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:

• 

  Get an RDX, Cant Lose - 2017 Acura RDX
  By New Car Owner - March 1 - 1:26 pm

  Using the navigation system is not intuitive and can be a bit clunky. Everything else is quite good. The ony downside so far has been the factory installed car alarm. When loud cars pass by the alarm keeps going off. I took it to the dealer to try to get the settings adjusted but when they said I had to leave the car there for the day just to adjust it, I just left. Its gone off at least a hundred times so it is a bit if a nuisance.

• 

  AWESOME CAR - 1991 Acura Legend
  By TANK - March 1 - 2:00 am

  FUN TO DRIVE VERY FAST FOR THE PRICE

• 

  First Import - 2003 Acura TL
  By danimal007 - March 1 - 2:00 am

  This car is my first import and I love it. Acceleration is great...only v- 8s can beat you. The ride is awesome.

• 

  Awesome TL - 2004 Acura TL
  By BarryL - March 1 - 2:00 am

  Simply the best car Ive owned. I tested Cadillac CTS, G35 Infiniti, Maxima, and 3 and 5 Series BMW. For the value and money you cannot beat the Acura. All the options on the $50,000 plus BMW come standard on the Acura. Styling, power, and comfort are outstanding.

• 

  Best Car for the Money - 2004 Acura TL
  By ClayT - March 1 - 2:00 am

  Best car for the money. I looked at the G35, 3-series, A4, C-Class. TL offered best package of price, luxury, reliability, exterior/interior styling, and size. It is not as sporty as the others but has plenty of pep for 99.9% of driving situations.

• 

  AWESOME! buy it! - 2003 Acura CL
  By dreamcast18 - February 28 - 10:00 am

  Excellent car! I upgraded to wider and bigger tires and now it drives on rails! Get the Type-S! Thats my only complain!

• 

  Flaming RSX - 2002 Acura RSX
  By FireRSX - February 28 - 9:30 am

  Aside from all the oohs and aaahs that this car receives from the design of the car. The RSX has proven to be a performance and luxury vehicle that Acura has always wanted it to be.

• 

  Still Going Strong - 1996 Acura Integra
  By ACIN - February 28 - 2:00 am

  Just another satisfied owner. With plenty of acceleration for fun or slipping through traffic, the GS-R is a car for drivers. I bought mine new eight years ago and Im still satisfied. Following the standard maintenance recommendation (more or less), I havent had a single problem in my 100K+ miles.

• 

  Great car - 1998 Acura TL
  By GaryJB - February 28 - 2:00 am

  Tight turning radius is a plus. Speedy acceleration, smooth ride at high speeds. Quick warm-up on cold mornings - heat in the seats.

• 

  Excellent car - 1991 Acura Integra
  By danzman - February 27 - 2:00 am

  I purchased my Integra a month ago with 110,000 miles and couldnt be happier. It still looks great for a 13 year old car, and runs even better. Its great on gas and is plenty quick for any daily commute.