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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  Not Bad But not good enough to be Acura - 2003 Acura CL
  By dj1billion - May 23 - 2:00 am

  I know I didnt buy a civic but, daggggg the gas mileage sucks!!! I swear that when I get on it I see the gauge move and that wouldnt be so bad if it took reg. gas. But other than that know problems!

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  RSX Type S - 2004 Acura RSX
  By RSXacing - May 23 - 2:00 am

  What can I say about a sports coupe that has it all: speed, fun, looks, technology, quality, reliability, and that scrrrrreaming VTEC??? I was going to buy a 350Z...but Im glad I settled for the RSX Type S. Soon...my RSX will have as much or even more horses than the Z.

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  Acura MDX Frenzy - 2003 Acura MDX
  By Johnny Garcia - May 23 - 2:00 am

  Love it, no complaints

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  I am a very happy owner! - 2001 Acura RL
  By jamesh - May 22 - 2:00 am

  Its a car with safety in mind. no CD changer in dash to play with while driving! no extra horsepower to encourage you to "drive for fun"! And you can park it on street in NYC,JC,Newark since Acura is not a so- called prestige brandname mostly target by car-thefts :-( And its priced (both MSRP and dealer discount)much lower than LS430. And I love its slim figure and classic looks, comparing with the most other models that are "big-ass" impression.

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  best money spent - 2004 Acura RSX
  By bobino - May 22 - 2:00 am

  I cant wait to get out of work every day to make the commute home. When you hit the high rpms the car sounds and performs like a race car. It is a blast to drive.

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  love it love it - 2004 Acura MDX
  By cathy e - May 21 - 10:00 am

  I just purchased this car 1 week ago and so far I am totally thrilled with it. It drives like a dream, smoothe and effortless. The acceleration is quick and the breaks reactive. I especially love the sound system. The entertainment package comes with Bose speakers and the sound is incredible. Also, the kids are loving the DVD system Its a classy, beautiful, luxury SUV and I am a happy(beaming) new owner~

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  My New 04 TL - 2004 Acura TL
  By SC924 - May 21 - 10:00 am

  Its better than I thought it would be!!!!!!

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  Excellent Car for the Price - 1996 Acura TL
  By shadowfenrir - May 21 - 2:00 am

  I bought this for $13000 ($10000US) after selling my 90 4Runner for gas reasons. This car is good on gas for its size (about 10L/100km or 24mpg in city driving and 6.3L/100km or about 30mpg on the highway). It is very comfortable with its nice leather bucket seats (although the leather isnt as high class as in the newer cars, or even as in the older lexus cars, but its good). The engine is very responsive and refined even at high RPM, but the transmission tends to shift at weird times. I havent had any problems at 160000km(100000mi) other than c/v boots needing replacement. Great car!

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  new acura rsx - 2004 Acura RSX
  By jjthomas182 - May 21 - 2:00 am

  I love this car! I wanted a toyota celica for years, then when it came time to buy my friend told me to check out the rsx first. So I test drove both of them, and there was no comparison. The Acura is far nicer!

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  Great Overall Vehicle - 2002 Acura RSX
  By JAG4 - May 20 - 6:33 pm

  Excellent all-around car for my needs. Comfortably seats two with plenty of room for anything I need to carry. The performance is great, much better than the two previous GSRs I owned. Overall its a perfect fit for me as a small sporty semi-luxorious car with great performance and utility.