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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  Sweet Car! - 2005 Acura TL
  By wisngamecock - August 23 - 2:23 pm

  Best looking model in the Honda/Acura lineup. The 6 sp is a blast to drive and much more exciting than automatic. Wonderful stereo and DVD sound. This car is very refined, balanced in all aspects. Compares to cars $10k more in price.

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  nice car - 1997 Acura CL
  By niaka - August 23 - 2:00 am

  u should definitely get it because its really comfortable and its easy to drive when u are a beginning driver, nice handling and can be a good family car, too. interior is the best thing about the car that is so grand that i would give it an A+++++

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  Fantastic Car for the Price - 2002 Acura RSX
  By SomeRSXGuy - August 22 - 4:43 pm

  Its too bad there wasnt a better registration system for being able to write a review. The people that give this car really bad marks probably dont even own one. Most of them are probably Subaru WRX fanboys (and they probably dont own one of those either.) The RSX Premium (Canadian model) is a fantastic value. I love our car...

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  Acura makes the best SUV - 2004 Acura MDX
  By MGZ - August 21 - 2:00 am

  This is an excellent Suv. Only the 85K Range Rover compares.After test- driving the Toureag,X5,ML350,PIlot,GX470,Land Crusier, and XC90, the MDx was my choice due to having the best combination of on and off road performance,features, styling in and out,dashboard layout,prestige,reliability,and value. I think that I spent my 46K well(Its the best SUV in the segment).I love my Acura.

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  finally, a well designed japanese car - 2004 Acura TL
  By torontonian - August 20 - 6:06 am

  Ever since this car was a concept, I have recognized Alfa Romeo (156 & 166) styling. TL, along with TSX finally brought a sharp exterior design to a japanese car maker. car behaves excellently on the road, handles corners with authority and makes you feel truly content with your investment. Considering latest design flops that are Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, TL will capitalize and seize more of the market, establishing itself as a favourable contender in luxury and sporty sedan market segment, rather than in usual medium-size-sedan-workhorse group. Obviously, this car passed rigorous quality assurance process. I suggest adding "invisible" nose bra to protect your cars hood from stone chips

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  Incredible - 1991 Acura NSX
  By ravenarts - August 20 - 2:00 am

  After owning Porsches, Corvettes, Jaguars, BMWs, etc. NOTHING can compare to the NSX.

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  This car sounds great - 2004 Acura RSX
  By squarefoot - August 20 - 2:00 am

  The car really has a pleasant howl above 6500 rpm and the 6-speed makes it a breeze to keep it singing. The interior is high quality and elegant in its simplicity and execution. While not blisteringly fast it is quick enough to be fun and my mileage has been in the 30 mpg range. I found it to be faster and less expensive than a similar cooper-s or celica GT- S. Unlike some I feel the suspension is plenty stiff and responsive, if you want more try the A-spec

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  I love this car! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Dylan - August 19 - 3:10 am

  What an amazing car. I am in love with this thing. Words are a waste of time. You have to go drive it.

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  janets review - 2004 Acura MDX
  By Miss B - August 19 - 2:00 am

  I love my vehicle... I am in the automotive industry- yet we do not sell Acura. I am so pleased w/ my vehicle- I would highly suggest buyers to see the value and luxury you recieve from the mdx.

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  The Best car in the whole entire World - 2004 Acura MDX
  By fdjksgh - August 19 - 2:00 am

  Wonderful, Drives Great, My Mom needs it when she drives it