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 car - horrible gas mileage - 2007 Acura MDX
  By D Taylor - June 19 - 12:14 pm

  Overall this is a great car. Ive strictly driven Lexus for the past few years due to the quality and comfort of their cars/SUVs. This is my first foray with Acura. The MDX is a nice car that is easy to drive, although had I known I would only be getting 12.5 mpg around town, I probably would have purchased something else. Oh, and the back-up camera does not work well if too much light is shining on the back of the car.

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  cabin noise - 2005 Acura RL
  By tom abate - June 19 - 6:20 am

  Although my wife and I have only 250 miles on the car, she really likes all the technology and the handling. My biggest complaint is the interior cabin road noise. Completely unacceptable in a $45,000 car. I am not sure why all the noise, but I have inquired with the dealership and am waiting for answers. I drive a 1994 Lexus LS 400 and was very surprised at the difference in the road noise between the cars

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  13.65 MPG - 2007 Acura RDX
  By betsy_me - June 18 - 1:23 pm

  Car is great BUT gas mileage is terrible. Dealer says to wait until 2000 miles before bringing it in, but we have 1300 miles on it coming back from a trip north, and we cannot break 14 MPG. Most of the drive was highway.

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  After One Year, love the Car - 2007 Acura RDX
  By crvols - June 17 - 3:24 pm

  I bought this last year trading in my 2004 TL. I have enjoyed it from the start, with no problems and average of 22 mpg on the road. I wish they hadnt scrimped on things like interior lighting, passenger power seat, auto dimming mirror, etc., but that seems to be Hondas marketing approach. At the end of the model run it will have everything you would expect! Overall very happy after the first year with my purchase.

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  An enjoyable drive. - 2003 Acura CL
  By EdsonDJ - June 17 - 2:24 am

  Purchased brand new on May 2003, with 45 miles on it. It has been babied. Till this day, I enjoy everytime I drive it. It can handle most corners with its stiff suspension, and can get up to freeway speeds with ease. I liked the interior and thought it was the best in class during its time. I also liked the revised exterior styling for 2003, making it look more aggressive. However, there are some drawbacks. My transmission failed at 32K miles, which is a common problem with the automatic. I also started to hear squeaks and rattles after 2 years of owning the car. And the stock rotors warp too quickly causing steering wheel vibration. Still love the car though.

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  The problems are starting - 2003 Acura MDX
  By GitaS - June 17 - 1:52 am

  Bought my MDX brand new 4 years ago. Has the most amazing and easy to use navigation system. Reliable drive. Has every feature you could need. Have had some problems though. From the start, I have had problems with starting my car (I live in sunny So. Cal). Battery has been changed twice but still doesnt always fire on the first or even second try. Now as I near 100,000 miles, things are beginning to fall apart. All the features on my steering wheel dont work (including airbag, horn, volume control, cruise cntrl). Passenger seat warmer is kaput. Vent control plastic knob fell off. SVA (or something) sensor failed. The repairs are now getting expensive. Was hoping to drive this for another 100K.

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  High Marks And FUN To Drive! - 2007 Acura TL
  By AcuraFiend - June 17 - 1:33 am

  Best car Ive had. Makes you wanna drive for the sake of doing it. Good acceleration, can throw you back in the seat. Comfy front seats, rear is a little bit tight. Looks AMAZING clean. Speaker cover in the dash rattles a tiny bit after a year. Had to get the door latch fixed but thats it so far.

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  Had it for 1 & 1/2 yrs and still like i - 2003 Acura TL
  By gogre - June 16 - 2:00 am

  Have had TL-S for about 1 & 1/2 years. 30000 miles. Excellent passing speed. 0-30 acceleration just fair. Some shifting delay with manual shifter. Noticeable oversteer with fast cornering. Interior holding-up well. Whole car still looks/runs like new (if I wash it!). Had timing belt (dealer recall) and CD player fixed without a hassle. So far, great service. Have tried using regular and mid-grade and did notice a performance drop. Has huge trunk. Not exactly a head-turner (like BMWs, Audis or G35), but I saved $5000+ on this car.

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  A Good All Around SUV - 2008 Acura MDX
  By HI MDX - June 14 - 11:30 am

  Had this SUV for 2 months now. I had more problems with customer service from the dealship than the vehicle. I did have the b-pillar plastic trims replace because they were bowing outward and the plastic trim on the side of the passenger side dash. The adjustable rate shocks are worthless. Comfort and Sport modes feel the same, very spongy.

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  My Acura Legend - 1993 Acura Legend
  By Joseph - June 12 - 11:16 pm

  Acura Legend is a superb. I had my Acura when the mileage was about 215000, last year, now it is 238000 and still running good. The cooling system was not working, but when a mechanic changed the main relay, it began to work The little problem I have with mine is that it smokes.