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:

• 

  Great car; buy one - 2003 Acura TL
  By dsymoniak - July 19 - 2:00 am

  Great combination of comfort and performance. Unless you plan on driving at 10/10 ths this car is all the performance youll ever need or want at the best price around.Plus front wheel drive if snow is a factor.

• 

  Best Thing Ive Ever Purchased - 1992 Acura Integra
  By Lymehouse - July 17 - 7:56 pm

  I love my car. It has 179K miles and I have done very little maintenance, other than oil changes. It has been very reliable. I still love the styling and it still hums down the highway as though it will go on forever. Still gets about 33 MPG on the highway, yet has the "get up and go" for when I need it. Takes corners like a dream.

• 

  Fun SUV, Nice Looking, Missing a little - 2005 Acura MDX
  By RLPoloGuy4U - July 17 - 3:13 pm

  This is a great little SUV. It has several nice features however it is missing a few basic features. Only the drivers window is auto up/down and the sunroof is NOT auto either. Gas mileage is not as good as I would have expected. Overall I am extremely happy with this SUV. Acura offers the best SUV with the most options in its class. Much better than the X5 and not as regular as the Lexus. A great buy if you are in the market!

• 

  Very Disappointed in my MDX - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Janet - July 17 - 2:55 pm

  "Clunking" noises that "cant be fixed". Said MDX just makes these noises w/ no remedy <-NOT an acceptable answer!!! Poor design features: no continuous visible outside temperature readout recirculating air setting does not stay on-must be constantly re-set Navigation system NOT user friendly. Also, static in AM radio. Over-designed in some areas under-designed in others. Manufacturer not willing to remedy problems. Spent over $40,000 for a car that does not meet expectations.

• 

  Bs MDX - 2005 Acura MDX
  By BHM - July 16 - 6:06 pm

  I owned an 02 MDX and thoroughly enjoyed it. I moved up the the 05 and it is more advanced thatn the 02 with the talk to it feature.

• 

  great car on the road - 2005 Acura MDX
  By jim - July 16 - 2:01 pm

  one of the reasons I chose the MDX was its ability to be towed all wheels down behind a motorhome. I have found the MDX to be a wonderful vehicle for this purpose atop all of the wonderful features it posseses as a staandard road MPV.

• 

  Its the ultimate drivers machine - 2004 Acura MDX
  By carmin ator - July 15 - 12:38 am

  The MDX is the ultimate drivers machine. The "ultimate driving machine" might be good for short hops from the mansion to the golf course. But the MDX is perfect for hauling 6 humans and luggage for a 10 day road-trip. Handling is crisp and taut. Interior room is adequate for 6 - if you put the kids in the last row. The convenience package is adequate neither underwhelming nor overwhelming. The safety features crumple zones, breakaway mounts, full curtain side airbags, etc. are uptodate. Mileage was a paltry 12-13mpg street and 20-25 hwy. For absolute comfort buy the Navigator for raw power buy the X5. But if youre on a budget and want an all-round SUV thats awesome to drive buy the MDX.

• 

  very disappointed - 2003 Acura TL
  By banditday - July 14 - 5:56 pm

  I loved my car when I first bought it. Put the CompTech headers, exhaust, springs, swaybars plus Koni shocks and Brembo Gran Turismos on it under factory warranty. Well, less than 6 months after I bought the car I start having paint problems - horrid peeling, bird doo eating through the paint (my other car is 8 years old and looks amazing - this Acura looks 20 years old at 2). Now Im in the tranny recall issues.... on my third tranny. Tranny #2 had zero power to the ground. The car was being outgunned by delivery trucks! I am furious with Acura - my family has owned 8 or 9 Acuras, ranging from Type R Integras to TLs and CLs.... and Acura wont do a thing :-(

• 

  2001 Acura CL-S - 2001 Acura CL
  By rico - July 14 - 4:59 pm

  The S-type is a hoot to drive. Excellent performance and cornering ability. The auto shift works well and get the job done. Gas milage is in the 25 mpg range overall. very quite overall with a nice growl from the duel exhaust. The only issues are the 6 cd changer jams up but then the problem clears up later in the day and the stock tires are sub par.

• 

  Happy MDX owner - 2003 Acura MDX
  By SUVX XX - July 14 - 7:00 am

  I have researched a few other SUVs (Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, Infinity) before making the decision and I dont regret buying the MDX. It has been very fun to drive, comfortable, powerful and dependable. It handles very nice in the snow and it has plenty of power when you need it. It is also very smooth and quiet.