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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  Fun to drive - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Charles_RSX - January 26 - 2:00 am

  Great car- no problems after 30k. Excellent handling and performance withing tuning. Have added 18" wheels, suspension kit (koni/nuespeed) and Cold Air Intake (AEM) which increased horsepower & handling nicely. Overall Good gas mileage. Only gripe is the stereo... Not easy to tap into for aftermarket goodies.

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  My 2000 TL - 2000 Acura TL
  By indy24jones - January 26 - 2:00 am

  I have enjoyed my TL. Sometimes I wish I had waited a year for the Type S. My over-all fuel economy is 22.5 mpg. On the rare times I take it on a freeway trip, I can get over 30 mpg, and have gone over 32 mpg on 3 or 4 occassions. Took a trip to Oregon in 2002 and drove 1100 miles one day with no fatigue or the tyoical "tired butt."

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  My 1997 3.2 TL - 1997 Acura TL
  By oulaw90 - January 25 - 2:00 am

  This is a great and reliable car. You cannot beat the price of this car used. I am going to keep this car till 150,000 miles and still get $$ on resale Dont buy a new honda or camry when u can buy this for half the price?

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  Magnificent machine - 1993 Acura Legend
  By mikelrb - January 25 - 2:00 am

  Bought this 8 months ago. Wow. What a car. Bought it after reading all the positive reviews -- I mean, this thing scores high. Bought it for my wife. She LOVES it -- and at 11 years old now! Bought it with 160,000 miles on it. Mint condition, one owner, always maintained at dealer. Smooth, quiet, powerful. Love the lines. Beautiful styling that will never go OUT of style. Lots of power with the 3.2 V6. Cruise at 90, and you dont feel a thing. Really a fantastic car.

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  Great Car - 1999 Acura CL
  By Happyme - January 25 - 2:00 am

  Even with 105000 miles this car is etter than the Domestic junk out there. Buy one you cannot go wrong.

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  1995 Acura Legend Coupe - 1995 Acura Legend
  By rodgag - January 24 - 2:00 am

  This is one terrific car! Typical Acura quality - we have owned three Acuras, and one is better than the other.

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  Love it!! - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Tami - January 23 - 1:33 pm

  Just bought the RDX a few weeks ago and I love it!! This is my first SUV I test drove others but when I drove this I was sold. However, my gas mileage is really bad. Ive been getting 12.5 mpg. Not good. I do not drive crazy or accelerate fast so I dont know whats up but not too happy about the gas mileage.

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  Review - 2002 Acura CL
  By Kevin C. - January 23 - 2:00 am

  Ive had the car for a little over 2 years now and have mostly had a great experience for the entire 66K miles. Transmission went about 6K ago and was replaced as it is a recall item. I expect everyone will have this issue at one time or another so plan on it. (It did make it to my dealer 60 Mi. away though, avoiding the tow). Ride and accelleration are great as is the interior confort and features.

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  Acura dream - 2002 Acura TL
  By catmanrog - January 23 - 2:00 am

  Responsive, exciting, and joy to drive

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  Her Ride - 1993 Acura Integra
  By runves - January 22 - 2:00 am

  I am the second owner on this car. I had put Alot of aftermarket parts on it. I love to drive my kids around town in it. They like it too.