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 quality and functionality - 1998 Acura SLX
  By Raliegh SLX - March 22 - 10:29 pm

  5 years and almost no troubles to speak of. Very good quality. I wish I could say the same for my newer Volvo. Great space in the back, nice interior, huge sunroof. All and all, I recommend highly. A used one is surely a great value.

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  Good Stuff - 2002 Acura RSX
  By hawk14414 - March 22 - 3:40 pm

  Smooth, rev happy engine. Excellent handling for a front driver. Nice six speed. Great fit and finish.

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  Good Car - 2004 Acura TL
  By Rudy G - March 22 - 10:00 am

  I have 5000 miles on the car and there are a few problems, but have not had it in the shop yet. Either the computer is not calibrated correclyy or the gas tank is smaller than 17 gallons as stated in the manual. There is an occasional surge of power (watch it on the tach) when breaking. An occasional rattle or two (minimal), but I can live with those. Ride is harsh on rough roads. Understeer is noticeable, but it is on any FWD car with power. Fit and finish is suspect in a couple of areas(interior front door seams),especially bugs me as dealer spent a lot of time lauding the fit and finish. Caliper is the logo, etc.

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  BMW Slayer - 2004 Acura TL
  By BrianD - March 22 - 10:00 am

  Test drove the BMW 325i, 330i, Infiniti G35 sedan and coupe, Maxima 2004, Camry, Honda Accord, Lexus IS300, and this car slayed them all. Awesome acceleration, gorgeous interior.. by far the best ive seen in a car under 40k, awesome look, and the best sound system Ive heard in a car... ever. Fully loaded from the start, can you really pass this up for some of these wastes of money?

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  Good car - 1992 Acura Legend
  By Acuraowners - March 22 - 1:57 am

  I have not owned this car long, but initially, I like it. It has a long wheelbase- which is really needed to help off-set the overly firm (for a luxury car) suspension. The car is roomy and I feel safe driving it. The gauges are easy to read, but not as pleasant to look at as they are in the 1990-93 Honda Accords, nor is the ride as supple. I am disappointed with the ride of my car, as well as the fact that it needs new axles, & transmission mounts. Overall, these are very good cars, but I have heard a lot of bad things about the headgaskets. They are prone to failures, as are the valve stem seals.

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  FUN AND CUTE - 2005 Acura RSX
  By Christine 568 - March 21 - 7:26 pm

  If you want a fun and cute sports car that it not outragiously expensive, the RSX is the perfect car. It handles great and with the price of gas, you cant beat the gas milage. It also gives you the option of shifting gears for those times when you need a little more pick up.

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  if you wanna know - 2005 Acura RSX
  By lilinfo - March 21 - 4:54 pm

  I had mine for about 4 months. So far so good no major complaints. You get enough performance upon demand and Acura really tried to give you more comfort. I had 2000 Integra and with 2005 I have more fun with out the back pain after some imperfect roads that I fail to avoid. Also this car has the best clutch. You drive any other manaul car than drive this car and drive the other car again. You will think that other car has broken clutch. I noticed some owners mentioning about some gears grind and I also had this problem once in a while. I thought I was not shifting properly but this might be a problem. Mostly in the mornings when engine is cold.

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  You cant go wrong - 2002 Acura RSX
  By slywun - March 21 - 1:16 pm

  Although there are other cars in the price range with similar performance numbers, you cant get a better deal in quality, performance, luxury, and economy for the price. The 6 speed is a thing of beauty second to no other car I have owned. With all the fun and performance I still am averaging between 27-30 mpg.

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  all around great car - 2002 Acura TL
  By Knine - March 21 - 2:22 am

  Ive had this car since its release date in July 01. Its fast, handles well, has a tight turning radius and corners like a race car. So far its been reliable (no $$ other then regular maintenance), very comfortable and great for road trips with the optional Navi. Ive had many cars before this, including a a 99 Chrysler 300M (which was a lemon) and never even thought of keeping them ... Id highly recommend purchasing this car if youre thinking about it ... and then recommend picking a city 500+ miles away and take a week off. Enjoy.

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  This is the best car Ive ever owned - 2007 Acura MDX
  By JWEISS - March 20 - 10:03 pm

  This is a full sport utility vehicle and a luxury car combined!! It rides like (even better than) my Lexus ES 330 and it still does the job for skiing, surfing, and road trips!! This car fits 6 adults in real comfort. You could easily do 4 adults, 2 kids and a dog on a long road trip and nobody feels cramped. This vehicle is awesome. Took a 600 mile road trip and several coastal drives so far. Do get the cooler to keep your beverages and food cold so you dont have to stop and buy food (helps offset the cost of the gasoline) . I know its not eco-conscious, but it is the most fun you can have for the money and still feel like a star pulling up to Spago.