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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  2006 Acura RL review - 2005 Acura RL
  By Tom Browne - October 6 - 2:31 pm

  Many postives about the RL....ride, handling, looks, sound system. Would like to see quieter tires put on the car so that road noise would not come through as much.

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  Better than a GSR - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Caryn S. - October 6 - 1:54 pm

  I was planning on buying an older Integra GSR and had driven many of them. I thought the RSX was out of my price range but decided to test drive it anyway. After just a 10 minute test drive I had totally changed my mind. The extra money was worth to spend. The RSX-type S handles better, goes faster, and has its own unique interior compared to the Integra. Taking this car on back roads is the most thrilling ride. It rides like rails around those sharp turns and with the new seats for the RSX you stay right in your seat. Its like it hugs you in your seat. The power is incredible and I love the sound of hitting that V-Tec. For the money you pay for this car its definitely worth every cent!

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  I Love This car! - 2000 Acura TL
  By DickZinya - October 6 - 5:47 am

  Great car, value for price, comfort, reliability. And it looks great too.

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  So Reliable - 1990 Acura Integra
  By John Leonard - October 5 - 8:24 pm

  Without doubt, the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. After 150,000 miles, the oil sending unit broke and at 160,000 the master cylinder needed replacement. That is all I have put into this car beyond normal maintenance.

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  Acura RL - 2005 Acura RL
  By kgd_007 - October 5 - 4:37 pm

  Owned 92 Legend and a 2000 RL previously. This new RL is a great car. The interior is amazing, I love the wood and the leather. The exterior- the front could have been better, the rear is great. The 18" chome wheels made a huge difference as did the rear deck spoiler. One of the best stock audio systems I have heard, no need for an iPod connection as it will play MP3 CD-Rs (about 120 songs per disk) and they sound great. Navi voice commands work great, the traffic is sometimes not accurate, but I am sure will get better. The command knob for the Navi, audio and climate is much improved over the pointer and touch screen. Rear window sun shades are great. Handling with the AWD is awesome.

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  Acura TSX 2005 - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Uddy Hanson - October 5 - 3:37 pm

  I love my 2005 Acura TSX. I looked at many cars before I test drove the TSX. Once I drove the car, I decided that this is the car for me. I have owned two Honda Civics and was looking to move up to a premium brand. Nothing else in the price range can match the TSXs features. HID headlights, heated leather seats, power moonroof, 6 disc in dash CD changer, XM satellite radio, dual zone climate control, and VSA all standard. Why would anyone buy anything else?

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  Best car ever had - 1995 Acura Integra
  By Zeus - October 5 - 10:38 am

  I bought it with 95000 and it now has well over 130000 and it still runs great. I have never had any major problems as long as you do regular maintenence it should last well into the 2 or 300000 mile mark. If your thinking about buying one just do it.

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  Lesters choice - 2005 Acura RL
  By Lester Gruda - October 5 - 7:54 am

  Of all the cars in this class, by far the best available options available come standard. If you can forego sleek design, the RL is by far the best car available.

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  perfect family suv - 2005 Acura MDX
  By gino mallamaci - October 5 - 1:11 am

  a real pleasure to drive

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  All-around best performer - 2005 Acura MDX
  By dhk - October 4 - 4:29 am

  After doing a thorough research, we settled on MDX and have not been disappointed. This car does not do any one thing better than the competitors Lexus has a slightly comfier interior VW may have better off-road capability. But the entire package is better than the competition. Room for seven Acura workmanship lots and lots of power and fair pricing. We love than Acura wont nickel and dime you for features such as leather seating and moonroof. Everything comes standard. The only negative - and it comes with the territory - is the gas mileage, though it is better than most SUVs.