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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  HOT TO TROT - 2005 Acura TL
  By Kevin - January 11 - 10:10 am

  This is a big improvement from the last body style. Everything that need tweaking to Acura did. Overall I am happy with this car since I traded in my Audi A4. Big difference. The TL is so quiet that I sometimes forget it is running or that i am on the highway. For the price you cant find anything better.

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  smooth enough for ladies, quick for guys - 2003 Acura RSX
  By ChronoSphere - January 11 - 2:00 am

  This car is simply great - the best bang for my buck. The interior and exterior styling is exemplary. This car has enough smoothness and sophistication to impress the ladies, yet enough oopmh and power to wow your guy buddies.

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  The Best car for ever - 2003 Acura RSX
  By Gino - January 11 - 2:00 am

  The best car !!

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  Acura 3.2 TL - love it! - 2002 Acura TL
  By jimbo2 - January 11 - 2:00 am

  Ive never had a car that only required oil changes for maintenance for the first two years! In addition to the reliability, I love the feature set, its comfortable to drive, and has the power available when I need it. I look forward to going to work or the store because I get to drive my TL!

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  2003 MDX Touring - 2003 Acura MDX
  By frankyy - January 11 - 2:00 am

  I have researched at least 10 SUV models including RX300, ML 320, ML 320, BMW X5 and Volvo XC 90). Acura MDX is the best one out there. Great value and Acuras high quality. Smoother than I expected.

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  Great car. - 2006 Acura RL
  By Woody - January 10 - 5:17 pm

  The Acura RL handles like a sports car and rides like a luxury sedan. Great looking and the voice activated naviagation system is easy to use.

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  Best in class - 2006 Acura RL
  By Randy Bunney - January 9 - 9:03 pm

  Acura made it simple for me to buy the RL. It comes completely loaded with all the bells and whistles. Two months of test driving everything the competition had to offer and nothing compared to the RL.

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  Love it! - 2006 Acura MDX
  By mdxfinally - January 9 - 8:42 pm

  Have owned an Acura Integra for 14yrs. but with two kids, needed a bigger car. This was perfect! Love the drive, visibility, and safety features. Could do without the cheap plastic wood accents on the interior, but otherwise love everything about it!

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  Happy owner - 2005 Acura TSX
  By JP Niceplace - January 9 - 3:17 pm

  My first Acura leasing in replacement of a Toyota Corolla LE 2003. My daughter has been an enthousiastic promoter of Honda and owns an Acura EL 2005 so I was convinced to try this car. It is luxurious, fun to drive and economical. It is powerful and very steady on the highway as it feels like a much bigger car. I will probably upgrade to the larger TL when leasing is up. I am very happy with my first ever Honda product.

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  surprise i like it. - 2004 Acura TSX
  By bruce m. - January 9 - 10:00 am

  For price,performance and style you cant go wrong with the tsx.More horsepower would be nice,but,theres the tl.A with mileage in the upper 20 mpg range and gas at $2.10 a gallon this is the perfect car.Im really surprised how much i love this car and the nav systems a plus.Only wish would a power passengers seat and standard fog lights and heated mirrors.