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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  Best Bang For Your Buck - 2003 Acura TL
  By JV - July 12 - 10:00 am

  Just purchased a 2003 TL-S three days ago. Having a great time with it so far. Great handling, speed, ride, everything. Had a 94 Integra, so obviously a huge difference. Sport shift is fun, more to amuse myself than anything. But seriously, it is a lot of car for the price. Not too many gadgets to play with like others in its class, but that is a good thing.

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  Overated - 2003 Acura TL
  By Rballman - July 12 - 10:00 am

  Had an Avalon and thought I was trading up. Its just not a comfortable car to be in for any length of time. Should have kept looking!

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  Best overall auto experience to date - 1992 Acura Legend
  By ErnestW - July 12 - 2:00 am

  Well made vehicle, quality mechanical components (except as noted). Understated cache. Built to compete with Lexus in luxury but perhaps never achieved the brand recognition of Lexis so this means lots of car for the money for you.

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  2001 Integra LS - 2001 Acura Integra
  By allaprima99 - July 12 - 2:00 am

  Excellent driving car with excellent maintenance record.

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  Chowderheads Review - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Chowderheads - July 12 - 2:00 am

  Excellent handling and fun to drive. Roomy front seat, I was going to buy a Celica, but after driving the RSX there was no comparing the two.

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  Great car! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Michiganman - July 12 - 2:00 am

  I have put 18,000 miles on my 2002 base over 2 years, and it is still a blast to drive! Handling is excellent, great shifter. Yes there are cars out there that are faster, and cars that are more luxusious, but for the price, this car delivers both performance and style It is great being able to drive it normally and have a great daily driver, getting over 30 mpg, but have a 7K RPM redline in reserve when you want to punch it! The interior is well laid out. Overall (performance, price, reliability), this car compares well against the competition: Celica, Eclipse, GTI, WRX, Mini- Cooper, Tiburon.

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  Great SUV! - 2002 Acura MDX
  By unc028 - July 12 - 2:00 am

  If you want a fun to drive, lots of cargo room or people room, with the capability of 4WD suv, this is the suv. It has so much cargo room with the second row seats folded down, plus it has a 3rd row in the back to let to more people sit. All I can say it is the best suv Ive ever had!

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  Excellent SUV - 2004 Acura MDX
  By JHCleveland - July 12 - 2:00 am

  We have had the Acura MDX for 8 months now and absolutely love it! It has been a perfect car and have had absolutely no problems. The only thing you have to be careful about is that, with the 265 Horsepower engine, it is easy to get going too fast - have to watch those speed limits carefully.

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  TL has value, aesthetics, refinement - 2005 Acura TL
  By Craig - July 11 - 8:06 am

  I tested BMW 3 (pre 5/05), Saab 3 and 5, Infi G35X, and Lexus ES. To my ears the Acura TL engine was the most musical up and down the tach, and the automatic with sequential shift feature is very smooth and entertaining (and even practical when slower speeds and descents must be controlled). Suspension and brakes inspire confidence. What sold me on the car was the well-designed interior, the look and feel of the perforated leather seats, which are firm yet plush. For a midsize car, this has plenty of room on the inside for driver and passengers.

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  Still has some serious shortcomings - 2005 Acura TL
  By Dave - July 10 - 7:43 am

  Although the car has a great engine and sound system it does have some serious shortcomings.... there are many rattles and the tires still are not fixed like Honda has told the dealers.