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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  Good car, minor problems - 2002 Acura TL
  By TL Guy - August 23 - 2:00 am

  Over all this is a great car. There were a few problems I had with it early on after only one year, the transmission died out, but from my understanding it was known problem, and they fixed it. The only problem I had with this was they gave me a little cheap rental car during the 2 weeks it took to fix it, they stuck me in a little neon, not something I would expect, especially after only 1 year, with a higher end car like this. But I still love the car, its fast, fun to drive, a great deal. Their service just needs a little work.

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  great car - 2003 Acura MDX
  By vfdvddssdvsvdsfds - August 23 - 2:00 am

  this is definetly the best value around the rx cost 40k and is small and rattly the ml320 has poor preformance and can fit the most. i love this car.

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  Another winning Honda - 2003 Acura TL
  By Allan_T - August 23 - 2:00 am

  Bought a new 2003 TL Type-S. This is our second new TL other is a 1999 (kept it as well). Problems? Yeah right its a freaking Honda! Oh... wait.... The front passenger door pin switch went bad after 77k miles on the 1999. It may be a little vanilla in some areas, but you just cant go wrong with this car.

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  Get one before theyre all gone - 2003 Acura CL
  By hoopscoach - August 22 - 2:00 am

  Underrated and underappreciated, especially with the 6 speed. Superb engine with wide power band. Plenty of low end punch, yet revs freely all the way to redline. Great transmission with crisp, short throws. Very fast. Quiet. Doesnt quite handle like a sports car, but very good for its size. Most drivers wont be able to push it to its limits. Anti-slip differential works. Navigation system indispensible. Usable backseat and trunk. Heavily equipped for the money. Subtle good looks. Not flashy, but still get lots of comments from onlookers. If youre looking for a coupe, test drive one of these. Get one before they all disappear.

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  Rather nice value - 1991 Acura Legend
  By bpeterson272 - August 21 - 2:00 am

  Purchased from private owner. Very clean, no corrosion. Leather seats holding up quite well, particularly for 218,000 miles. Tight handling, peppy acceleration for a large sedan. 23-25 mpg highway, 20-23 mpg city. Noticable wheel vibration traced to lug nut torque. AC tempermental, traced to temperature sensing circuit. Radio antenna retraction a bit erratic. Not too many 12+ year old cars I have driven feel like this much life left in it. Would buy another tomorrow.

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  Affordable performance and reliability - 2002 Acura TL
  By top2btm - August 21 - 2:00 am

  Driving comfort is the key to this vehicles superiority. Enough power when you want to punch it. No fears when you need to tromp on the brakes. Great sound system. Well placed controls and good driving visibilty make long trips and multitasking safe and enjoyable.

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  Vigor: A Sport Utility Sedan - 1992 Acura Vigor
  By Toomanymileson95 - August 20 - 2:00 am

  I owned this car for 12 years, with out any major mechanical failures, other than a distributor cap replacement and a faulty CD changer, which Acura replaced under warranty. The Vigor is fun to drive, and its engine produces a warm purr. The cabin is quiet, although the windows can knock a little in high wind. Great cornering and brakes. It has all the amenities of an expensive luxury sedan.

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  97 Acura 2.2 CL - 1997 Acura CL
  By dilwin - August 20 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car a month back and so far Ive been very satisfied. The car looks great both inside (polished wood- like panelling) and outside and I admit that was the main reason I went for it. It drives great though the engine feels the strain when there are more than 3 occupants (its a 4 cyl 2.2 L engine). It handles superbly and even though its a big car (its as long as a taurus) it maneuvers like a smaller car. Ive had no problems parking it in tight spaces. The a/c unit doesnt cool the air inside immediately on +90F days.

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  A FINE PERFORMER - 2001 Acura TL
  By HARDIGUY - August 20 - 2:00 am

  THIS IS MY INITIAL EXPERIENCE WITH AN ACURA. IT IS A FINE AUTO IN ALL RESPECTS, VERY TIGHT CONSTRUCTION (NO SQUEAKS OR RATTLES AFTER 41K MILES), GREAT PERFORMANCE, AND EXCELLENT GAS MILEAGE. THIS CAR WAS PURCHASED USED, AND I DID NOT REALIZE THAT IT TOOK PREMIUM GAS WHICH I WOULD SAY IS ITS ONLY SHORTCOMING. HOLDS CURVES VERY WELL, AND I WOULD SAY THAT ITS ONE OF THE BETTER AUTOS IVE HAD IN OVER FIFTY YEARS OF DRIVING.

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  Great Car - 2003 Acura RSX
  By gregj - August 20 - 2:00 am

  I purchased my RSX in February of 2002 and Ive enjoyed it ever since. Love the ride however they could have put better tires on it. This car radio system should have more watts. I like how the controls cater to the driver. I love this car, but Im planning to buy the 04 TL!