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 But... - 2001 Acura CL
  By wohojr - December 6 - 6:06 pm

  I bought this car new and and LOVE IT BUT...the real selling points being it was a Honda (Ive owned 5), offered terrific value for the money and was a step up from my 94 Accord EXL four door. It was a coupe but practical enough to drive to work and enjoy all that power and luxury. Where this car let me down was when I had to replace the transmission at 15K! Acura stood behind their product and replaced it for free and even upped the warranty to cover any future problems but it fundamentally changed how I felt about the car. However, nothing else has gone wrong and Im at 38K now. Acura killed the resale market when they canceled the CL in 03, so Ill be keeping her for awhile longer.

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  TSX : Worth the Money - 2004 Acura TSX
  By Roger Dorn - December 6 - 1:31 pm

  The Acura TSX is a fantastic vehicle for a fantastic price. Compare performance and options with the 3-series and, for the price, it easily comes out on top

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  great car - 2001 Acura CL
  By pnlop - December 6 - 4:53 am

  Excellent car. Very qucik in city traffic, and passing on the highway. Great interior. No mechanical problems after 20,000 miles

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  Great ride - 2006 Acura RL
  By hurls95 - December 5 - 6:37 pm

  This car does nothing perfectly but everything very well. the technology and ride are great. The gearing is interesting, I get the same MPG at 80 that I do at 45.

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  Good Ride - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Alan - December 5 - 4:13 pm

  The TSX gives a nice, quiet ride. Stereo system is great. Good gas mileage. Good value for the money.

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  a fun trip to the redline - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Jeff - December 5 - 9:04 am

  So far, so good...I purchased this car used and have had a blast with it. Everywhere I research, I hear nothing but good about this car. This is my first 6-speed and Im lovin every minute of it. The stereo kicks, teenagers gawk in awe, and not everyone has one like, say, a civic. Its quiet and reserved when I want it to be and screaming hellfire when I dont.

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  Good buy - 2003 Acura TL
  By Fred Sanford - December 3 - 7:54 pm

  Excellent vehicle. Very smooth on the road. Acceleration is smooth due to superior computer controlled transmission. Suspension is vastly superior to any car I have owned. Sound system is excellent. Gas tank could be about 5 gallons larger.

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  ford sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!! - 2004 Acura TSX
  By castrom420 - December 3 - 10:00 am

  ford is done.I will never buy another ford againg.There quailty is way down.Acura quailty is what i was looking for.

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  Good car but not the Acura your used to - 2004 Acura TL
  By TomG - December 2 - 10:50 pm

  My family has had a number of Acuras and Hondas, the 2004 TL though has been the worst yet. Since owning the car Ive driven 30,000 and Ive had to replace the tires as 20,000 and get new brakes at 25,000. Dont get me wrong the car is great but to have to buy a new set of tires and new brakes before 50,000 miles is not right and it ruins Acuras good reputation.

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  2005 TSX - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Joe - December 2 - 5:55 pm

  Fun, affordable small luxury sedan. Beats BMW and Lexus for much less price. Outstanding automobile, makes you feel youre driving something that should have cost you thousands more!