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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  Great overall car - 2002 Acura TL
  By Chad983 - March 7 - 2:00 am

  Very reliable. No major problems in 2 yrs. Only complaints: paint seems to chip easily with normal road debris, and transmission hesitates from Park to 1st gear. Supreme gas makes a difference in this car. Climate control is great, and seats are very comfortable. I put ~80 miles/day to work, and have had back problems in the past, but not in the TL.

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  Comfortable and Solid cars - 1995 Acura Legend
  By kingrat - March 6 - 2:00 am

  The car feels solid and sporty. It hugs a turn and has good acceleration. Can notice a big difference between it and other cars such as the accord or camry.

• 

  Acura 3.5 Review - 2004 Acura RL
  By MsJones - March 6 - 2:00 am

  I am very pleased with the performance and style of this vehicle. Edmunds keeps stating that it is outdated as far as style, but not everyone wants that cut off back European look. I think Honda did an excellent job with this automobile and as always they will always continue to build a quality vehicle.

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  Love my TL - 1999 Acura TL
  By Slip - March 5 - 2:00 am

  I was looking for an upscale car, and ACURA made one affordable to me. Only the navi system was extra (I passed on that. Could not have asked for anything more. Fun to drive, nothing goes wrong with it. Pluses, handling, power, radio, trunk size. Negatives, gas mileage

• 

  excellent - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Keving - March 4 - 8:26 pm

  this car is sweet

• 

  smooth - 1995 Acura Integra
  By melita - March 4 - 2:00 am

  I love my integra. Its very fun to drive. In fact, I must admit that since buying it used two years ago, Ive developed a lead food. Even at high speeds, the ride and handling are smooth. My integra has just over 126,000 miles, but is still running great. I hope to get another 100,000 out of it.

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  MDX Has It All - 2003 Acura MDX
  By spain - March 4 - 2:00 am

  Buy this vehicle! It has been a pleasure to own. And the dealership is just great!

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  Not sure what others are complaining about - 2015 Acura MDX
  By Alesh - March 3 - 6:50 pm

  Well i had BMW and Audi and trust me except for acceleration, horsepower...nothing else beats Acura or lexus. You always look for efficiency, value for money, quite drive etc... So if other are complaining please drive german cars for 2 years then you will understand what you miss.. My only complain is acceleration but agreed that mileage is top class in this luxury segment...

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  2003 NSX - 2004 Acura NSX
  By J. Brian - March 3 - 2:00 am

  This car is the best price for a car that is an exotic that you can drive every day and not have to worry about the high cost of maintenance.

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  n/a - 1994 Acura Integra
  By noisycrik - March 2 - 2:00 am

  it is a great car