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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  Love it - 2000 Acura TL
  By eschlubach@aol.com - December 2 - 2:00 am

  Have never had a single problem w/ car, Fast, comfy, nice ammenities

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  Awesome Car - 2005 Acura TL
  By Cornelius Jones - December 1 - 9:10 am

  This is an awesome car. I have always liked the Acura line up but this time they have out done themselves.The car look aggresive yet it is humble.It has nice quite power that is one of the key points I like about Acura. If I had to sum it up in 2 words it would be TOTALLY AWESOME.

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  Why I am trading in my Acura - 1991 Acura Integra
  By john brown - December 1 - 2:00 am

  I have had my Acura Integra for 11 years & have no complaints. It is the most dependable car I have ever owner. I purchased it new from Legend Motors in Oct of 91 & it has 70,000 actual miles on it. These are highway miles & it has always been serviced when needed. The gas mileage is great (about 25 to 30 miles a gallon) on short trips & 30 to 35 on long trips. I am planning on trading in on a 4 wheel drive SUV which we need to pull our boat.

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  2000 Integra GSR - 2000 Acura Integra
  By shado - December 1 - 2:00 am

  Ive had this car for about a year now and it is a fun car to drive. The VTEC engine is exciting to listen to. Once you hit that 4500 rpm you just want to keep revving the motor up. The only downside to perfomance is that you wont get that much torque compared to high torquey cars, but on the long run the VTEC system really helps for high speeds. Third gear is the best gear and after that its not really fun no more. So you have to go back again. When I first recieved this car I thought it was a dissapointment, but it turned out to be the best car.

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  love my car! - 2004 Acura RSX
  By cusoon - December 1 - 2:00 am

  had a honda accord lx for 11 years. It now has over 300,000on (my niece drives it). Bought a mazda millenium,hated it! traded it in for rsx type s. love my car. it handles great, good gas and most of all its a lot of fun to drive.

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  Good and Bad - 2003 Acura MDX
  By stop/handle - December 1 - 2:00 am

  Bought the car for my wife. Love the ride and seating, but what is with the step on the left hand drivers side floor?

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  Great SUV...not a performance car - 2004 Acura MDX
  By Myque - December 1 - 2:00 am

  I am happy I bought this vehicle. I traded a 2002 Mercedes 320C in on it. Thus, I realize the ride will not be a performance car ride...and I also understand this vehicle has a lot to offer for the $. The ride is a little bumpy, but the pick up, goodies added and over-all comfort more than make up for that. I compared the Lexus RX330 to this and thought both were great. However, this ride was more for the $.

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  1st Oil Change - 2004 Acura TL
  By roma9595 - December 1 - 2:00 am

  I just took the car in for its first oil change and everything so far has been wonderful. This is an extremely solid car rounded out by a great engine and "slick" amenities and interior styling.

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  So far so good - 2004 Acura TL
  By tommy g - December 1 - 2:00 am

  So far the car is a lot of fun to drive. Its acceleration is wonderful and handles better than any car I have ever owned. My only issue 4 months into owning the car are a bunch of dash rattles.

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  something to think about - 2003 Acura TL
  By Jay133333333 - November 30 - 10:00 am

  This car is a kick ass ride! Fun, Powerful, and sleek. The only down side is the this sucker is a gas guzzler. But if you like to go to B from point A in the shortest amount of time then definately get this car!