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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  RSX Type S - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Steve Hill - December 24 - 2:00 am

  excellent car for the $, and a performance car with useability and versatility

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  experience of an average consumer - 2004 Acura TL
  By Jim Christian - December 24 - 2:00 am

  I am an average consumer who looked at several cars in the $30-$45K range. I was totally unprepared for what I got with the 2004 TL. It drives like a dream. My advice is to go test drive several mid range luxury cars and then drive the 2004 TL- and you are likely to save yourself $10K - $15K. One day I had to go back to the dealer for a standard service and they gave me a 2003 TL for the day- the 2004 is a totally differnt car.

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  Best Vehicle Ive Ever Owned!! - 1997 Acura TL
  By Buckeye64 - December 23 - 2:00 am

  Car handles excellent. Power is what youd expect from Acura - great. Weve had our TL for 3 years and put 70k miles on it. No mechanical or appearance problems. Will definitely buy another Acura.

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  Kick butt sports sedan - 2006 Acura TL
  By Pano - December 22 - 9:06 am

  This car is just simply amazing!!!! This car offers the best price for the performance and its luxury. This car is appealing to the young and to the older population. It comes with great standard features and once again its price is unbelievable.

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  Acura 1996 3.2TL - 1996 Acura TL
  By jeffjlw - December 22 - 2:00 am

  Great looking car with plenty of power. Climate control system is great as is the sound system. Handling is very good. Not real great in the snow. Rides like a luxury car as it should.

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  Great little car!!!!!! - 1999 Acura CL
  By Okay - December 22 - 2:00 am

  I have owned this little 2.3CL for 4 months and i love it! It has been easy to take care of, drive and maintain. It is "cute" (couldnt think of a better word-sorry) but classy. If i had to do it over again id do it in a heart beat. The only thing to complain about is the lack of power but if i wanted that i would have bought a GT.

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  Love My TSX - 2006 Acura TSX
  By Trish - December 21 - 5:06 pm

  Was debating between this and the TL. The TL is made in the US, the TSX in Japan. Had to think about fuel economy. The TSXs backseat folds down, the TLs does not. Price to consider. No MP3 plug in TL. Decided on the TSX and love it! Have had to take it in once since I bought it 6 weeks ago for a drivers seat that creaked when turning a corner - very annoying. The loaner car they gave me creaked worse than mine! A flaw in the design? They fixed mine and its good as new (I told them to fix the loaner too!) Also have not been able to get the drivers seat as comfortable as my 2002 Accord was. Tons of positions, maybe its me?

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  SPEED - 2002 Acura NSX
  By Moammed - December 21 - 2:00 am

  Extremely fast

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  Great value!!!! - 1997 Acura CL
  By rcthornton - December 21 - 2:00 am

  The CL is a great car! I bought mine about 3 years ago with 50k on it, now I have 95k. No problems at all, just your basic maintenance. The car handles wonderfully for a luxury car. Best of both worlds, all in one package! I would buy another one if I was to sell it.

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  my acura - 2005 Acura TL
  By herbert e. selwyn - December 20 - 7:36 am

  We own a 1998 lexus 300 but after seeing the 2004 lexus 330 we decided to test drive the acura. After checking various motor magazines and driving the Acura again we decided to by one. we have never regretted it. The car drives smoothly and yet has sportscar handling. My only complaint is the gas mileage.