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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  RSX - 2002 Acura RSX
  By mto rsx - November 28 - 6:03 pm

  this car is one of the best ive every driven

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  Fun Coupe - 2003 Acura RSX
  By Honodan - November 28 - 2:00 am

  I have owned the car for 6 months now and still greatly enjoy driving it. It has good exterior looks, acceleration, fuel economy, and comfy interior. The automatic climate control is nice for maintaining a constant temperature without having to mess with the controls all the time. Interior lighting is impressive. Acceleration is best in manual mode with the standard coupe (non S-type). Only minor complaint is that the steering is a bit stiff. Otherwise it is a great car comfortable for commuting but lots of fun on an open country road.

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  Not Actually - 1998 Acura TL
  By jea16 - November 27 - 2:00 am

  Ive owned the car for a couple of years now. Almost everything has its troubles. I found out that its common on these cars to have 3+ fuel injectors to go out at once. Seems to me thats a flaw that needs to be fixed. The paint and body doesnt hold up near as well as any other car Ive owned. It squeeks, rattles, etc. The dealership knows me by name. Unfortunately, my wife just bought the 2003 and she is also a fequent visitor of the service center. I sold the BMW for a more reliable car. I messed up.

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  Wrecked Acura - 1990 Acura Integra
  By wapnlht - November 26 - 2:00 am

  I have driven the heck out of my car and its survived ok.But I had a few probs:a/c broke,axels replaced 3 times in 3 yrs,alt,radi,trans grinds,clutch, brakes replaced every 2ks,antenna,etc. But I love my car.It has 250k but still runs great.It had been wrecked before so it isnt perfect,but it starts up every time I turn the key.

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  Poor ACURA - 2001 Acura CL
  By Silver-CL - November 26 - 2:00 am

  Well, if you like to spend time in the dealership, then I suggest you buy this car. I am currently on my fourth transmission. 52K miles. Time for a new car. Sorry ACURA.

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  Bold New TL! - 2009 Acura TL
  By PetesTL - November 25 - 6:40 pm

  Overall, this car is a great value for all thats included in the price. I like the bold exterior styling that sets it apart from all the other boring "vanilla" cars out there. Performance, handling, ride, features and build quality is much improved over the previous generation. Interior is also greatly improved and roomier than before. The nav system and ELS surround system are both top-notch. Fuel economy is also decent: Im averaging about 20-21 in city driving.

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  So fun to drive - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Charles Hatley - November 25 - 2:50 pm

  I love pulling up to people in sports cars at red lights and knowing how surprised they are when my little SUV takes off like a rocket! This is the most fun drive Ive ever had. The quality of the interior is incredible... blows my old VW away!

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  Sportier then the Infiniti or the Lexus - 2004 Acura TSX
  By marashid - November 25 - 10:00 am

  I was looking for the I30 Lexus or the g35 Infiniti but I am so glad I found the Acura. I believe it out matches its competition and I will have a better re-sale value then both the Lexus or the Infiniti.

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  Hot and responsive - 2004 Acura TSX
  By J in DC - November 25 - 10:00 am

  I love this car. While it doesnt look like a sports car it drives like it. Yet it still has room for 4 (large if necessary) adults. It corners, accelerates and cruises smoothly and the short throw 6 speed makes the driving a blast! Because of its conservative looks and 5 star saftey rating the TSX allows me to feel pretty sexy while not compromising my familys safety.

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  Excellent - 2004 Acura TL
  By Sheltiepatriot56 - November 25 - 10:00 am

  Test Driving the Acura TL was a fun experience! At first, I read an article on the TL, then I went to my local Acura dealership to find out what it was like to drive an Acura TL, and it was fabulous!!