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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  08 TSX Drivers Delight - 2008 Acura TSX
  By TRB - December 9 - 7:52 pm

  I found this to be a joy to drive from the moment I test drove it in crisp Alaska October. The handling has been great even on snowy roads. All I hope for now is just a tad bit more thrust, say an additional 75 horses would be nice. I have had a few issues with the hands free but over all love the car, and the deal I got made me felt I stole it.

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  just hatched - 2003 Acura CL
  By Paleo 1 - December 8 - 10:00 am

  The CL is new and I have only 2500 miles. The interior is very Accord like. Handles well and is very quick with the standard engine. The headroom with the sunroof just clears my head. I am 6 tall. Gas mileage is poor so far.

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  Nice - 2008 Acura RDX
  By Marty - December 5 - 10:36 am

  Ive had the RDX for about three months and have been very pleased. I drove a Honda Pilot for 5 years and it did a great job of hauling kids, but driving it was kind of like driving a boat. Not so with the RDX. This little SUV handles better than my wifes TL but offers a lot more flexibility. Im getting about 20 mpg in mixed driving, which is about what I expected. I could probably get better mileage if I kept the little red turbo needle pointing down more often, but wheres the fun in that! So far, a really nice car.

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  Dependable Fun Car - 2003 Acura RSX
  By andy g - December 4 - 6:02 pm

  Owned this vehicle for six months. Great car overall. Good acceleration. Good gas mileage usually get above 30 miles per gallon depending on how I drive. Only problem with it the car so far was the fan belt had to be re placed at 44,000 miles. This cars seats could be more comfortable, on long rides seats can be uncomfortable. Overall this car this car was a great decision suggested to anyone who wants a fun fast car that is good on gas.

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  Best performance in class! - 2009 Acura RDX
  By erik Jensen - December 2 - 3:54 pm

  Just purchased - compared to BMW x3 and Mazda C7. I just garaged my 600 hp track Vette, my Prius produced a distinct adrenaline deficiency. Looked at Subaru WRX, WRX STI for fun factor in winter but too small for family. The Acura is loaded with options, well built (solid), comfortable enough. Make no mistake this mini-SUV is a BLAST to drive. I am surprised they dont market this differently. Turbo 4 banger, SH-AWD Michelin Pilot rubber - snow is good! I can also fit kids, wife, dog, etc. Very happy with performance, technology is overdone - voice recognition nav system rivals BMW iDrive as far as frustration level

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  Acura TL -The Best Value On The Road - 2005 Acura TL
  By pjk - December 2 - 7:16 am

  Terrific performance for the money - this is the best value car on the road today. Navigation system knocks spots off the one in our 2001 BMW 540i and the Acura is 100% more reliable than its garage mate. Acura could improve the turn radius and make the steering wheel telescope but otherwise theyve thought of everything. The Bridgestone performance tires were a big disappointment and wore out after 12,000 miles - with no hot-rodding to hasten their demise. We replaced them with Pirellis and are much happier. This is my 3rd Acura (1995 Legend, 2000 TL) and I love the brand. The availability of a manual transmission in the 2004 TL was a key selling point for this family.

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  Perfect Acura mixture - 2005 Acura TL
  By Paul Ferny - November 23 - 4:05 pm

  Have basic model in automatic. Driven for 4 yrs now. Excellent car - good performance and build quality. Highs - quality feel, good acceleration (in manual mode in auto), good mpg on highway (about 30), sticks to road akin to European car. Lows - initial tires were Michelins and awful - rapid wear and no grip in rain or snow (bloody dangerous after 20k on slick/poor quality roads in frosty Winnipeg), mpg in city not great (about 15-18).

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  1997 Acura 3.0CL Premium - 1997 Acura CL
  By Mir - November 21 - 11:04 am

  Iv bought my CL back in 2003 with 43,000 miles, its now 2008 and i have about 121,000 miles on it, the car is definitely fun to drive, the J30a1 3.0 liter VTEC engine produces great power in such a light car, the only problems I ran into were alternator at early age, battery, starter other than that the EGR valve was replaced through an Acura check engine light recall. I now have 121,000 and my transmission has begun to slip on me.

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  Exactly What I Expected - 2009 Acura RDX
  By hm - November 17 - 6:56 pm

  This is not my first Acura. These vehicles are designed to be a balance between value and luxury. Are they German engineered - NO. That said, they are good performers with great reliability. This is a fun vehicle to drive loaded with features that would be costly options on other brands. Fuel economy is based upon how aggressively you drive and the car is not going to magically transform into something else after to take it home - so give it a good test drive!

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  First Time - 2005 Acura TL
  By First Acura - November 15 - 11:05 am

  Just bought a 2005 TL, it only had 16k miles on it, which is the main reason I bought it. I have driven nothing but SUVs and jeeps, so I was nervous about a car, but this thing rocks. It handles well, it is comfortable and looks great. I love it.