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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  Well Built at a Bargain Price - 2008 Acura MDX
  By BobinSFCA - March 5 - 12:57 am

  This vehicle replaced a 2005 Honda Pilot EXL. I had such good luck with my other Hondas I decided to stay with the brand. The price of the MDX compared to what it offers is a "no brainer." It drives like a combination of my old Pilot and an S2000 I use to have. I often forget it is an SUV. The build quality is spectacular first new car I have had that has no rattles or defects.

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  Almost perfect - 2003 Acura TL
  By gt0279a - February 25 - 2:00 am

  Traded in my 2000 Integra gs lease for a Black & Tan TLS. Car has a great feel, grips road well and engine performs when needed. Price was the deciding factor over 325i and g35. $0 down & $400/month with honda loyalty lease. Poor Gas mileage (14-16 average with oregon gas) and unimpressive stereo, but otherwise a great buy.

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  Rare Find - 1999 Acura SLX
  By Lidio - February 23 - 10:04 pm

  Great first SUV great interior perfect size engine awesome off-road, little wobbly at highway speeds though loves to drink gas, but big tank phenomenal cargo space never got the chance to use the heated seats, but of course a good feature wood grain looked a bit fake, but nice touch for a rebadged Trooper those rear doors are the best design EVER primo stereo love the foot room in the back and front, as well as the ride height seemed to be a decent amount of undercarriage rust, but I suppose to be expected from an older truck rear drive horrid on ice as I learned from experience lost my SLX to a winter-related accident, the thing saved my life! This beast is as safe as a tank!

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  Reliable - 2003 Acura TL
  By Mike Z - February 23 - 8:10 pm

  I drive 18000 miles/yr and have had no (none) problems aside from routine maintenance.

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  So-so - 2006 Acura TSX
  By roadster - February 22 - 1:36 pm

  Good, solid car. Yet you can feel the heaviness of it when making turns. Look at the exterior design from a distance. It doesnt look sporty. The car does go though. Its no joke, but it just seems kind of ho-hum.

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  Good Car, But One Problem - 2007 Acura TSX
  By amc3000 - February 22 - 10:52 am

  The car itself is pretty good however, I have had a problem with a vibration in the steering wheel since I bought the car a problem I never had w/the toyota. So, if you dont mind taking your hands off the wheel sometimes while at a light, then its a nice car.

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  Looks good - 2005 Acura TL
  By Looks good - February 19 - 5:58 pm

  Traded a SUV for this after owning BMW 3 and 5 series. I cant wait to get rid of this car. It looks good, but rattles and is very noisy. Not a fan of Japanese cars or front wheel drive. If you want looks, economy then this is for you. If you want performance go elsewhere.

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  Nice car - 2008 Acura RL
  By CNJ31Vtec - February 18 - 12:55 pm

  We cross shopped Audi A6, Q7, Infiniti M35x, Cadilac CTS4, Acura TL and RL, after we returned a 2006 BMW 530xiT. We finally decided to lease an RL because it has all the basic elements of being a luxury car. This is the 4th Honda/Acura we had owned so far. And probably the most conservative Honda/Acura we ever have. Having said that, the RL is still a wonderful car to drive. Only hope 3 years later, Acura can have another face lift base on the coming 2009 RL (it is NOT attractive at all) plus a RWD-biasd AWD. Then I think we will continue to be in the Hondas family.

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  Poor build quality - 2008 Acura MDX
  By wen - February 15 - 5:49 pm

  Bought this car two months ago, sport model with ent-package and other bells and whistles. Supposed to enjoy this luxury vehicle, but having nothing but troubles. Been back to the dealer repair shop multiple times to repair multiple defects. Distorted mirror, defect gas door, leather peeling off the steering wheel and roof molding loosening. Last weekend, the roof rack cap flew away while driving the car on highway. It is very poor detail work on this car. It will be seventh trip to fix gas door and roof rack next next week.

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  Surprising disappointment from Acura - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Acuralover - February 13 - 6:50 pm

  Ive owned 5 Honda and Acura products before, and this is a HUGE disappointment!! The 4-banger feels sluggish from a standstill (although its reasonably quick after the initial lag). The engine is very noisy during acceleration, with a lot of turbo whine (even under some cruising conditions) which "wears down on you" after a while. And I was SHOCKED by the horrendous fuel economy. At 16 mpg overall (mix of hwy/city), its exactly the same as my other vehicle: V8 powered Lexus GX470! Isnt this supposed to be a 4 CYLINDER, SMALL SUV? Helllooo!!