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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  Love My RL - 2002 Acura RL
  By Karin Diaz - July 10 - 2:00 am

  I tasted various Flagship Models but Acura RL offers the best value for my money.

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  Road Goddess - 1997 Acura Integra
  By Monicita - July 9 - 2:00 am

  This car is just unbelievable. Their are no words. I love driving it. The best is when you race one going over 90 and beating that sorry civic on the side. I recommend this car to everyone. I wish I could spend more time driving my car, but I want to keep the miles down.

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  Luxury for less $ - 2002 Acura RL
  By Giovanni Perlloni - July 8 - 2:00 am

  More reliable than Mercedes E320 and BMW 530i, for less money. Acura RL offer the same power ride of the V8 and the smooth ride of the others luxury cars. The standard package is ok.

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  Best bet for your money! - 2005 Acura MDX
  By JimBo - July 7 - 7:10 am

  This is a great midsize luxury SUV. Great options for your money. Costs less then the X5 and has many more options, not to mention good safety rating. Highly recommended!

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  Does anyone want to play???? - 2002 Acura TL
  By BGreen - July 7 - 3:00 am

  I went to dealer for a regular oil change and a brand new 3.2 TL type s w/navigation was sitting in front of my face. The color really sold me on it, Aeigean blue. I went for a drive and the next thing you know Im driving out wth it. The navigation is one of the best features. All you bimmer fans out there, paying all that money and you dont even have navigation. If you want all the bells and whistles plus outstanding performance, check out the TL type S.

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  Great Little Car - 1994 Acura Integra
  By tiger1966 - July 7 - 2:00 am

  I bought this from a friend - the second owner of the car. He replaced the timing belt and has had no other repairs with it. It has over 93,000 miles and is running great. Even the A/C works great. Even though I owned the care for a short time, I did some reviews and found the Acura Integra a really reliable car. So far I have found this to be true.

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  Love it - 1993 Acura Vigor
  By mlsly4 - July 6 - 2:00 am

  This is my 4th Honda and I absolutely LOVE IT. The power is great, stereo system sound is great and the way it handles is unbelievable.

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  2004 Acura MDX Fast & Fun - 2004 Acura MDX
  By bigJoe - July 6 - 2:00 am

  The Acura with Mitsu tires drives like a dream. The unit is quiet, starts and accelerates very quickly and smoothly. I liked the fact that its the only SUV with the governments ultra clean engine certification. The other thing I like about acura is theres only a few options.. most eveything is standard. Dual exhaust looks sharp I got the optional side boards for an added touch. excellent paint and fit and a standard sunroof are a plus. Front wheel drive with auto 4 wheel makes it sure footed in slipery weather.

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  Bad Start - 2004 Acura MDX
  By snobny - July 6 - 2:00 am

  After buying my car on Saturday night, Monday afternoon I was going home from work when my car wouldnt start. I ended up haveing it towed to the nearest Acura dealership. This is my second MDX and never had a problem with my first one. I ended up haveing a new navigation system, a whole new computer and ect. put in my car after 300 miles. Acura did take care of me by giving me a car to drive in the mean time, but it just wasnt the same. Now, everythings okay just got off to a bad start.

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  one week old 2004 TL - 2004 Acura TL
  By markian - July 6 - 2:00 am

  I was driving a 2002 Lexus ES300. I had no plans on getting rid of this car until I test drove the 2004TL. This is the most amazing car that I have ever driven. The power and handling are incredible. The surround sound systems using the DVd-A blows away the Mark Levinson in my ES300. I have been driving for 29 years and this is everything that I have looked for in a car. I could never find the optimal car at an optimar price for myself. This time I have. Acura you have really done it and I am really impressed.