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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  Road Warrior - 1999 Acura TL
  By lsmac - August 6 - 2:00 am

  Purchased new 2/1999. Best car I have ever purchased. 138,000 miles and car just keeps on going. Getting 27-29 mpg on 91 octane gas. Replaced Michelin Tires with Toyo Proxes - much better in the rain. Ride, mileage, dB the same for $300 less. Only a few problems: replaced battery, HID bulb ($110 from Osram-Slyvania, $200 at dealers)and EGR valve. Rearview mirror popped due to heat in Central Florida.

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  Great Car - 2003 Acura CL
  By Longhorn - August 6 - 2:00 am

  Fun stuff. Luxury and sporty at the same time.

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  GO Girl. - 2003 Acura RSX
  By banshi - August 6 - 2:00 am

  I love the suspension and horse power. The car was worth waiting for to get the color I wanted which was the blue RSX. Buying it through the Fleet dealer was the only way I would go. The stick shifts fast and is set square to the car so I never scratch gears! The airbags in the side of the seats are measured to the wieght of the passanger. They work or the light on the dash will set and tell you disabled. Great Coupe.

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  I looooove my gs-r - 1997 Acura Integra
  By pinaygurly187 - August 5 - 2:00 am

  i love this car! i thought about getting an eclipse but now im so happy i decided to get an integra instead. you cant beat the looks and the quality you get from an acura. i drove a tacoma before my integra and its amazing how agile it is compared to the truck. it corners like a dream. the car is a good car just for driving around town but when u give it gas and get it up into the higher RPMs and the Vtec kicks in, you know its more than just an upgraded civic like every1 thinks it is. be sure you get a manuel though...automatic integras are nooo fun, esp. if youve got a GS-R.

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  Sweet Car - 2003 Acura RSX
  By Jimi - August 5 - 2:00 am

  Awesome car! Obviously its an Acura. Only complaints would be the tires, but i already had 18s ready for it before i bought it!!!!

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  my car - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Don - August 4 - 5:03 pm

  not as smooth on the road as my es330 but much more fun to drive. styling is great except for the "accord tail lites. they need their own distinctive tail lites.

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  AWESOME RSX - 2003 Acura RSX
  By JAY05 - August 4 - 2:00 am

  I would absolutly recommend the RSX Type-S to anyone looking for a sporty coupe. In fact, the only thing I dislike about the car is the lack of interior storage space (ex. there is no center counsel) Fun to drive, fast, and very good on gas. I love it.

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  ranieri - 2002 Acura MDX
  By vranieri1 - August 4 - 2:00 am

  My wife totaled her vehicle and is still alive due too the excellent safety features incorporated into this SUV. If you have this vehicle consider yourself safe and if you want this vehicle consider purchasing the MDX.

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  nice car .. too bad Acura service stinks - 2000 Acura TL
  By to be former owner - August 4 - 2:00 am

  Great car, good milage. I will not buy another one because the service stinks. 3k-30k miles, seat belt light goes on (I had a new born so took this seriously). Took 4 dealer trips to get this fixed. 17k front strut goes. Took 2 trips to get it fixed. 55k, need new rear brakes .. they have to schedule me to come back. Meanwhile Acura policy is no loaner car for less than 3 hour waits so I get to reshuffle my schedule. I just cant handle the dealer run-around. Also, too many small problems with a young "quality" car. My 1989 Legend appears to have been built with better quality than these new things.

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  Warranty Coverage Helps!!! - 2000 Acura TL
  By Tim Cox - August 4 - 2:00 am

  The car is fun to drive and has a powerful engine. I have had some warranty work. 1. Transmission did not shift from 3rd to 4th smoothly. The dealership recommended I change the fluid every 30,000 miles. 2. The temp indicator had to be replace. 3. The Drivers seat back popped and creaked. The Drivers leather seat bottom cracked. Buy this car but make sure it has warranty left on it. Youll have to work out the bugs.