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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  Buyers remorse - 2015 Acura MDX
  By drjaykorsen - November 16 - 4:37 pm

  I had my MDX for just a few weeks and the warning lights started going off for tire pressure, check engine, and a few other things. Brought it in and it had a computer reset. That seemed to help but come on! The computer, nav and radio voice commands are not very intuitive. You have to memorize a text book to make it functional...no thanks! I just got a "recall" notice in the mail I have been waiting for and it is just for the radio, nav and phone, not to address the other computer problem. Lastly, I get flashed every time I drive at night because the headlights Blind Every Oncoming Car...What a 50K dollar pain in the Butt!

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  Excellent Car - 1998 Acura TL
  By lizaven17 - October 25 - 5:21 pm

  I got this car back in 2010 as a starter. Since then its needed an upstream O2 sensor and a wiper motor. I have fallen in love with this car and worked a great deal on it. My TL has done two coast-to-coast cross country trips with stellar performance. The car is kinda rare in the US so parts can get expensive if you break the wrong thing. But overall this car is great. A word of caution to fellow tuners out there: the design of this car is kinda nonsensical. Things like wiring a subwoofer are extremely difficult. But as a basic car, the 5cyl is really reliable and the interior is spacious and comfy. A pure-blooded GT car if you ask me.

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  Enjoying my new TLX - 2015 Acura TLX
  By brucej97223 - September 13 - 11:17 pm

  I traded in my 2008 528i for a 2015 TLX v6 with the tech package, after looking at BMWs and MB. I am really enjoying the TLX. It drives as well as the new (post 2012) 5 series - which are less fun than my old 2008 - and it holds my family and my 61 son better than the new C-class (which is an amazing car, just too small). However, when you compare the MSRP of the TLX against similarly equipped German cars, you easily save $20K or more. Yes, the TLX isnt perfect - crisper handling would be nice, but overall the value for money factor on this car is amazing - well send the kid to college for a year on what we saved, and have fun driving him there to boot.

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  Fun little car - 2014 Acura ILX
  By pwdrday - September 11 - 7:44 am

  When I started looking at this car, I found it to be mediocre on paper. Acceleration, handling, mpg, etc all seemed acceptable, but it didnt stand out. However, I ended up taking a test drive because manual transmission cars have become hard to find, and they were giving big discounts. After a test drive though, I realized that this car was something special, and the more I drive it the more I like it. Im happy to say that this car has a much higher fun factor than I originally expected. The clutch and transmission are just a pure joy to use. Its definitely the nicest manual transmission Ive ever had, including multiple VWs, a Saab, and multiple Subarus. The engine also loves to rev and has a wonderful sound for a 4 cyl. Its no track monster, but for real road driving, I cant think of a car that was more fun (even more than my WRX) to drive around without doing illegal speeds. Lastly, I find that the EPA gas mileage is easily exceeded without trying. If I had to knock it on anything, its the road noise. For a premium badge, I would have expected to be more quiet. However, if you are OK with the normal noise levels found in Hondas, this is a great choice for a little sporty car!

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  Great value for your money - 2012 Acura TL
  By edross22 - September 10 - 3:56 pm

  I bought the 2012 TL with 14,000 miles on it. And it has really been fun to drive. Like other people mentioned i paid $32,300 plus tax for this car. I was looking for the new accord V6 Touring full loaded and after seating on the car and feeling how cheap the interior was. Everything is plastic, leather doesnt feel like real leather. I decided to take a look of the TL and decided rather to have a used TL than a brand new Honda Accord. The TL is more luxury, nicer interior and way more powerful. I will definitely recommend it this car. Average mile per gallon right now in mix driving 23 miles/gallon..

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  Love my MDX but would hesitate to buy again - 2014 Acura MDX
  By johnra - August 23 - 11:24 am

  This is a great family car with plenty of room, power, fuel efficiency, safety features, and style. For these reasons I am very happy with my purchase. However, there are enough quirks that I would hesitate to buy an MDX again. There is an odd noise the car makes when shifting from 3 to 6 cylinders the lumbar adjustments on the front driver seat are too limited sound quality from the radio is pathetic and I have heard awful things about the in car nav (thankfully I did not waste my money on this). All cars have quirks but these are too many for a car in this price range. I get the sense Acura rushed this out the door - a lesson learned for me in buying the first year of a new model.

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  1999 Acura Integra GS Hatch Manual - 1999 Acura Integra
  By thekenneth - August 15 - 1:07 pm

  This is an outstanding used car. I bought it at 154,000 in 2014 and am so impressed with the solid transmission and engine. Cosmetically it is quite weathered. Clearcoat peel. This one had some water infiltration into the hatch thru the tail light gaskets but this was easily fixed. Very low seat for this old guy to climb in and out of but decent front leg room for tall people. Dont expect to transport full-sized people in the back seats! Super solid used car. Zippy and nimble. Fun to drive. I recommend it.

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  Almost got everything right - 2015 Acura MDX
  By mrso718 - July 24 - 10:11 pm

  My first car was the 2013 RDX so when a 2014 MDX redesign was coming out, I knew I had to get one. Because of the over design and value of this vehicle, two years down the road we (my wife and I) traded in our RDX, which was great, for the 2015 MDX. Fell in love with the vehicle immediately, BUT not a minute longer of driving off the lot, we started to discover little things that the quality of this vehicle is REALLY lacking. Loud adjustable seat motors, scraping noise coming from the steering wheel louder, louder then normal engine, a paint job gone bad, bad outside temperature gauge and the list goes on! Acura what have you done?

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  Great Alternative to Boring Commuter Cars! - 2014 Acura ILX
  By david_d82 - July 15 - 10:51 pm

  I bought my 2014 ILX 2.4 a little over a month ago, and its been a great purchase. I did a LOT of research before purchasing this car, and I am very happy that I was not scared off by some of the reviews from the automotive journalism industry. First, this car is not a rebadged Civic Si. different dimensions, different suspension setup and hardware. Also no garish wing or ugly red interior inserts like the Si. Yay! Great manual transmission, too. clutch pickup is spot-on, and shifts are super smooth. nice enough features for the price, but infotainment screen is kinda chintzy, and rear seat passengers really need HVAC vents! Reminds me a lot of my 2006 TSX with a manual only better

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  Beware of noise (VCM or modulator?) - 2014 Acura MDX
  By lbjr51 - July 2 - 10:44 pm

  This car is comfortable to drive other than the fact that one must put up with an irritating noise that Acura refuses to fix (5 in all categories otherwise). Some have described the noise as being similar to "a cell phone in vibrate mode going off on a hard surface." My understanding is the noise is identified as being from the Variable Cylinder Management System (VCM) switching from 3 cylinders to 6 cylinders. Unfortunately, the noise gets louder over time. Acura contends it is the all wheel drive unit modulator activating. It apparently is also noted on other Honda models like the RDX, Pilot and Odyssey. At the minimum, Acuras dealers should be required to disclose this issue.