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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  Honest - 2004 Acura TL
  By mungus - February 4 - 10:00 am

  I only have two complaints: 1. The passenger side power window doesnt work anymore. I live in a hot climate so my air is always on. I have probably only rolled the passenger window 20 times in the 2 years I have owend it. 2. After only having 6600 miles on my TL I had to replace the brakes because the rotors were warped. Acura said this was due to extreme driving conditions( heavy braking). I have driven all of my cars the same way & never had that problem before. My opinion is that the brakes were faulty form the manufacturer.

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  Great Car - 2004 Acura TL
  By phi548 - February 4 - 10:00 am

  This car has been the most fun of any Car I have driven for the price. The handsfree link with my phone is great and the sound system cannot be beaten. The gas mileage has continued to improve as I have put more miles on the engine. I test drove the BM5, and Audi 4 and they could not compare to the total value for the price.

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  Gr8 Car - 2003 Acura RSX
  By ananomous - February 2 - 10:00 am

  this is a gr8 car

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  most bang for the buck - 2003 Acura TL
  By the big e - February 2 - 10:00 am

  this is my third Acura and sixth Honda product. they have all been fun to drive but none more than my TL-Type S. this vehicle flies and is very comfortable, yet drivable. its a very sharp looking vehicle that turns heads frequently. there are not many people willing to challenge this car at a red light and the automatic stick is fun yet functional.

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  Car - 2002 Acura RSX
  By RSiX - February 1 - 7:36 pm

  Very quick awesome handling car.

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  The TRUTH about the gas mileage - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Cdangelo - January 31 - 3:26 am

  I dont know how people are reporting milage in the 12-14 mpg range. I drove an RDX from Albany, NY to Utica, NY and got 24 mpg with the cruise set at 70 mph. This past weekend, on a trip to the lake, I got 20.7 avg. I was going through the mountains. In order to get 12-14 mpg, a person must be mashing to pedal and driving on the turbo constantly. Also, the rear seats DO fold down, so who ever said they didnt, must not own the vehicle which they posted a review about.

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  Best bang for your buck! - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Timesh Amtha - January 29 - 9:56 pm

  Great vehicle for the price. We compared it to the lexus rx 350 and the mdx was the best bang for your buck! More space with the same technology and quality as lexus and cheaper price.

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  2005 acura rl - 2005 Acura RL
  By cjhash - January 29 - 3:46 am

  This one has it all- power, comfort, good mileage, and full of techie gadgets. Comes with michelin tires though the spare is Bridgestone (have to buy as much as possible from the home country!). Great warranty includes roadside assistance including airfare if needed. A better buy than the Lexus which is cost inflated by the name.

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  Smooth performer - 2007 Acura TL
  By patrick - January 28 - 10:33 pm

  Great car for a daily commute. Plenty of toys and a wonderful sound system. Comfortable seats, voice command everything, silky 3.5L V6. Definitely worth the price over a base TL. Brembo brakes are also powerful and firm. 1,000 problem free miles so far in just 2 weeks. Just keep on improving it Acura!

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  Fueled with fun - 2007 Acura RDX
  By susan - January 26 - 5:16 am

  Fun car to drive traded in a 2002 TL was sort of nervous to get an SUV but have no regrets. Quick, corners nicely, fuel economy could be better but then if I wanted fuel economy I should have bought a hybrid.