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 sh-awd in Japanese car market. - 2007 Acura RL
  By Phuong - February 14 - 4:07 pm

  Most reliable acura which I know, since mechanic for over 12 years.

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  near perfect for under $30k - 2004 Acura TSX
  By pocketkiller - February 11 - 10:00 am

  Excellent drivetrain, braking, body rigidity, and aerodynamics. Great interior features and ergonomics. If you are looking for a fun good looking sedan with all the features for under $30k then this is the car for you. Safe and roomy enough for a family of 4, but with enough sport to make the car fun...but still worthy of a comfortable ride.

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  After six months - 2004 Acura TL
  By S. Cunningham - February 11 - 10:00 am

  After six months of ownership I am very pleased with the overall performance of the TL. My only annoyance was with the awful noise coming from the rear...the aluminum chair rattle was making me crazy. The dealership had the car forrone week and had to send the car out to a bodyshop to weld some loose supports on the rear deck behind the seat...disappointed - yes, but the car was returned in perfect shape and the terrible noise is gone....wondering if this is a common problem?

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  TL Looks Like it Was Chiseled by a Laser - 2004 Acura TL
  By subTL - February 11 - 10:00 am

  This is one sleek car. Ive had a history of owning/driving high- performance or driver-oriented cars (87 Buick GN, 98 Audi A4 Sport pkg., 01 Prelude, and an 02 Camaro SS.) This car is the perfect blend of performance and luxury. Acura build quality speaks for itself. My family has owned a fleet of Honda/Acura products, and not one of them had any problems. A great car, and a great car company.

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  the best car out there! - 1995 Acura Integra
  By wink#1 - February 10 - 11:23 pm

  this car is fun and very fast!

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  Loving the mdx - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Tanya Simpson - February 10 - 8:59 am

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  More for the money!! - 2016 Acura ILX
  By Dorenes car - February 9 - 6:16 pm

  We were searching for a good lease rate and reliable vehicle that was stylish and had good ratings. This car has a sports car feel, fun to drive, and handles beautifully (except for a small turning radius)! The stripped down version gets you a sunroof, backup camera, and very nice front seat, all safety features, great Bluetooth, all for less than many non-luxury compacts, including the Civic, which has higher lease costs and less features for the price. Well worth our investment!!

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  Sweet CL Type S - 2003 Acura CL
  By 1CL Type S 2 NV - February 9 - 2:00 am

  AWESOME RIDE, Whats Not to Love about it !!

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  Love the Type S - 2007 Acura TL
  By Martin Szulinski - February 8 - 7:20 pm

  WOW. What an upgrade. I owned a 2004 TL and I just bought a 2007 TL Type-S and I love it. It looks good, aggresive even. It drives aggresively as well. When you own a sports sedan you should drive like it. The F1 shift option is great. With close to 300 ponies it flies. The Brembo brakes are a plus. The car turns on a dime and its just a blast to drive. Its a 9.5 out of 10 in my book. Buy it and you will love it. It has all the gagets inside: Navi, voice recognition, MP3 hook up, 5.1 Dolby sound, rear view camera, XM radio. Im sure Im forgetting some thing, but theres just so much inside you tend to forget to list all the goodies.

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  acura tsx - 2004 Acura TSX
  By tavo1972 - February 7 - 10:00 am

  my acura tsx drives great. performs excellent and its looks are very sporty.the vehicle handling is tight