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:

• 

  Blue Beauty - 2003 Acura MDX
  By KauaiMDX - April 11 - 10:00 am

  I really like this vehicle alot. There have been a few annoyances - the largest with the service department I have visited twice. This SUV is very comfortable to drive, has great heating and AC. It handles very well for a SUV.

• 

  Great Va,lue - 2003 Acura TL
  By joycie - April 11 - 10:00 am

  This car is a great value. The ride is smoothe, the pick up is superb, and it feels very luxurious to drive. Steering is easy and the comfortability of the seats and ride is a big plus.

• 

  Very good car - 2003 Acura TL
  By BennyJet - April 5 - 10:00 am

  Very good car for money you spend. I really love to drive it

• 

  2004 TL - 2004 Acura TL
  By Dialdave - April 5 - 10:00 am

  Fun to drive, obvious quality, intuitive instrumentation; A real head turner thats bound to evolve into a world class vehicle. The bluetooth works great with my Sony Ericsson cel phone and the XM stereo sounds awsomely superb! Its fun to step into the car every time! Handling is good, although not as good as the BMW 5 Series which costs 18-20 grand more.

• 

  the new tl - 2004 Acura TL
  By chuckieTL - April 5 - 10:00 am

  I purchased this car on the release date and have been extremely happy. It is beautiful with lines that draw alot of attention (especially TL drivers) It handles great and has so much technology and options you have study so you dont miss them. The surround sound is fantastic and the voice commands with the bluetooth make it very functional. I am very glad i got this car as I looked at BMW, Mercedes, Infiniti, Lexus, and several other cars and I believe it is by far the best

• 

  Superb Car - 2008 Acura TL
  By Rich - March 31 - 3:10 am

  This is my first Acura; I came from owning Toyotas and Hondas (a minivan from each). One thing I loved about the Acura (and the Honda I have owned) is that they dont nickel and dime you on options; the car simply has what you want on it standard from the factory.

• 

  Exceptional Vehicle for the money - 2002 Acura MDX
  By Ray 2000 - March 28 - 10:00 am

  Superb interior, fun to drive, drives like a car not a truck.

• 

  Survey - 2016 Acura ILX
  By Raul Ramon Nevarez - March 27 - 8:19 pm

  Complete style

• 

  2006 TL handles better than it looks. - 2006 Acura TL
  By Mike McAndrews - March 27 - 7:33 pm

  A fun car to drive! Grips the road through turns at high acceleration. Superior sound system and well appointed interior. Test drove the Infiniti G5, BMW 3 series and Audi 4 series. TL was by far the best value for the money.

• 

  Terrific Alternative To German Models - 2007 Acura RDX
  By dorianf - March 26 - 2:26 pm

  I buy a new car every six to seven years, alternating with my spouse. I bought the RDX with a need to buy something upscale and fun. Also winter handling and cold weather features were other concerns. Here was my must have list and what the RDX provided: heated seats, standard; heated outside mirrors (hate scraping), standard; AWD, standard, XM or Sirius radio; XM standard (better channels than Sirius and no Howard Stern); Bluetooth; standard; good acceleration; standard, and very good I might add; classy; standard - even without the BMW, Lexus, or Mercedes nameplate. Okay, there was another sort of must-have that the RDX did not give me: auto-headlights.