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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  05 Acura RL - 2005 Acura RL
  By al - February 12 - 9:10 pm

  car handles very well, gps and bluetooth are cool features, compared infinity, e class mercedes before buying and for the money they could not compare with all you get included in the rl.

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  No better car in this price range - 2004 Acura TL
  By Mike - February 12 - 3:36 pm

  The Acura TL is by far the best car I have ever owned,Dont believe the BMW "hype".The only reason I can see why anyone would get a BMW over this car or the G35 is you bought the magazines hype.You should at least test drive the TL and be honest with yourself about how your going to use this car..or any car.If your looking for a car that you plan on comuting,trips..etc.This is a great car,If you want to race in the canyons and be stupid with a car this is not the car for you.

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  Looked at them all Acura best in class!! - 2005 Acura MDX
  By cdepaola - February 12 - 12:13 am

  We looked at and test drove all of the other midsized SUVs in the Acura MDXs class. We found the best deal and the best car to be the Acura. Fit was great, and we felt it looked to be the most upscale interior and exterior.

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  The best car ever - 1994 Acura Integra
  By Megan - February 10 - 1:10 pm

  I got this car when I was 16, and I drove her like a 16 year-old. The up- keep was cheap: regular oil changes, brake work, tire changes, and tune- ups. The gas mileage was good and still is 8 years later. Shes been an excellent car, and I hope to drive her for as long as I can. Shes fun to drive, and I feel safe in her. I would buy this car 10 more times.

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  Not bad for a car this old - 1995 Acura Integra
  By Cowboy Curtis - February 10 - 7:09 am

  I went through a lot of things, mostly bad, with this car. I had to replace a lot of things on it, but I think most of the problems with it were because of previous missuse and such. I ended up selling it because it just wasnt comfortable enough. I think this was mostly because of the terrible leather seats. Its decently quick, though the lack of torque means you dont get much punch for just squirting through traffic or whatever. Sounds terrible even with an aftermarket intake (my Corolla sounds better). Fun to drive. Ill always remember cool autumn nights in 03, just driving around campus with the windows and moonroof open, listening to New Order and forgeting all of my problems.

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  Disappointing - 2002 Acura MDX
  By vegas - February 10 - 3:13 am

  This was one of the more disappointing vehicles that I have owned. Vehicle clunks when shifting from forward to reverse (dealer says it cannot be repaired). Cant drive with the windows down as it creates pressure inside vehicle. The list goes on.

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  It must be love.. - 2000 Acura TL
  By Brina - February 9 - 11:39 pm

  I LOVE this car. I had a 96 Accord EX, took it in one day for an oil change... it was a wrap. I test drove the TL and bought it. I have never had a moments regret. It was a lease vehicle so naturally it was pristine when I got it. It can do with 6 cylinders what many cars cant with 8. Nothing to do other than scheduled maintenance and the occasional tweak. I swear by my dealer(Acura) service. Almost 3 years later my baby runs like she did the day I got her. :-)

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  Know what you are buying..... - 2006 Acura RSX
  By CarolinaRSX - February 8 - 4:55 pm

  I have over 1000 miles on my 06 RSX- S. Its a great car so far. Took it in once already with a known problem in the front springs. The gearing is very close so be prepared to change them A LOT. Unless you want to whine the car out to 6K-8K rpm everytime, in every gear, you will be shifting 4 times by the time you hit 45mph. The car does pull hard to 8.1K rpm, but who wants to rev the engine that high ALL the time. The seats, radio, controls, styling are all fantastic. The handling is close to the Mini Cooper, but longer wheel base makes it ride better.

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  Great Car! - 1996 Acura TL
  By Chuck - February 8 - 2:16 pm

  Without a doubt, this has been the best car that I have ever owned. I now have 197,000 miles on the car. The only thing that I have replaced on this car outside of normal wear and tear items, is the radiator and fan unit. Thats it! This was my first Acura but you can bet it wont be my last.

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  MDX Review - 2005 Acura MDX
  By George - February 8 - 10:26 am

  Car is quieter and rides better than I thought it would. New blue metallic color looks really great. This is truly a very high quality car. Also has storage compartment under floor in cargo area and many handy storage bins throughout passenger area.