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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  Acura CL Type S - 2001 Acura CL
  By Steve - October 11 - 4:51 pm

  Great, fun car to drive. Luxury with some sport car features. Very reliable mechanically. Looks sharp!

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  best car ive ever owned - 2005 Acura RL
  By Marc - October 11 - 4:22 pm

  Undoubtably the best car I have ever owned, and Ive been through quite a few. Great combination of performance and comfort. Recently drove 525 miles with one brief stop. Made great time and avergaed 27 mpg. Was not the least bit tired when I got home. I give the credit to the RL - driving is not work in this car. Technology is awesome. Navigation system has been on the mark 100% of the time. Have 10000 miles without a glich. Last car, 2003 Volvo XC70, had 3 visits to dealer by now. Trunk a bit small and kids (3) wish for a little more width in back seat. Highly recommend it.

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  05 Acura RL - 2005 Acura RL
  By Richard N. - October 11 - 10:13 am

  This is the fourth Acura I have owned and each time I get a new one, every three years, I am thrilled with it. However, the new 05 RL has so many improvements that I do not know where to begin. The best feature with the biggest difference that I have found is the ALL - WHEEL drive very necessary if you live in the New England area. Not having all wheel drive would have been my only reason for looking at another brand of automobile. I get approximately 19 to 20 miles per gallon average with the 300 hp engine. No need to look at another vehicle.

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  Decent Car, but overall, disappointed - 2005 Acura TSX
  By TSX26 - October 11 - 12:35 am

  After putting nearly 8000 miles on my TSX, I am less than pleased with the amount of problems I have had. The moonroof was rattling, after a second visit to the dealership, they put a tape around the sunroof, which helped, but it is rattling again. CD changer was replaced because it was skipping. Paint seems to chip easily. Fuel economy is decent, however, since it requires premium gas, it does add up. Power is just ok at initial get-go, you can really tell its a 4 cylinder. However, the engine is smooth and does handle well on the freeway. If I had to go back and remake my decision, I would have gone with the Accord EXV6 coupe (more power and reliability).

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  Awesome IS RDX - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Eric - October 10 - 4:43 am

  This Car says it all RDX is the most incredible suv on steroids the ride is superb and the agility witht ht sh-awd doesn;t make you move when you make a sharp turn just eay and pleasant...Awesome tag to high but still KICKS RDX

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  Amazing Acura - 2005 Acura RL
  By acura fan - October 10 - 12:57 am

  This car has everything from the keyless entry, 4 auto windows, no keys needed to start, amazing interior and exterior, voice command, and bluetooth. Fresno Acura is a very good dealership to buy from no hassle, very knowledgeable and a lot of nice incentives to buy there.

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  Best car ever owned - 2001 Acura Integra
  By Holly - October 9 - 8:04 pm

  I absolutely love this car. I have driven and owned several cars but this one beats them all. Incredible gas mileage, performance, and a blast to speed around the city in style.

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  Awesome Car - 2005 Acura TSX
  By steve - October 8 - 9:30 pm

  Bought the car in December and have about 2200 miles on it. This car is the sports car my Eclipse never was. Great handling, smooth ride and great acceleration. Youd think you had a V6 under the hood. The quality is typical Honda/Acura--everything works perfectly. I really like the design of the interior--beautifully thought out, clean, functional, comfortable. I also bought the spoiler and aero kit for a more agressive look. The car looks fantastic in black.

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  It is what it is. - 2005 Acura RL
  By sharkcar - October 7 - 2:33 am

  I have read some reviews about a lack of performance, acceleration in particular. I come out of the sports car group of guys but I bought this for highway use and in town business use. Its a great sedan, not a great sports car. I was bolting through town tonight at about 65mph and the thing was surrealisticaly quiet. Beautiful, really good handling, tight, deliberate, but quiet. I like it. I bought the black. Its beautiful. The onboard system, if you like that kind of thing, and thats an important question, the systems are by far the best ever. When you get it new, just work out one system at a time or you will be overwhelmed. Today I put up the last one, the phone system. You gotta like it.

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  Great Car, Great Deal - 2005 Acura RL
  By Kupe15 - October 7 - 12:05 am

  Just got Black RL w/Tan interior. Got a great deal. Upgraded to wood trim steering wheel, shifter knob, 18in wheels and spoiler. Looks great, handles perfectly and is so fun to drive. Cant beat this car for value and performance.