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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  Doesnt get better than this - 1993 Acura Integra
  By lexus_driver - December 12 - 2:00 am

  I owned my 93 LS for 2 years and only got rid of it because I wanted a bigger, more comfortable car. But it was hard letting go. Despite the fairly low power rating, it seemed to go fast due to the light weight of the car. And oh, could it handle. It had a surprising amount of leg room considering the overall size. The only problem I had was a leaky head gasket, but I got rid of the car before I had to fix that.

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  GREAT - 1999 Acura Integra
  By Shallon - December 11 - 2:00 am

  LOVE IT would not trade it for anything in the world. :0) Yeah

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  3.5RL Nice Car - 1999 Acura RL
  By daddyo - December 11 - 2:00 am

  I purchased this car used after doing a lot of research. For the price this car is a great value. Outstanding build quality. I traded in a Mercedes C240 and find the RL to be superior.

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  3.5RL Nice Car - 1999 Acura RL
  By Daddyo - December 11 - 2:00 am

  I purchased this car used after doing a lot of research. For the price this car is a great value. Outstanding build quality. I traded in a Mercedes C240 and find the RL to be superior.

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  Dont believe me go for a Test Drive - 2001 Acura MDX
  By Cav Man - December 11 - 2:00 am

  Go drive them all Envoy, Pathfinder, Explorer,etc and then drive a MDX. After you drive the MDX you will say "why did I waste all that time". A great vehicle that speaks for itself-- power,looks, room & fuel economy.

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  CL-S rocks - 2003 Acura CL
  By 6onthefloor - December 10 - 2:00 am

  I wanted a sport-luxury combo in the $30-35k range. I live in the snow belt so I also wanted fwd or awd. Drove Audi A4, Volvo S60, Maxima, Infiniti G35 (rear wheel drive but had to check it out). All very fine cars, but the CL just suited me best. Im 63", and headroom is barely enough but comfortable. Leg room in the front is great. 6 speed manual tranny rocks.

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  A Portable Entertainment Center - 2003 Acura MDX
  By NYDriver - December 10 - 2:00 am

  I just picked up my new 2003 MDX and took it on a 7 hour drive. The performance and handling was superb. It was quite comfortable, particularly the seats, which felt a bit narrow at first, but provided great support over the long trip. The entertainment system is great, but I think that I will need to go back to college to figure out how to work the endless permutations (CD-front/DVD-Rear, DVD front/Rear, CD Changer-front/CD Rear, etc.) The vehicle provides great visibility and you feel comfortable at any speed.

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  wow - 1994 Acura Integra
  By weggie - December 9 - 2:00 am

  this car has it all nothing more

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  Keeps Going and Going! - 1991 Acura Integra
  By gbb - December 9 - 2:00 am

  When my wife approached me in 1993 about purchasing a used 91 GS, I told her why waste money on an overpriced honda.....9 years and 223K miles later she cannot keep me out of it...In the family, we still have the 91 as well as a 98 3.0 CL and a 99 GSR..smile smile smile

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  Little Rock - 2005 Acura TL
  By Lee - December 8 - 6:13 am

  very reliable, comfortable and fun to drive