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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  2004 Acura TL - 2004 Acura TL
  By Bridges - January 18 - 2:00 am

  The handling and responsiveness are outstanding. A slight touch of the pedal brings out all of 270-hp in an instant. I am still playing around with all the features this machine has a standards, specially the DTS surround sound system.

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  What a Car - 2004 Acura TL
  By Irefire - January 18 - 2:00 am

  This car is unbelievable. Incredible handling, sound system, PERFORMANCE. I keep reading that the BMW 5s or 3s handle better. They may - at 120 mph - but who is going to drive that fast ? Its my wifes car (thank god) because I could get into serious trouble with this car. We got the 6 speed - Blue/ camel. Looks great, goes better.

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  Great Car! - 2003 Acura CL
  By mitchc2 - January 17 - 10:00 am

  Great Car! Awesome to drive! But what were they thinking by putting a cupholder right behind the manual shifter, stupid.

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  Awesome CL- Type S - 2001 Acura CL
  By Rlynch - January 17 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car as a certified pre- owned car. I looked at other car on the market with other car companies, but for the money and the features that this car has to offer, there is nothing on the market today.

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  The 1994 Acura Integra is an amazing car - 1994 Acura Integra
  By David L. Welch - January 15 - 2:00 am

  My experience with this car is an incredible one. Not only is it reliable, but this car is also in great shape after a decade of driving.

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  The Drive, Wow! - 2016 Acura TLX
  By Milborn Booze Jr - January 14 - 5:24 am

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  nice ride - 1992 Acura Integra
  By migue - January 14 - 2:00 am

  very spacious for a coupe,very fast and excelent stability, also nice interior and very easy to drive.

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  Happy owner - 2004 Acura MDX
  By Bourdeau - January 13 - 10:00 am

  Have owned various Acuras since the 1986 Legend and they all have been good for 150,000 miles plus. Reliability is a big factor. The current MDX replaces a Ford Explorer, 1999 and the change is monumental. There are a few areas where the interior could be a little more user friendly, but overall, it is a joy to drive.

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  Lemon City... - 2002 Acura RSX
  By 925 Type-S - January 12 - 11:40 am

  My Acura RSX-typeS was a lemon and was bought back by American Honda Motor Co. I owned the vehicle for 99 days- it was in repair or disabled for 56 of those days. Grand total- 43 days of trouble-free driving with my RSX. The dealer/ Honda couldnt fix the problem (SRS- light on= all airbags disabled) and I was directed to go through the Lemon law process for resolution. I will NEVER buy another Honda product.

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  The Champaign of Beers - 2004 Acura RL
  By Warren Burns - January 12 - 2:00 am

  This vehicle has provided us with a definite taste of luxury ... without the price. The 3.5 RS is not a sports sedan, but neither does it take a back seat in any kind of traffic. It definitely leads the pack most of the time. I am very satisfied with this vehicle so far.