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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  nice car - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Luca - April 19 - 2:00 am

  i-vtec engine is powerful spitting out 200 horses at 7400 rpms and is quite intelligent.

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  Excellent all around - 2002 Acura MDX
  By rroushdy - April 19 - 2:00 am

  Excellent handling, fun to drive, kids love it very comfortable and well disgnd interior.

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  First Class Sports Sedan - 2004 Acura TL
  By Shane Weast - April 19 - 2:00 am

  Outstanding smooth engine with no torque steer what so ever. Numerous full throttle accelerations(After 750 break-in miles)with no pull at all to the right. Very fast and smooth straight acceleration.

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  great - 2002 Acura RSX
  By MrBurner - April 18 - 4:20 am

  love the car so far...great tranny and as the weeks pass, more and more aftermarket co. are coming out w/ tons of stuff for the car

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  Transmission Problems - 2001 Acura MDX
  By Yancey - April 18 - 2:00 am

  I have enjoyed my MDX but I have had a transmission failure at 36,000 miles. Acura did not cover the failure because they stated that I had a third party transmission cooler placed that voided their wonderful warranty. The AAMCO dealer that replace the transmission for $6000 told me that the cooler was not the problem. I have also had a friend that had a transmission failure at $40,000 miles. The local Acura dealer was not only unhelpful but downright indignant.

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  Like driving a Music Room - 2005 Acura RL
  By stevie b - April 17 - 3:56 am

  I moved from a 2000 A6 to the RL. The A6 may be a little tighter in handling but this is the best car I have ever owned in terms of value, handling, safety features, power, and above all the interior. The music system is like none I have ever heard. I think I may sleep in the seats and just listen to DVD-As all night. Handling in the snow in New Hampshire was fabulous with the standard all season tires.

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  Its a blast to drive - 2003 Acura CL
  By kujhawk1 - April 17 - 2:00 am

  The six speed manual is a dream to drive, it was definitly worth the wait. The short throw shifter is smooth and quick. The engine is very strong, Im just at 250 miles on the engine so Im still taking it easy but sometimes you just cant resist planting your foot and getting thrown back into your seat!

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  Big Bang, Reasonable Buck - 2003 Acura CL
  By Klamalama - April 17 - 2:00 am

  The CL 6-speed is a great choice for those that want a manual, while keeping their spouses in luxury. The conservative exterior will help this car go unnoticed. This will come in handy considering its performance. The perforated leather is comfy. The interior is tasteful and beautifully crafted. The dash is clean with large easy to read gauges. Controls are well placed. The gear throws are short & precise, but the clutch grabs a bit too quickly. The engine winds forever yet has the torque to minimize shifting. Ride is taut, not stiff. Goes exactly where pointed but not on rails. HLSD does an excellent eliminating torque steer while adding to the traction benefits of FWD.

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  2002 Acura TL Type-S - 2003 Acura TL
  By Charles S. - April 17 - 2:00 am

  I love the car, it is the best I have ever had, by far! Rides great and fun to drive!

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  Its a nice car, but.......... - 2003 Acura TL
  By honda tech - April 17 - 2:00 am

  im overall happy with the car, but found out one bad thing after purchasing the car. found out that some of them were leaking oil from the block. it is not a recall, and the customers are not informed about it. acuras fix for the leaking block is JB weld. this is very disappointing. if i were to find out mine were leaking oil, i would drive it till it ran out of oil. i would let the motor seize up so acura would have to warranty the whole motor.