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 Car on the Road for the Money - 2003 Acura TL
  By TG Teich - March 17 - 2:00 am

  Got a TL-S after 3 years with a 99 TL. Vive la difference! A daily 50- mile commute in Chicago is a breeze. Great power, equal comfort and 24 to 25 mpg in mixed driving. A refined car and totally different engine and suspension from the TL. Also the leather seats - great comfort. Love that growl! Have a 99 Audi A6 with lots of repair problems.

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  Reliable, Fast, I love the looks - 2003 Acura TL
  By Madec80 - March 17 - 2:00 am

  Pretty good car I think. Acceleration is the excellent especially considering its an automatic transmission. Seems Honda did a pretty good job with the 5speed auto. Fuel economy is good, especially on the highway. I got 33mpg while cruising through Iowa one night but usually its around 29-30. 9k miles on it and no problems at all.

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  Best car I have driven - 2001 Acura Integra
  By IntegraGSR - March 16 - 4:07 am

  I have test driven 2001 Celica GTS, 2002 Acura RSX, wolkswagen V6 GTI, eclipse V6 GT, 2001 honda prelude etc. nothing matches handling and quality of acura integra GSR. To pitty that acura stopped producing this mind bending machine. I gives BMW M3/328i quality at much lower the price!

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  i luv this car! - 1994 Acura Integra
  By Benjamin - March 16 - 1:42 am

  It handles great, so much can be done to this car, a true sport compact! Whether you want an efficient car that gets great gas mileage or you want a car you can whig out1 this car is a must buy, imports rock!

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  BMW Ride for $25K Less - 1999 Acura TL
  By Barb - March 15 - 11:57 pm

  I drove a company car (BMW 523i) before I purchased my own Acura TL. This car handles just like the BMW but for $25,000 less - and I can do a lot of things for that much money. After 2 1/2 years, I still love driving this car. I plan to keep it for the full 7 year, 100K warranty, and then go buy another Acura.

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  Pretty good one - 2002 Acura RL
  By roburt - March 14 - 9:57 pm

  Excellent build quality no obvious defects. Good ride and handling. Attracted by exceptional lease offer (much less than Lexus or Infiniti)

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  01 MDX Touring & Nav - 2001 Acura MDX
  By Carl Lam - March 14 - 7:15 pm

  Solid build and performance. I drive it pretty much like driving a sports sedan. Fuel economy is good for a vehicle this size. HUGE interior space. A little bit noisier than expected at this price level. Navigation system is a delight.

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  Golden Bullet - 1999 Acura CL
  By Suzie - March 14 - 7:10 pm

  Its great

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  Awesome - 2002 Acura RL
  By Craig Sanborn - March 13 - 10:49 am

  I have test driven lots od cars and the RL is a dream that came true. Smoth ride, comfortable seats, awesome road manners makes this a no-brainer. PLease keep to front rear drive.

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  pdxmdx - 2001 Acura MDX
  By bigir - March 13 - 9:27 am

  Great all around performance for an SUV. Great road handling and Road Manners. Appointed nicely.