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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  Great compact car - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Jim - April 22 - 12:52 am

  I have owned an Integra and the RSX blows it away. Every aspect of this car has been thoughtfully crafted. The interior is very clever and simple, and the leather seats are comfortable and supple. The exterior does not suffer from over-styling, but presents a sleek and aggressive stance. I have not had any problems with the car whatsoever. This has to be the best compact car on the market.

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  best car I ever had - 2003 Acura TL
  By hokiehigh - April 21 - 3:57 pm

  I bought the TL brand new in Sep, 2003. I dont drive it a lot so it only has 10k miles so far. I love the powerful engine and tons of features comes with the car, lots of luxury feathers and great looking. I never had any problem with it except the rattling from the sunroof which was fixed under warranty. Dealership is great too, free loaner, free wash and free inspection. Best value for your money.

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  Wow, we love this car - 2007 Acura TL
  By hands2god - April 21 - 2:56 am

  We looked at a few cars that are considered in this class, and the TL Type-S is by far the nicest looking, nicest driving and the best bang for the buck. The drive by wire is great, and the torque is a nice surprise. Great car, drive it, youll buy one.

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  have to drive something - 2005 Acura TL
  By millie - April 21 - 2:00 am

  only had it for about two weeks, but it seems to be the car for me.

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  Sweet Ride - 2005 Acura TL
  By SF-Frisco - April 21 - 2:00 am

  I have it for two weeks. Except some tire defect which was fixed by the dealer, it has been great. The MPG really sucks though. Im averaging 22. The technology is really great. I got an audio DVD and the sound isnt as great as one would think. The styling, interior and ride quality are very good. This is my first acura, and it has a lot of good features for the price. A great buy!

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  Worth the resale value - 1999 Acura TL
  By jgenitile - April 20 - 6:18 pm

  We bought our TL through eBay and have not had one problem with it. That is once we put cross drilled disc breaks on it. I am looking forward to purchasing another.

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  Top Class quality for medium price. - 1994 Acura Vigor
  By Mazhar Syed - April 20 - 5:30 pm

  Acura Vigor, the name might sound too strong, but pull back the seat, put the trans in D4 and raise the gas slowly, you will feel the difference which you cant experience in a new mitsubishi eclipse(e.g). Honda has done a great job on this car, I tested it and it ran 0-60 in 8secs where consumer guide said 8.8secs(idiots). Anyways, this is a car that you will enjoy in every aspect, with 8 channel surround sound(4tweeters and 4speakers) if u can spend u can set-up 8 speakers along with a sub and make the worlds best sound system or upgrade 2-way speakers in the front and 3-way speakers in the back panel with a 10inch sub in the trunk as I did and ENJOY! For $4000, i bought a BMW M3 kicker lol

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  Fun and Reliable - 1996 Acura Integra
  By starlabrite - April 20 - 1:06 pm

  I have had the 1996 LS for a little over two years, and Im still impressed with it. I have packed on the miles (I purchased it with 97,000, now it has 148,000!), and it still runs great. The only major problems Ive encountered thus far: replacing the timing belt (a must) and the radiator. It looks great, but the paint is a little lacking. My hood is showing its age, as little dots of paint are stripping off, but its really not that noticeable. The paint is fading, however, and I think a new paint job would make it look (and feel) brand new. Not only is the car powerful and fast, its fuel-efficient, and the hatchback has proven itself extremely worthy when moving!

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  Love my new RDX - 2016 Acura RDX
  By Leah Zimmerman - April 20 - 4:52 am

  Dont waste your time even looking at the other SUVs.

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  2016 RDX Died in just 22 Days - 2016 Acura RDX
  By Tom - April 19 - 9:15 am

  Had my new RDX for 22 days and the instrument cluster blew out. Was driving at night and the dash just went dark. Got home but once I turned the car off it would not restart. Just cranked. No instrument lights, doors would not lock and the rear view camera display would not turn off. Had vehicle towed to the dealer on July 15 and there it still sits as of July 29. They replaced the cluster and that did not fix it. Now they traced it to a wiring harness. The dash of my new car has been disassembled and will never be the same nor will I ever be able to trust it. I can already hear all the rattles. I have owned Honda vehicles for 23 years and never had to have one towed. Huge disappointment.