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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  Awesome car - 2005 Acura TL
  By SandiB - June 6 - 2:50 am

  This is actually my fourth Acura, and I will never buy another brand of car. As soon as I got a look at the new 2005 style, I was at the dealership. I wanted the navigation system and my husband wanted the Brembo brakes, so we purchased the 6 speed transmission and boy does it got pep!!! I have so much fun flying around town. The manual drive was very touchy at first but now it is just plain fun!

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  Best car for 2002+ - 2004 Acura RSX
  By AcuraRSX232 - June 5 - 2:00 am

  The RSX Type S is fun, sporty, quick and smooth. The luxury feeling you receive just from sitting in this car will sell you instantly. The 6 speed is nice and short.

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  Just a Great Car - 2003 Acura CL
  By jfc129 - June 4 - 10:00 am

  This is by far the best car Ive ever driven. Its an uncompromising blend of luxary and performance. The 6M transmission makes this car just plain fun to drive. Roll down the windows, open the sunroof, and crank up the Bose sound system, what could be better? Although a little over my initlial price range I would not change my decision to buy it. If youre looking to spend 30k and love to drive this is the car for you.

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  Excellent Vehicle - 2003 Acura CL
  By smoker - June 4 - 10:00 am

  Ive only had the car for a week but I love it already. Its fast, fun to drive, and loaded with features. Minor drawbacks: the car has to be on to close the sunroof and windows, and the auto-foldup on the seats to allow people into the back is slow, and also requires the car to be on. Excellent features: driving! the car handles great at fast speeds, which it has no problem accelerating to. The sport-shift feature on the automatic is great - it allows you to manually shift for extra power whenever you want to (i beat a BMW 325ci off the line using it).

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  dont think twice - 2002 Acura RSX
  By j.D - June 4 - 10:00 am

  If your thinking whether or not to get this car, due to its competitors....DONT! youll just be wasting your time. Becuase after you get it, youll kick yourself...HARD! For wondering why you didnt get it sooner. 3 simple reasons, fun, fun, fun to drive~!! Small car, good engine grea handling~!!...Need i say more???

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  I love this car - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Silverrsx2002 - June 4 - 10:00 am

  I picked up this car on the day of its release. To this day I have not one complaint. Excellent handeling, a definite eye catcher. I just recently installed a performance intake system and exaust and now I have even more pickup then I did before. Everyone that has seen my car love it and those who see me on the highway want to race.

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  greart car - 2002 Acura RSX
  By taylor - June 4 - 10:00 am

  Everyone has already said what I would say... so great car!

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  Happy with decision - 2002 Acura MDX
  By Comet - June 4 - 10:00 am

  I picked up the MDX on Monday and left for a trip on that Friday. Extremely pleased with feel, ride (smooth), the handling and I love the navigation system. My two children think it is great. Quite a few admiring looks on I- 10. So far I am very pleased.

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  Awesome - 2003 Acura TL
  By ohanman - June 4 - 10:00 am

  Outstanding value. Almost bought a Lexus GS300 but the Lexus dealer couldnt get the car I wanted. Decided to look at the Acura and couldnt believe how much more you get for $12K less!!! The only thing I gave up was rear wheel drive, but the Acura drives suprisingly well for a front-driver.

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  07 MDX - 2007 Acura MDX
  By rg - June 4 - 9:26 am

  Unbelievable value, the whole nine yards. Build quality, performance, tech features galore. ULEV to boot. I can picture driving this SUV for ten years, it will probably seem state of the art for the first five.