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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  I love this car - 2004 Acura TL
  By gtb - November 5 - 2:00 am

  Ive never had a car I loved, until now. The car for the price is the best deal you can get. (over LS 330 or BMW) I priced out an Audi A4 and to get the same options, youd have to pay over $5k more. No question, the nicest car Ive ever driven and that includes, the 745i, and a Mercedes 300 coupe. The front wheel drive hurts it against the competition, but living in the northest, I wont doing a lot of autobahn driving.

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  Plain Old TL? - 2005 Acura TL
  By Goldfinger - November 4 - 4:40 pm

  Absolutely Not.. This cars got enough fun power to make you feel 18 again. And you do... if you use the manual shift. Only improvement needed: Stiffer shock absorbers to handle high speeds.

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  Very Fun Car - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Dewboy - November 4 - 10:00 am

  Great Car, so nice in so many different categories. The interior is layed out beautifully, and at night the red lights are awesome. Some may not like them, but I LOVE them. Very Fast, defiantly get the Type S if you can afford the insurance, and want to have fun in it. The leather seats are A+++!

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  Practical Sports Car - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Two Dog - November 4 - 10:00 am

  Ride, handling, and performance close to that of the S2000, but in a package that allows you to carry four people. Incredible scoot kicks in at 5800 rpm and gets better up to (and willingly past) redline. Aggressively bolstered (and comfy) leather seats hold you snugly through the twisties that this car loves. Excellent touring for two with ample luggage space. Tightly screwed together with a reputation for top-ranked dependability!

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  mdx to others - 2002 Acura MDX
  By rawman - November 4 - 10:00 am

  When I purchased my MDX, I tried all the other competitors cars before making my final decision. The RX300, though quiet, was too soft and felt very small inside, even though outside it was very little different from the MDX. The BMW was quick, but again, very small inside and very stiff in normal driving. The Mercedes was a joke. We bought it at Hopkins Acura in Redwood City. They were great. No markup and no pre-accessorizing. I only had to wait 4 months to get my car. Cant recommend them highly enough.

• 

  An Adult Car - 2000 Acura RL
  By bobbycar - November 4 - 2:00 am

  After driving/riding in any other vehicle(eg, BMW 740), Im immediately surprised by the smoothness of the RL. The car handles very well on the highway @ 80-90 mph - precisely, quietly & smoothly - with four adults in the car & all their luggage in the trunk.

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  2009 Acura TL - 2009 Acura TL
  By ms - November 3 - 6:23 pm

  I am a fan of Acura cars, having owned a 2003 Acura TL, 2004 TL and 2008 TSX. Overall I found the 2009 TL to be an improvement over the 2004 TL, but there are some little things that I dislike: The soft armrest for your right elbow that slides forward that was present in preceding models is now gone. I miss this.The trunk lid is now higher so you have to lift things higher to put them in the trunk. When accelerating, the engine revs more than the older TLs. What I dislike most is that the steering is too light and feels unnatural. Pros: The interior feels luxurious and upscale. The navi is quicker and the screen sharper and brighter.

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  Good car - 1991 Acura Integra
  By Makaveli - November 3 - 2:00 am

  very good car, worth buying

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  Great car for students - 1990 Acura Integra
  By Benjamin_24 - November 3 - 2:00 am

  My Integra has over 213,000 miles on it and Ive driven almost 100,000 of them. This is a very well-rounded car lots of storage space (hatchback + fold- down rear seats), good looks, good mileage, sporty performance, good price, lots of useful features, and to top it all off: reliability. The interior is terrific, high quality, and the center console is slightly tilted toward the driver so all of the radio and climate controls are at a natural angle and close.

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  Love My MDX! - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Paula - November 2 - 6:53 pm

  I appreciate the way my MDX handles. It is as comfortable as a sedan, yet with all the added space and uses like a truck. I am extremely pleased.