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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  Acura TL 2005 avec Navigation - 2005 Acura TL
  By Richard Silver - March 12 - 9:20 pm

  Best car in its class. At or near the top in the luxury sedan group regarding performance, sportiness, reliability, economy and overall quality. This car grades an A- in nearly all respects, and it will be tough to beat for a few years as long as Acura remains competitive on price.

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  Excellent vehicle - 2005 Acura MDX
  By cperry - March 12 - 6:26 pm

  This vehicle drives great and comfort is unbelievable. We have had over 2 feet of snow and we havent had any problems getting around

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  More than Camry, less than Lexsus - 2001 Acura TL
  By Andrey - March 12 - 5:07 pm

  Very nice and comfortable car. There is pretty much everything one could need, and most of the stuff one could desire. It lacks the excitement of a Lexus - and its WAY cheaper.

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  High quality luxury great in snow! - 2002 Acura RL
  By MountainAcura - March 12 - 4:20 pm

  Living in the Colorado mountains eliminated many cars when we decided to purchase a luxury sedan. Front-wheel drive is mandatory. The RL performs great with its front wheel drive, traction control, agility and power. The construction is high quality built to last. In fact, we are so pleased with this Acura we are thinking of adding the RLs sibling, the MDX to our automotive family.

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  gs coupe - 1999 Acura Integra
  By justin - March 12 - 2:55 am

  strong build fun to drive no problems yet

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  great car - 2001 Acura Integra
  By ttt - March 12 - 1:21 am

  good value and fun to drive

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  RSX-S Review - 2002 Acura RSX
  By VTEC - March 12 - 12:56 am

  great performance that is eloquently combined with luxury. All around great feel to the car.

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  Lov my Gold CL-S - 2002 Acura CL
  By jonrick - March 11 - 7:12 pm

  My CL Type S, purchased in May 2000, is still as fund to drive as the day I took my first test drive. I love the combination of the horsepower, the sprt-shift transmission, and the handling. The seats in this thing are awesome!!! This car has also become a benchmark against which I compare other cars--which made finding a family car more difficult.

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  thrill to drive - 2000 Acura Integra
  By Jr - March 11 - 2:35 pm

  you need an ACURA 1 day

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  Awesome! Impressive! Two Thumbs Up! - 2006 Acura TL
  By rjohng - March 11 - 2:10 pm

  Ive driven a Passat the last 4 years, and I have to say, this is a major upgrade, Ten-Fold...This has got to be one of the most prestigious cars on the market. Pure comfort and quality.