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:

• 

  Horrible Suspension for NYC - 2009 Acura RDX
  By El Supremo - November 14 - 5:35 pm

  I bought the car looking at the Mazda CX7, Nissan Murano, etc. Actually found that the RDX is only a bit more expensive then the Mazda so I went with it. The look and interior is awesome but its way to stiff. Every pothole makes the car jump, it feels like an old school jeep. I bought it for comfort and luxury, but this is way to jeep. It really gets annoying (even embarrassing sometimes. I really love the car otherwise but this is a major flaw.

• 

  Euro Style Honda Quality - 2008 Acura TSX
  By RKM - November 5 - 10:28 pm

  After owning German cars for 20 years Ive switched to a TSX. This was the only Japanese car that had a German "feel" to it, but with none of the reliability issues that have plagued my German car ownership experience. German cars, when not in the shop, are still the benchmark for interior design and driver handling, but the TSX comes so close that it won me over from selecting a Jetta GLI. The driving feel is very Euro, with stiff steering, taught suspension, and would perform very well on the autobahn as it is the Euro Accord. Im looking forward to a long trouble free ownership.

• 

  Touch choice - 2008 Acura MDX
  By charles - November 5 - 2:57 pm

  This is a good car. Good power, great ride, it has a sporty suspension that can take jumping a curb or ramming through uneven pavement going 60 mph. So thats a plus. The interior is nice, good heated seats useful, excellent rear view camera. One problem: the gear shift, wiper controls and light controls are less than easy to use. First the wiper and light controls should be lit at night: they are not. The biggest issue I have with them is that they lack the European feedback that BMW offers, i.e., I like to not have to look down to see what gear Im in, what level wiper I am on, or what light is on. If it would work by just feel alone, Acura would do well.

• 

  Reliable, Well Built and Almost Fun!!! - 2001 Acura TL
  By JLO - November 4 - 11:33 am

  I loved this vehicle since it came out in 96, but could not afford it back then. I finally got a pre-owned one in 2004 with only 20K miles in it. I took it to the dealership for the warranty tranny to add the cooling oil jet for the 3rd gear and never had a problem. Its a great car, reliable, comfortable, nice craftsmanship and powerful, but a bit too large for my taste as I like to corner it hard. My next vehicle will be an Acura TSX, Honda Accord or Civic SI.

• 

  Soft leather glove with brass knuckles - 2001 Acura CL
  By IntegraVT - October 26 - 11:16 pm

  The CL-S is a wolf in sheeps clothing. Sleek, elegant exterior styling and an amazingly intuitive interior layout mask what may be the best sleeper car out there. Performance wise, this car will crush many "sports" cars, while providing amenities such as an in-dash 6-disc Bose CD changer, heated leather memory seats & mirrors, xenon HID headlights and Acura service & warranty. The CL Type S is not for everyone, but it should be on every luxury coupe buyers test drive list.

• 

  Not that empressive - 2009 Acura MDX
  By MG - October 26 - 4:37 pm

  All in all I expected much more in the power area and the sound system was a real let down and I have wind noise on driver side and the ride could be nicer I feel all the bumps one the road , right up into the steering wheel. But I have to admit its beautiful looking. oh ya premium fuel so gas cost are terrible. It does not live up to the reviews it gets (my opinion).

• 

  hate the ac - 2002 Acura MDX
  By driverx - October 25 - 2:00 am

  n/a

• 

  Last Acura - 2007 Acura TL
  By BK - October 22 - 9:52 pm

  This is my third Acura (second TL - had an 04 before this), and sorry to say probably my last. My first two were great cars. This one, however, has had annoying problems. Most have been fixed by the dealership, but there is a noise coming from the brakes they have tried to fix 4 times and cant get it to go away for more than about 2 days at a time. We also have a 2008 Infiniti G35 and I am much happier with it, although I like the TL better on the highway more comfort that sport. I am very disappointed that they cant isolate the noise that I hear ALL THE TIME.. fix it already! Every time I get in the car and hear the noise I shake may head and say to myself, "last Acura I will own.

• 

  Have Fun, be Responsible! - 2006 Acura TL
  By PT - October 11 - 11:21 pm

  Interior: superb electronics and AC (a must in AZ), very stylish seats are short, lack thigh support. Exterior: good curb appeal. Large turning radius front bumper scrapes every driveway. Visibility is more sporty than sedan like. 0-25 is good, 25-80 is smooth and superb. Handles brilliantly, feels safe. Feel the road - rides best with (costly) Michelins - everything else detracts from sporty feel. This is a firm, not cushy ride. Quieter than an Accord, but more road noise than a Mercedes or Camry. Everyone likes driving this car. Smallish trunk, rear seats do not fold down, so, not good for moving stuff. If you can afford it, I doubt you can find a better car.

• 

  tsx review - 2004 Acura TSX
  By markT - October 11 - 10:00 am

  The TSX is fun to drive. Before purchase, I was looking at the Honda Accord EX, Mazda 6, and Mazda RX8. Though I am very satisfied with the TSX, at times I wonder what the RX8 would have been like. But, I believe the TSX is an overall better car and it fits the needs of a young family man fine.