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:

• 

  Acura MDX Touring w/Entertainment - 2003 Acura MDX
  By lilbull - August 28 - 2:00 am

  Excellent SUV for the money. Many things come standard. There are only a few options. It drives like a powerful car as opposed to a truck. Very comfortable.

• 

  Love this car! - 2003 Acura TL
  By eil110 - August 28 - 2:00 am

  This car is beautiful, extremely comfortable, and fast. I was doing 65 on the tollway - needed to pass a truck that was throwing gravel - put my foot to the floor and was doing 95 in 3 seconds. Great car! - and this was NOT the Type S, but the standard 3.2 TL. I have found no flaws.

• 

  Excellent Car - 2003 Acura TL
  By James24 - August 28 - 2:00 am

  My wife and I traded in our Maxima for the Acura TL-type S. What an awesome car! This was definately a step up. The TL-S is loaded with features and has more power than you will ever need.

• 

  Extremely Satisfied - 2005 Acura RL
  By bawl - August 22 - 2:10 pm

  For over a year Ive been evaluating luxury sedans. Ive driven them all with the exception of the Infiniti M - personal distaste. I found that the RLs combo of aesthetics, features, reliability (yet unproved, but its a Honda)and performance left the competition (530, E, new A6, GS) far, far behind. The throttle response is superior to that of any of those mentioned, and though I really liked the ride of the 530 w/ sport package, the RLs is very competitive. The interior is as plush and finished as the E, GS and A6, but better conceived than all. I didnt like the 5s inside. Its much more handsome in person than in any of the PR pics. 10 of 11 most unreliable cars are Euro.

• 

  Luxury Performance Nirvana - 2002 Acura RSX
  By antrey - August 16 - 9:06 pm

  The RSX TypeS fits my needs perfectly as a powerful, high performance, practical daily commuter than can seat four and get great fuel mileage. Styling is very modern inside and out and while the exterior styling has been criticized as too conservative I believe it will age much better than more aggressive styling as seen on the celica, eclipse, cougar, etc. Timeless styling was very important to me as I plan on keeping the car for more than ten years. My 89 integra went 185,000 miles before I sold it.

• 

  My Best Car Yet - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Eternal - August 16 - 11:53 am

  I currently own the base.... my review is to challenge anyone to test drive one themselves!!

• 

  Beats my BMW 3 series hands down - 2005 Acura TL
  By syslog - August 16 - 4:40 am

  You get a LOT of car for your money. I used to own a 2000 BMW 3 series. The difference between the 2 cars is night & day. The BMW had better handling, no doubt, but thats it. It pales in comparison in every other respect. The TL is beutifully executed - the navi, stereo and bluetooth are seamlessly integrated with the voice control system. It really is a flawless experience. One note. I use a Treo 650 bluetooth phone. The phone needs to be updated from Palms website for the bluetooth to work correctly with the car. Its a phone problem, nothing to do with the car. Once updated, however, it works beautifully.

• 

  I LOVE IT!!! - 2005 Acura TL
  By Kdocdent - August 15 - 6:56 pm

  This is the best car Ive driven in a while! The interior has so many different textures; for instance, the textured trims, woodgrain finishes, the FINE leather with the rich colors. The Acura TL handles well on city streets and highway. I made a very wise choice with this car. I just wanted a car for work, but I never drive my SUV anymore!

• 

  Unbelievable Car for the Money - 2005 Acura TL
  By Kevin - August 11 - 3:06 am

  Me and my wife chose the TL over the BMW 325 and the MB C230 Kompressor. For the money you get everything both the BMW and MB have for about $3000 less. The TLs acceleration and handling is phenomenal not to mention the navigation which is so easy to use. I will never own another car without NAV again. My only complaint is the subwoofer vibrates with songs that have high base amounts. The dealer said its a known problem amongst all TLs and there has been nothing that has come out from corporate yet to fix it. All highway got 31 mpg, combined highway and city average 25. Those figures go down rapidly if your foot is in the gas a lot. This car is worth every penny we spent on it.

• 

  You should have one - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Mr. BlueMan - August 11 - 2:00 am

  This is a great care... I looked at the Cooper and New VW Beetle, however was not sold on their long term questionable performance. Ive had three other Hondas and never had a problem. So once I drove the 2004 RSX there was not going back. Great get up and go. Feels great to ride in, excellent sound system and all the standard features for the leather-auto was the best of all, with CD, power windows, moon roof, etcÂ… Great handling. ItÂ’s just the best in class.