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 the Car! - 2005 Acura RL
  By tegman - September 16 - 7:19 pm

  Although I bought my RL in July of 05, Im still finding new reasons to love it here in Sept 05. The styling is great, the interior is 1st rate and the amenities are top notch, i.e., the steering wheel tilts up when the engine is turned off to allow free access out of the car. Although the city gas mileage is not great (I get about 22mpg freeway driving), I know its because I have heavy foot and demand performance from my vehicles. When I hit the gas to go around a suddenly braking car in front of me I need my car to respond and the RL does, admirable. Also, the real time traffic on the NAVI is great for my commuting in the mornings. I am a satisfied customer.

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  Impressed - 2004 Acura TSX
  By Ed - September 16 - 3:41 pm

  Have had the car for 1 year and 8 months and still feel like I got a steal. Silky smooth transmission in the manual, comfortable, stylish, thoughtful interior w/ simple elegant features of unsurpassed value. Awesome stereo. Comfy in traffic but fun when the opportunity presents itself. Tightly built w/tight enough suspension. Little to no torque steer. Expect top notch reliability. Loved not having to haggle over options though my dealer experience was less than pleasant (tough and not really friendly manager).

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  2007 Acura MDX - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Vic J. - September 16 - 4:30 am

  Very nice vehicle overall, but not outstanding. Acceleration (off-the-line) is not very strong and feels only very slightly better than my previous 02 MDX. Once it gets going (around 3500 RPM) the engine comes to life. Dont see all the hype about SuperHandling-AWD - much better than the old model, but not any better than others such as the new BMW X5. Ride comfort great with the Active dampers! and front seats are excellent! - but fuel economy is a big disappointment - only getting around 12mpg city and 18 mpg highway at 75mph. (I have about 1650 miles on my MDX.)

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  Acuras Legend Revamped! - 2005 Acura TL
  By Makiri D. - September 15 - 9:00 pm

  This vehicle had been through thick and thin with me. I have had it through the worst conditions. It was in a snow storm and handled lovely. It has been in a flash flood and it remained with little to no damage done. This car is excellent! I definately recommend the yokohama tires though. The firestone crap tires they put on the car when purchased did not even last 10000 miles. The yokos are definately made for this car! I have a friend who purchased a BMW 6 series for 82k dollars. He got in my car and said "you have the same features I have in my car!" I said "yeah I know but I paid thirty five for mine tho!". Acura out did themselves.

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  Nice Ride - 2005 Acura TSX
  By JVB - September 15 - 8:13 pm

  Its built solid, and has a nice ride with a safe feeling. Very responsive to the road conditions, but the steering is a bit stiff. The seating could have a little more cushion for a luxury sedan, but overall a comfortable and functional interior.

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  smoke them! all of them! - 2004 Acura RSX
  By SumMortuus - September 15 - 10:00 am

  I love this cars handling. Very Tight!!!! This car has the meanest 4- cylinder stock engine out there. The 200 hp 2.0 litre 4-cyl sounds like a V- 6, while being able to smoke many V-6s off the line at the same time. (Including many not so impressive mustangs) So much fun to cruise around in with the windows down the sunroof open, and the stereo goin.

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  Too many problems with this car. - 2004 Acura RSX
  By ThisCarSucksIHateIt - September 15 - 10:00 am

  I had a Mitsubishi before this car, and this car is so much worse. It is constantly in the shop. Transmission problems, rattles, squeeks, noises, the stereo was incorrectly wired. Just recently, my engine went out. I started looking to see if others had similar problems on the net, and its worse. I found about 300 other owners also having engine failures, some people claim there are thousands more. Then I saw a video of a guy on FOX News talking about how his engine went out and his car is a LEMON. Its a nightmare. Today I found out that they are not warrantying my engine and my parents have to pay 10,000 dollars to fix it!

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  Reliability>Safety>Quality>Value - 2004 Acura MDX
  By Goli - September 15 - 10:00 am

  3.3K. I am happier with it every day. QUALITY- no a rattle/squeak. Great leather. PERFORMANCE- fast, powerful, effortless. SUSPENSION-comparable SUVs are either too soft or too stiff, MDX has perfectly balanced a comfortable ride with very good HANDLING. UTILITY useful ample space, turn seating for 7 into open flush space in just seconds. My dogs love this vehicle (BTW- the optional CARGO LINER is a must-have (tailor-made for the MDX protects interior from dogs, bikes, scuba gear, etc). COMFORT-very quiet (although some wind noise at very high speeds), comfortable, and great seats. AC is great! SE FL resident on a Black/Black.

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  happy in Bonsall - 2004 Acura TL
  By driver52 - September 15 - 10:00 am

  very happy with preformance and milage, also sound system. Quality is exceptional. I testd BMW and Audi, and liked the new TL as a better value and better equiped.

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  3 years and still in love... - 2001 Acura CL
  By lil_dreamer13 - September 14 - 11:39 pm

  I purchased my 01 CL Certified in September 2002. I fell in love with it then and am still in love with it now. At the time, I was also looking at the Lexus IS, but it felt like I was cramped up in an upgraded version of my Civic SI. The CL has all the luxurious interior features, a powerful engine so it is at a great value. The transmission was recalled, but Acura replaced it at their cost. Ive been a CL owner for 3 years now and dont even have an itch to look at other cars because Im very happily satisfied. When Im in the market to purchase a new car, it would definitely be another Acura hands down... Perhaps the TL. )