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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  I Love my MDX! - 2003 Acura MDX
  By ccross4872 - September 11 - 10:00 am

  This is the ultimate family car! It is fun for me and it is a huge hit with kids! There are so many standard features that are wonderful. It is an SUV that has an unbelievable smooth ride. It is pure luxury!

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  TSXstacy! - 2005 Acura TSX
  By David Gifford - September 10 - 7:06 pm

  As this is my very first brand-new car I may be a little biased. I did a lot of research and test drives and when the dust settled the TSX was the clear choice. Honda reliability, The Acura name-status without being pretentious and driveability. This car is fun to drive and you feel confident that it will handle most traffic situations with ease, except a stoplight-to-stoplight blast with any car with a potent V6 or better (not a big deal to me). Ergonomics seem to be dead-on and the seats are wonderful. I love the instrument cluster and how easy it is to read, even in bright daylight. If you are considering a new car, do not fail to test drive this one.

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  My Tasty Limo. (TL) - 2005 Acura TL
  By Jim West - September 8 - 4:43 am

  Having owned an ES300 Lexus, I wanted to stay in that price range. The Acura was very competitive but with more power, edgy looks, electronic features and much better road handling. Its stability on curves was superior to the Lexus with a cleaner more luxurious interior. I cant wait to get in it every morning!

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  Great Car - 2004 Acura TL
  By Paul_Philly - September 5 - 2:00 am

  I recently traded in a 2003 Infiniti G35 Coupe for a 2004 Acura TL NAVI. As with any car, you could point out items that need improvement, but this TL is, perhaps, the best car Ive ever owned in terms of balancing ride comfort, build quality, performance, and reliability.

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  A well rounded sports coupe - 2002 Acura RSX
  By tnguyen74 - September 3 - 10:00 am

  A well rounded overall sports coupe with 200 HP w/o the use of turbos and still gets 30 MPG. The smoothest shifting 6-spd Ive ever driven. Love the interior layout and instrumentation.

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  Completely satisfied with RSX - 2002 Acura RSX
  By EB - September 3 - 2:00 am

  I love this car. Its quick, its stylish, the seats are really comfortable, there are just so many little details about the car that make it that much more awesome.

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  Sweet Car!! - 2007 Acura TL
  By TGR3 - August 30 - 7:50 pm

  The car is incredibly fun to drive. Engine is so sweet, transmission precise, awesome seats, technology galore, the red/white instrument panel is truly a thing of beauty, like a jet cockpit!! I had to replace two rear defective struts, and fix a rattle in the back, but other than that, I just love to drive this car. I looked at G35 and IS 350, and this one was the best (especially in rear leg room). And has the best combination of options for less money. I drive my Type S just to drive it sometimes, drive around town just for the enjoyment. And I love how it looks, and all interior features. Nice NICE car.

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  GREAT - 2004 Acura MDX
  By DOLORES LAVERTY - August 30 - 2:00 am

  BEST SUV I HAVE EVER DRIVEN. CANNOT WAIT TO GET A NEW ONE WITH A FEW MORE FEATURES, TALKING NAV SYSTEM AND HANDS FREE CELL

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  Please reduce the exhaust noise - 2004 Acura MDX
  By asharkov - August 30 - 2:00 am

  Before buying my 2004 MDX, I took a test-drive in Mercedes ML350 and Volvo XC90, and I liked the MDX much better then either of them. I like the MDXs acceleration and power, as well as luxury features, like the navigation system and rear-view camera. What I do not like, is a low-pitch noise coming from either muffler, or some other part of the exhaust system at around 2000 rpms, or at about 70-72 mi/h. If you keep the car running at that speed for a while, the noise becomes very annoying.

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  Rating My Acura MDX - 2004 Acura MDX
  By Laurie Cinotti - August 30 - 2:00 am

  I Love my Acura MDX..Everything about it is great but not the Fuel..I am putting a half of tank every 3 days..But I do understand that all SUVs like Trucks are gas consumers..More since I traded in my Acura RL for this..I love that car too but we wanted more room and to feel more safer on the road..so we had ordered the Acura MDX..Thank You