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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  WoW! - 2004 Acura TL
  By sh0cK - May 11 - 2:00 am

  This is the best looking, best handeling and most powerful car in its class and was worth every penny!

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  Great Value & Car - 2004 Acura TL
  By bears - May 11 - 2:00 am

  Bought the car for the wife but love to drive myself. Drives as good as it looks. Looked at BMW, Lexus and Infiniti. Acura has the best value.

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  Favorite Car Yet... - 2003 Acura TL
  By speeddemon - May 10 - 10:00 am

  I puchased my 02 Acura TL type-S last August and have loved it ever sence. I drove an Explorer before it and the power is a huge difference. The type-S bolts you for 0-60 in about 6 seconds which is one of the main reasons I love the car. It never has problems getting on the highway or passing cars on two lane roads. I also love the handling which feels like you have "total power" over the car. Another feature I love is the gas millage. I have been getting around 29 mpg and for the power, that is really good. I would recomend this car to anyone becuase of the excelent ratio of price to features.

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  Loving my TSX - 2009 Acura TSX
  By Marcus - May 8 - 3:16 am

  I traded my 03 Accod LX for the 09 TSX Base Model (Grigio/ebony interor) and I am loving it! I have read so many articles and complaints from car lovers about how upset they are because the TSX isnt a V6. Even if it is a 2.4 the car still has a lot of get up. I opted not to get the Tech package to save money and because the base model came with everything I wanted. I have a Tom Tom GPS so its all good.

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  Acura MDX - 2004 Acura MDX
  By kevinRO - May 6 - 10:00 am

  Fantastic vehicle with a lot of fun gadgets. Drives very nice.

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  Awesome Car! - 2003 Acura TL
  By all2ez - May 6 - 10:00 am

  This is the greatest car in the world... WE averaged 20k miles in the first year of this car and it has not bugged us.... many other have complained of squeaking but that is only during the 7000-11000 mile period when the suspension breaks in after that all is good... We know 10-15 people whove had this problem with their 99-03 TLs

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  First Acura - 2004 Acura TL
  By Tally - May 6 - 10:00 am

  This car is fun to drive. I didnt give it a 10 only because Ive driven my friends BMW M3. However, great pick up and snappy accelerator response, little loose on the tight turns (which VSA helps fix) but then it is FWD, agile, and a very comfortable ride. The interior is damn near impeccable. All the standard features a huge plus (heated seats, auto everything, XM satellite radio) and the add-ons (navigation system) are reasonable. This is my first Acura and its too new to give it a 10 for reliability, but Ive heard very good things, the warranty is good and comes with conveniences, and Im just impressed with the car.

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  Thrilled! - 2004 Acura TL
  By tlconvert - May 6 - 10:00 am

  A lot of car for the money! Great fun to drive. Flow of trafic coming back from Easter was 80 miles per hour and car did not break a sweat. A world away from my old Camry. Love the interior and all of the conveniences - such as the memory being linked to the keyless remote. Navi system a blast. Stereo is 1st rate.

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  BEST SUV EVER - 2002 Acura MDX
  By Dan Carlton - May 4 - 10:00 am

  I Looked for over a year and love this car. for the money it is the best bang for the buck. Thanks Keyes Acura in Van Nuys California.. They deliver.

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  acura suv fun to drive - 2003 Acura MDX
  By Maria Santos - April 27 - 2:00 am

  this is one of the best svus I ever drove