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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  So Far - So good - 2007 Acura RDX
  By pete - October 14 - 10:10 pm

  So Far my RDX is working as advertised. It handles well and is very responsive. I have the tech package and would highly recommend the addition.

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  RL - 2004 Acura RL
  By Taha - October 14 - 2:00 am

  I have a RL. It is very good and very nice vehicle and I like it very much.

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  great car - 2004 Acura TL
  By lov2xlr8 - October 13 - 7:36 am

  i love the car, and after 6 months, i cant wait to take a drive whenever possible.

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  my acura - 2000 Acura TL
  By eleanor F - October 13 - 2:00 am

  The check engine light keeps coming on.The no. one cylinder was miss firing.Had to have the engine cleaned with a Chevron product that cost $140.Hope this doesnt happen on regular basis.

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  I love it - 2004 Acura MDX
  By T mom - October 13 - 2:00 am

  I looked at MB, BMW, Toyota Sequioa, and bought this because of ease of driving. Luxorious interior. Smooth, quiet ride. Great seating avail. in 3rd row. Big back seat! Great maintenance plan! I love the wood grain dash. I didnt get NAV system, and I wish I would have. Love the DVD/TV though.

• 

  Great little car - 1999 Acura CL
  By tneef - October 11 - 2:00 am

  Bought the car for my daughter when she turned 16 and now hate to give it up. Fun to drive, great gas mileage and no problems.

• 

  So so - 1999 Acura TL
  By Igor O - October 11 - 2:00 am

  Not the greatest car. For 30 grand should be much better. Good handling, average acceleration (not a Maxima) Brakes tend to warp, giving pulsations, when slow down. You can feel all the road bumps and exterior noise (compare with Lexus and you can see the difference). Bose system need improvement (cant play recorded and some times new CDs, I have better sound from my Altima and Camry). Why Acura put pieces of vinyl into a leather seats. I am not a heavy guy 160 lb, but vinyl already cracked. And lately strange sound coming from suspension and Acura could not figure it out.

• 

  Cool Get Around Car! - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Vouthanack - October 11 - 2:00 am

  I traded my 99 honda accord v6 for this car I fell in love with about 8 months ago. The beautiful black exterior paint seems to look nicer than most other cars, to include the black interior. REVVING this car up is not a problem. Easy to steer around, and a lot of front visibility. The looks of the car need to be re-vampped at the very back end of the car (because it looks cut in half). Comfortable sound system with the ease of an in dash 6 disc CD changer makes highway driving less work. The rear seats are good for putting objects in, but NOT big people! Love the red lighted interior, Acura did not go wrong with that!

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  Great sport SUV - 2008 Acura MDX
  By Former Cayenne Owner - October 9 - 5:40 pm

  Traded a Cayenne and could not be happier. The 300 HP provides great power, especially when downshifted. Base model has all any true driver would need. Really, how often does anyone need to use a GPS or call a restaurant while on the road or, for that matter, not know what is behind their vehicle. This is a vehicle which can complete with the top SUVs on the market and retain its value. Third seat is not for adults. SH-AWD is truly for those who want to "push" the vehicle while maintaining control in all conditions. I have found the seating position for the driver to be very comfortable. Sound system with the subwoffer can blow your teenager out of the vehicle.

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  Love my TL with NAVI - 1999 Acura TL
  By atlantapraline - October 9 - 2:00 am

  This has been a quiet,comfortable, luxurious car that has lots of energy on the highway to voom, voom, voom. I have loved my Acura with its GPS navi- never getting lost again. I cant wait to buy my next one.