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:

• 

  so fine!!!!! - 2002 Acura NSX
  By cfirstchoice - January 22 - 2:00 am

  We rented a Ferrari for three days and hated it. One test drive in this car, my wife and I found out all our dislikes with Ferrari could be eliminated with an NSX!! Now we have all the power and great ride with amazing mileage but she looks so hot in her red NSX!! Ah what a problem to have - sorry Ferrari.

• 

  Awesome GSR - 2000 Acura Integra
  By X-GSR - January 22 - 2:00 am

  By now I have moved on to an S2000. The Acura was everything I need it, didnt realize then but . . . This car was the ultimate driving machine. Never had a problem, gas mileage was great.

• 

  Bought a RSX Type S - 2003 Acura RSX
  By Youngcrew84 - January 22 - 2:00 am

  My mom finally bought me the rsx type s and i love it. it fun to drive the shifter is incredible smooth. i love the high revving i-vtec engine. The dealer was really nice and gave me spoiler and wheelocks for free! I driven the WRX but the shifter is not nearly as smooth and the rsx type s is hella fun to drive.

• 

  Very pleased - 2002 Acura MDX
  By MDX Rocks - January 22 - 2:00 am

  Just had our 7,500 mile service, and I cant praise this vehicle enough. Great power, looks, comfort, reliability. Having driven 330 miles through a serious snow storm on Christmas Eve, I feel qualified to say that the 4WD works extremely well. You can buy an X5 with options to match the MDX for thousands more, and you still wont be able to do anything about the space deficit. The extra seats and cargo space are VERY nice to have. If you want to be able to say "I drive a BMW", thats understandable - my wife and I just bought a 530i. But if you want value, the MDX is the clear choice.

• 

  best exotic on the market - 1995 Acura NSX
  By rchphker - January 21 - 2:00 am

  i have owned 2 nsxs and both have been reliable, fun and fast. ferarri builds nice cars and the mystique is there, they are neither reliable or worth the price of admission. there are other cars that are faster 0-60 and in the quarter mile, but that isnt what the nsx is about, drive one and youll understand. it is not a car for the camaro lover, if that is your niche, stick to the vette.

• 

  A nice car - 1997 Acura CL
  By smilee - January 21 - 2:00 am

  I bought this one in 1996, and its been the best vehicle I have owned.

• 

  acura tsx rules in its class! - 2004 Acura TSX
  By meet joe black - January 20 - 10:00 am

  i liked that everything was standard. (i had looked into a mazda 6 s, but with options, it quickly became a $29k mazda). the tsx has a nice tight, solid feel when driving it, even over some of bostons roughest roads.

• 

  acura power! - 2004 Acura TL
  By mo-paul - January 20 - 10:00 am

  This is the best car that we have ever driven! We received a good deal on the car and are very satisfied! It combines luxury with style and performance. Its the ultimate baby boomer 21st century cruiser!

• 

  Excellent car for the money - 2000 Acura TL
  By guo5598 - January 19 - 2:00 am

  Excellent car, lot of power. Handles well, The seat is not comfortable. The roof is too low. I have no problem at all for the last three years. Transmission is just fine, I thought people drive too hard if they have transmission problem.

• 

  Great Ride - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Jake - January 18 - 9:53 pm

  We never thought we would find a better ride than our 2004 Tahoe.This vehicle has a big car ride and handles like a sport car. We have had the new vehicle for a month and we have not seen another one on the road. I would find it hard to believe that there is a better midsize SUV on the road.