX I HAD A 1996 HONDA CIVIC. INITIALLY I WAS SAD TO LEAVE MY CIVIC SINCE IT HAD BEEN SUCH A RELIABLE CAR, BUT AS SOON AS I DROVE THE TSX I KNEW IT WAS THE PERFECT CAR. IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS IVE PUT THE TSX THROUGH SOME ROUGH TIMES AND IT HAS PROVED ITS STURDINESS AND QUALITY. IT IS A RELIABLE CAR WITH A LUXURY FEEL.

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  solid no comments. - 2005 Acura RSX
  By myung12 - February 14 - 10:00 am

  For the price, Its well worth it. very nice solid design,and quality inside and out is almost perfect. but it could be little nice if it was power setting and heating with fog light is not a option to buy. about 3 to 4 hour driving is little uncomfortible. This is very nice performence car with out no fog light, come on !

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  Surprisingly Refreshing!!! - 2010 Acura TL
  By Jeff Bradshaw - February 14 - 4:36 am

  I just came off lease of 2005 RL. I loved that car. The TL is actually more fun to drive. People are always commenting on the car now. I have the diamond white awd. The telematics are perfect. Acura built up from the RLs systems. Magnificent acceleration. Best Buy vs BMW and the Merc. About a 20k difference.

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  Acura Fun - 2005 Acura TL
  By John Minton - February 12 - 12:50 am

  Sporty and really fun to drive. Acceleration is surprising. 0 to 60 in nothing flat. Very powerful little car. Gives you a great feel for the road.

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  can it be too much fun to drive ? - 2000 Acura Integra
  By NJL - February 11 - 2:00 am

  the car practically begs you to drive it faster. every trip to work or the store feels like a short grand prix. the power is a nice match to the suspension. sure the cupholders are annoying and the top gear should have a higher ratio, but otherwise it is as exact expression of a small street racer as any nsx or exotic. plus 100k miles to the first tuneup and an engine that feels like a motorcycle makes me want to keep this one for a long time.

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  fast,fast,fffast - 2006 Acura TL
  By dkhorse5 - February 8 - 11:03 pm

  rides like a preformance car.Not soft but moves in all gears.Gets out of its own way.

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  Acura RL Special Edition - 2002 Acura RL
  By mbfan7769 - February 7 - 2:00 am

  Far and away the best, most reliable vehicle I have ever owned, and the most enjoyable driving vehicle I have ever been in. For a car its size, it handles very well in local, surface road traffic and is very comfortable on long Interstate highway trips. Very easy for full size adults to enter and exit the cockpit. So smooth and quiet on the highway that you dont realize you are going as fast as you are.

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  Great Car - 1991 Acura Legend
  By wpman06 - February 6 - 2:00 am

  This car is amazing, for a 13 year old car it has pleanty of pep. The is smooth. For a 13 year old car inside has held up very well. Very comfordable seats. Gas mileage not so good about 15 mpg.

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  Acura CL - 2002 Acura CL
  By perantoni00 - February 6 - 2:00 am

  Best car Ive ever owned

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  Great but not without flaws - 1998 Acura TL
  By kwle04 - February 5 - 2:00 am

  Handling is precise and predictable, a sure mark of quality craftsmanship. Not like BMW, but has tight riding - you can feel the contour of road surface in a well tamed manner. Surprizingly reliable driving and traction in various inclement weather conditions - A+. If you make sure that air filter, spark plugs, and engine oil are clean, then you will be surprised with its mileage. Mine has 115,000 miles on it, and drives about 27 miles per gallon faithfully on highway with some inner city driving combined. Today it recorded 27.4miles/gallon on my trip to Richmond. Not too bad at all for such a heavy machine! Definitely a nice bang for the bucks.