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 my RL. - 2001 Acura RL
  By RiceOwl - April 14 - 2:00 am

  Great drive if comfort is your primary concern. Very reliable and handles like a charm. As a medium size luxury car it is a great value and is probably one of the more underappreciated cars in this class. People get in my car and sometimes mistake it for a Mercedes. Must be the black on black.

• 

  Best Value SUV in the Marketplace - 2016 Acura RDX
  By geoex1 - April 12 - 9:29 am

  Received delivery of our RDX AWD Advanced this past Thursday and have loved every minute with it. Compared to the Lexus NX200t, Land Rover Discovery Sport and Lincoln MKC and found it to be the best driving of the bunch and the best value in themarket. Enjoy all of the technology features, smooth and comfortable drive, great fit and finish and the appealing interior and exterior design. We bought into the high Acura reliability and safety features.

• 

  fun car - 2003 Acura RL
  By charlie covey - April 12 - 2:00 am

  very attractive car that handles well is very comfortable and the fit and finish of the car seems impeccable. I would recommend it to anyone looking at this class of car

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  Best SUV - MDX - 2003 Acura MDX
  By mista - April 12 - 2:00 am

  Bought for my wife, I drive a RL. Most surprised by car like feel and ride. If this Acura product is as good as the others I have owned, then we will have this for a long time. Handling is the best of all SUV that I have been in (MB-320,Expedition,Yukon and Jeep).

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  11 year acura owner - 2003 Acura TL
  By 2 X Acura owner - April 12 - 2:00 am

  I had a 1992 Acura Legend (4 door 5 speed) with 193K miles. I was still very happy with the car when I was rear- ended totaling the car. I went back to Acura and purchased the 4 door TL-S. I have had the car for just under a year and drive about 24K miles a year. I have been very happy with the car and it performance (+60 HP over the Legend and about 15% better fuel economy lower maintenance costs). I see no reason why the TLS will not have the same type of life expectancy I had with the Legend.

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  GREAT TRUCK - 1998 Acura SLX
  By moneyg - April 10 - 2:00 am

  GREAT TRUCK, NICE FEATURES, GREAT FEATURES, RELIABLE

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  Type S - 2002 Acura RSX
  By NSXRACING - April 10 - 2:00 am

  I drove 98 Prelude Type SH, 2000 ITR, 95 Bimmer M3 and 98 GS-R before. And this is a real nice car with the money! Like it very much, esp the sweet ride! Dont think can get any better car with the money!

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  Fun to Drive - 2002 Acura RSX
  By denman2 - April 9 - 8:06 pm

  This car is just a blast to drive and has excellent interior when compared to the competition.

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  Love My Legend - 1991 Acura Legend
  By Ernestine Dixon - April 9 - 2:00 am

  I am the second owner I have really enjoyed my Legend. I did not like the alarm system I had to have it disconnected it would go off with for no apparent reason. I do miss not having a cup holder.

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  Best car ever... - 1991 Acura Legend
  By AsianNemesis - April 9 - 2:00 am

  This is my first car and it is probably the best I have test drove. I was going to get a Maxima but the comodity that Nissan delivered is their Maximas is nothing compared to what the Acura Legend has. It has a smooth ride and there is a nice range of power. Only thing I dont like is no cupholders.