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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  Great Value - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Artie - December 24 - 7:53 am

  Great car for the money, great gas mileage and power, great stereo.

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  Upscale Honda is a winner - 2001 Acura CL
  By Bill - December 23 - 11:47 pm

  Ive been a huge fan of Hondas for years, so my review is biased, but few if any automaker builds a better engine. This Acura is just as reliable as any of the five Hondas Ive owned, but it has a true luxury car feel. The handling is a bit heavy the car loves to plow into corners but that was fixed with thicker aftermarket sway bars. Aside from a few nagging interior rattles, the build quality is excellent. The car is both a luxury cruiser and a flat out fun car to drive.

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  Love it!!! - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Deanna - December 23 - 9:02 pm

  I was waffling between a top of the line Camry and this car. Although I paid $2K more for this car - it was worth it. I love my TSX! The best feature is that they only come two ways...with or without navigation - everything else is standard. There was no negotiating all of the options, just the car as a whole. Made the purchase go much smoother also...no pushy salesman trying to sell you extra options to boost the profit margin. Bottom line is that a car is worth exactly what youre willing to pay for it. I didnt pay MSRP, but I can see how others would...the car sells itself. This is an easy way to step into luxury cars without being married to your payment.

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  Very Nice Care - 2009 Acura TSX
  By Yol - December 23 - 8:23 pm

  Since I picked it up I love the car. Its fun to drive and a lot of people talk about how nice the car is. I love the bluetooth and how easy it is to talk and for people to hear you. I think Acura really did a good job.

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  Great vehicle - 2006 Acura MDX
  By Frank - December 23 - 4:24 pm

  I hads a 2003 MDX. This model is very similar and still has the same reliability. I love the voice activity NAV system. Also the blue tooth capability.

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  Swing and a miss - 2016 Acura ILX
  By Tim S - December 23 - 9:23 am

  I bought this car because after test driving it reminded me of my 07 Civic Si, which I sold to go back to school, only a bit more refined. However, having spent a couple months in it, any refinement I perceived was a false assumption based on the Acura badge. Ill start with the positives: The engine is good; its a rev-happy Honda engine with an okay noise and feels quick enough. Certainly not under powered, though it can feel like its working a little hard sometimes at 80mph and above. The transmission is pretty good too, but its an automatic. This car needs a manual transmission. And finally it has the right balance between ride comfort and feel for the road. Now to the bad: everything else. The worse is the drivers seat. The lumbar support is not adjustable. If you dont like to crank lumbar up to 11, youre not going to be comfortable. The upper part of the seat is even worse. There is absolutely no support for the shoulders, and consequently, zero lateral support. If you make a left hand turn at more than 5 mph you’re going to fall into the passenger seat. And somehow my feet even seem to get lifted off the floor when making turns at a reasonable speed, giving an odd weightless feeling that leaves me grasping for something to brace myself on. Which makes driving rather difficult. So you can forget about any spirted driving on twisty mountain roads. Then there’s the fact that in the best position I’ve found, my head is about half an inch from the ceiling, which creates more than a few visibility problems. The rest of the interior just feels cheap, like it was made by Fisher Price. I had been driving a mid-level Ford Fiesta. I assumed that even the cheapest Acura would be a huge upgrade in quality. I was wrong. Here’s the things that were betting in the 3 year older and $12,000 cheaper Ford: Steering/handling; leather wrap on the steering wheel; stereo (the stereo in the ILX is garbage)’ phone call quality; ease of using phone controls…pretty much everything related to the infotainment system. And the overall feel of the interior materials is just not that much, if any, better in the Acura. Also, the trunk is extremely cheap on the ILK. The lid feels like it’s made of tin and weighs about 2lbs. So you might think that if you don’t care about the infotainment system or having the feel of a luxury car, and just want something with decent driving dynamics, this car is worth a look. If it weren’t for the issue with the driver’s seat and lack of a proper 6-speed manual, I might even recommend it. But as it is, there are many other cars in this price range to look at, such as the GTI, WRX, and even the Civic Si.

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  Love It - 2004 Acura TSX
  By My TSX - December 22 - 10:20 pm

  I drooled over this car for 2 years before I bought it, and it was worth the wait. I absolutely love it. Its a light feeling car, very nimble and comfortable, even good so far in snow even though I havent driven it a whole lot in snow yet. The exterior is very sexy, interior is too. Everything is laid out well in the cabin. My first foreign car is turning out to be a truly wonderful experience. Plus its the first car Ive ever owned myself (always used my parents cars). Had it for 8 months now and its been great. Very classy!

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  Stellar Sportscar!! - 2006 Acura RSX
  By Adrian - December 22 - 8:09 pm

  I maintain my RSX and it has never left me stranded. Its performance increased by using the highest octane gasoline. It handles well on curves, corners, turns, etc. It is a quiet ride and moreso its comfort. The shape of the car is out of this world. When I drive, people look at my car and think of it as you would a Ferrari!! I love it...my RSX is my baby and gets rewarded for its quality and superb handling!

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  Ten Years Old.... - 1995 Acura Legend
  By harsiese - December 22 - 4:27 pm

  I bought my Legend recently and I cannot stay out of it! For a ten year old car, I was surprised at how new it felt. Aside from some slight wear on the drivers seat, I would not be able to tell its as old as it is. Coworkers keep asking if its a 2006, which feels nice. Aside from the rough shift from 1st to 2nd gear in the auto trans , which Ive been told is how this trans always has worked, its fine. Except the cupholder [singular!], which also leaves much to be desired. Ive always owned American cars, but my mind has definitely been changed. Im going to drive the wheels off this one, for sure.

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  Outstanding! - 2008 Acura RDX
  By Christopher Cromer - December 22 - 1:16 pm

  Best purchase ever, love it!