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:

• 

  integra in colorado - 1990 Acura Integra
  By scottyahoo - November 19 - 2:00 am

  After 170,000 miles, I change the oil occasionally, and it still runs excellent. The value of this cars far surpasses the price I paid for it years ago.

• 

  Awesome car - 1997 Acura CL
  By aaahcky6 - November 19 - 2:00 am

  I have had this car for almost a year and have had no problems at all. It has plenty of power with a classic look. I plan to drive it for a while.

• 

  Great SUV - 2001 Acura MDX
  By TomEve - November 19 - 2:00 am

  Performance and reliablity exceeded my expectations. Fuel Economy improves with age. First year,16.5 mpg city, Second year, 17 mpg city. Year 3, almost 18 mpg city.

• 

  great car butt... - 2002 Acura RSX
  By clonggator94 - November 19 - 2:00 am

  this is a truly well put together car, but after only 1year of use and less than 6000mi the trade-in value is about $10k less than i paid. i added sporty 18" rims and low profile tire as well as the stock fog lights, but dealers dont want to add on to the trade-in value.

• 

  Love my RDX - 2008 Acura RDX
  By Mark - November 18 - 11:44 pm

  The handling, acceleration and look of this car is unmatched.. Love the interior and leather seats as well. The only negative is the turbo requires hi octane and the gas mileage is a little disappointing. However, with a turbo you cant have your cake and eat it too.. Overall, I believe its the best small SUV on the market..including the BMW..

• 

  acura1 - 1999 Acura Integra
  By nuer74 - November 18 - 2:00 am

  This is a great, fun car to drive. It accelearates quickly, corners well, and looks great. I have had no problems with the car since I bought it from the dealer.

• 

  great car...even 5 years later - 1998 Acura Integra
  By osumike - November 18 - 2:00 am

  I still enjoy driving this car everyday. In the snow, rain, or sunshine. Overall it just keeps on providing balanced performance mixed with very good highway cruising fuel economy. I would recomend this to anyone. Love it!

• 

  Best Touring Car Ever owned~! - 2000 Acura RL
  By ACB - November 17 - 2:00 am

  This is my first Honda and wont be the last. Luxury with a sport feel. My 16 and 19 year olds beg to drive it for dates! The power is just right and you cant beat it on long drives of over 500 miles, as well as in town.

• 

  Bad Luck CL - 2003 Acura CL
  By zolman - November 17 - 2:00 am

  Transmision went bad at 24,000.

• 

  Love This Car! - 2003 Acura RSX
  By Desert Silver - November 17 - 2:00 am

  Just bought 2 weeks ago, love my new car. ive been planning my car purchase for 10 months now. Looked at almost every car under 25K, and this was far and away the best car in its class. A comparably equipped Celica is thousands more, I dont like the exterior look of the WRX, and Mitsubishi Eclipses are more expensive and arent exactly known for reliability. I did my homework and got the car for 200 hundred over invoice (Base model). Unlike some others, I love the exterior styling of the car. The interior is awesome, made with high- quality materials. Auto-Climate Control is nice added touch. Highly recommended!