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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  Great Car - 2004 Acura RL
  By kleeco - August 9 - 2:00 am

  Car is excellent in all areas except head room! Im 63 and just cant get a comfortable seat adjustment that keeps my hair off the roof. My wife loves it, so I guess Ill just recline in the passenger seat and relax:) Otherwise, Great car and very "user friendly."

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  deluxe honda - 2003 Acura CL
  By Nhoj - August 9 - 2:00 am

  The CL has been trouble free and very reliable. Excellent for long trips except for mileage, which should be a bit higher. The handling is very good with good comfort on long trips. The roof is a bit too low for me, so I usually drive with the sunroof open, weather permitting. Fit and finish are near perfect, no rattles, but some body flex is evident with a squeek of the sunroof weatherstrip.

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  Great Car - 1998 Acura TL
  By jrratl - August 8 - 2:00 am

  This is a great car. I bought it pre- owned from an Acura dealership and love it. The ride is great, it is very reliable, the sound system is very good, the outside design is beautiful and the inside is ergonomically well designed.

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  Great SUV - 2005 Acura MDX
  By ChaosMiners - August 7 - 7:06 am

  I drove this car for a week at Lake Tahoe while we were getting 9 feet of snow. Not a hint of a handling problem even when the roads were heavily iced. One great feature is that the drivers seat will lower to a point where you can get in and out of the car on ice without transferring all your weight when standing on ice.

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  gsr - 1997 Acura Integra
  By corey - August 7 - 2:00 am

  this is a great fun and fast car, but cramped and a little uncomfortable due to the tight handling

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  As good as new. - 1994 Acura Integra
  By Noahsdad - August 7 - 2:00 am

  I,ve had my teg for over six years now and couldnt have asked for a better car.Other than routine maitenence only the radiator has given any trouble.$137 fixed that.

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  Great Car - 1992 Acura Integra
  By micba - August 7 - 2:00 am

  My first car and still going strong after 11 years. From the drivers position the interior layout is good, with a better driving view than the 3rd generation Integra. Handling is great and fun to drive around. Just cant say enough on how reliable this car is, no major repairs, just the normal wear and tear (brakes, timing belt). This car will last me another 10 years or more till my next Acura.

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  Best value for the money in class! - 2003 Acura RSX
  By DaveCCC - August 7 - 2:00 am

  I have 7500 miles on my RSX-S. Love it! Two things that set it aside: First, once you start adding options to match the "Type-S" package, all of the competitors (except Tiburon) end up costing more. Second, its more more upright, more refined, less "boy racer". Its not v-8 fast, but I have skunked Pontiac supercharged v-6s before. This is THE best deal-for-the- dollar in its bracket.

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  Acura TL 2007 - 2007 Acura TL
  By cmarch - August 6 - 8:30 pm

  Traded in my BMW X5 4.4i for the 07 Acura TL. It was a wise decision. The TL has a totally comfortable and smooth ride. I love the bluetooth, oh did I mention the better gas mileage. I am sure they will be changing the body style within the next 2yrs. I will probably trade-up then.

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  Waynes Wheels - 2003 Acura RL
  By peegunn1 - August 6 - 2:00 am

  A very good automobile for the value,could use a few more horses. If this one stands uo Ill purchase myself another one.