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:

• 

  Acura RSX 2005 - 2005 Acura RSX
  By I Lov My Acura 2005 - November 5 - 10:38 pm

  Great Car for the Price.

• 

  my rsx-s - 2004 Acura RSX
  By marvin schultz - November 5 - 12:13 pm

  I purchased my RSX-S about a month ago and am very satisfied. Its not only fun to drive, but is very practical and affordable. Acura has a winner here. with more power than the Lexus IS-300 and more stylish than the compact Infinity. It has superb handling and its race inspired seating, you really feel in touch with the road. In a rating of 1-5, I give it a 9.

• 

  The best car I owned - 2005 Acura TL
  By R.H.W. - November 5 - 7:53 am

  Best car I owned. Bought more than 20 new automobiles, all types. This 2005 Acura TL has it all. Excellent handling, power, comfort, looks and safety plus the best sound system. Loaded with many extras.

• 

  Great Ride - 2002 Acura TL
  By snarisetty - November 4 - 6:31 pm

  Overall performance and build quality is great. Had to replace tranny @52K. Acura service was great, and replaced the tranny under warranty.

• 

  Great Ride! - 2009 Acura TSX
  By Rybes - November 3 - 10:30 pm

  New & improved! Quite an upgrade from my 06 TSX and I thought that car was nice. This car is hot! Better lease than Accord EX. Civic Si on wish list but doesnt compare! Smooth highway ride with less wind noise. Better turning radius, great steering. Decent MPG, comfy seats like Volvo. Smooth shifting 6M. Grigio Metallic great alternative to silver/gray. Only gripe is the interior trim looks cheap as do the door handles. Acura has made a believer out of me. Loyal customer for life!

• 

  Best value in its class - 2004 Acura TSX
  By JKRTX - November 3 - 10:00 am

  Had this car now for about 2 months now and have to say its an awesome car. I get lots of compliments on it.

• 

  My Baby - 2005 Acura RSX
  By AshleeM - November 3 - 10:00 am

  I absolutly love my Acura RSX-S. I originally wanted a Ford Mustang GT but I went with the Acura and I am so happy I did. I kind of wish they had the 3 new colors for the 2002 model but they dont so I may be trading mine in for a 2005.

• 

  Fun to Drive - 2004 Acura TL
  By cyke777 - November 3 - 10:00 am

  This is a great car. It has many features for the price, very good acceleration, quiet interior, and exceptional looks. Im not very satisfied with the build quality though. Rear bumper is misaligned and had to be adjusted by dealer and is still not snug fit after adjustment. Not the kind of quality expected from Acura.

• 

  ted - 2004 Acura MDX
  By ted tummins - November 3 - 2:00 am

  ok with overall performance

• 

  2016 and the transmission is still bad! - 2016 Acura TLX
  By John Cross - November 2 - 11:47 am

  Reading some of these reviews, I wonder who writes them. Honda Motor Company no doubt. I have been very disappointed in this car which I got 3 months ago. It has been in the shop 3 times to fix the rough shifting. In stop and go traffic it is a nightmare. The mechanic acknowledged they still have many complaints. It is a software problem.... With eight gears it cant always decide which gear to go to. So far no software to fix it. Ive asked for out of my lease but they say no. I feel stuck with a $400 a month annoying experience. If they ever fix the problem it will be a pretty good car but the transmission on the 2016 4 cylinder is not ready for prime time yet.