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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  Best Car I Ever Owned - 1997 Acura CL
  By KZone - September 19 - 2:39 pm

  I have had this car since new, and after 8 years and 267,000+ miles my CL still looks and drives great. Other than normal maintenance and wear and tear items, no major repairs ever made- I still have the original clutch on my 5 speed manual transmission and get 34 mpg highway, and average 30+ mpg overall.

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  Great Quality - 2002 Acura RL
  By Phx_RL - September 19 - 1:11 am

  Excellent car. We have had this car for a year now. Bought it as a certified vehicle. No issues to speak of. Smooth drive and comfort. Feels more solid and safe to drive vs a Lexus.

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  Acura MDX - 2005 Acura MDX
  By robert dinezza - September 18 - 1:13 pm

  Vehicle rides outstanding in all conditions. easy manuevering in city. Good gas mileage. Great in rain, snow or ice.

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  In love - 2003 Acura CL
  By cor4nkc - September 18 - 10:00 am

  Great engine, great value, super shifter. Really fun to drive in a very nice environment. I like the somwhat reserved styling as something that isnt a flash in the pan. Great front seats.

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  acura cl3.2s type - 2003 Acura CL
  By garymp - September 18 - 10:00 am

  great pickup, narrow seat, knee room overall performance excellent, owned one year, no problems either interior or engine, runs great all weather.

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  Gets better every day - 2002 Acura RSX
  By bao - September 18 - 9:16 am

  My appreciation for this car just increases as the miles rack up. Little things you dont notice become obvious after sitting or driving in other cars.

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  Luv my new RSX - 2006 Acura RSX
  By Rog - September 17 - 1:12 pm

  My new RSX is everything I could hope for in a new car. Rides like a dream! The interior is so comfortable and all the knobs and buttons are very easy to get to and easy to understand. Even the engine compartment is well designed with lots of elbow room. And its the sexiest car in the lot.

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  RL - 2005 Acura RL
  By tb - September 17 - 3:27 am

  GREAT

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  An exotic without the price tag. - 2005 Acura NSX
  By kushbudz - September 16 - 9:13 pm

  No other car I have owned has attracted so much attention (its almost a problem actually). The ride is exceptional and it corners like a bat outta hell. The interior is simple and free of the usual slew of buttons and oversized LCD screens. I much prefer this to the modern trend of bloating the car out with useless features (its a sports car not a cadillac). Add a supercharger and you will toast Ferraris and Porsches that cost twice as much.

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  Great Car - 2005 Acura NSX
  By O.C. Dave - September 16 - 7:19 pm

  The trill & performance of a Ferrari, with the reliability and low cost maintenance of an Acura. This is my 2nd. NSX and this has the best bang for the buck in the sports car market. I met a 1994 NSX owner whose car had over 200,000 miles on it. His only costs were for normal maintenance. I drove his 1994 and it was still tight and rattle free. People are always stopping me to ask questions or compliment on the car.