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:

• 

  the problem car - 2002 Acura RSX
  By j .huddleston - June 2 - 2:00 am

  i have had the car in the shop like 20 times. the transmission been pulled out 3 times. ive had it in for abs problems 3 times. the motor idles really rough. and alot of little things have gon bad.

• 

  1996 gsr - 1996 Acura Integra
  By jlow125 - June 1 - 2:00 am

  great car fast and very reliable

• 

  comfortable commuter - 1999 Acura CL
  By STEF - June 1 - 2:00 am

  Bought my 3.0CL new and have loved the peformance, comfort, sound system and have had one problem with the drivers side window but acura fixed it FREE AFTER THE WARRANTY EXPIRED.

• 

  Great car - 2003 Acura CL
  By CL type S - June 1 - 2:00 am

  Just picked up cl-s 6 speed last week. No defects, fast and comfortable. Recommend it so far.

• 

  Acura RL w/ NAV - 2004 Acura RL
  By supt319 - May 31 - 2:00 am

  I find this a great car to drive. Its comfortable and afford many luxury features found on the higher priced automobiles.

• 

  Acura 3.2TL - a descent sedan - 2000 Acura TL
  By jcw - May 31 - 2:00 am

  A competent sedan with good performance and luxury for the price. That said, a bit boring looking and handling a bit soft. No major mechanical problems but ongoing problems with the airbag warnings have continued since new. If you can afford better, go for it. Youll be bored with this car and wish you went for better.

• 

  One of the best cars Ive driven! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Triston - May 30 - 12:43 pm

  Very good handling and acceleration. Comfortable except for some harsh bumps.

• 

  Acura RL is best buy - 2003 Acura RL
  By abettinger2 - May 30 - 2:00 am

  Had a Legend 140,000 miles only one minor unscheduled mx (stuck brake caliper). The RL is the same. Bulletproof, excellent ride and comfort. For thousands less than BMW, LS430 and Q45 you get the same comfort and reliability.

• 

  Beautiful - 2002 Acura RL
  By chadwoodland - May 30 - 2:00 am

  Beautiful car with a smooth refined engine. Perfect for motoring not suited for sports driving.

• 

  Best decision Ive ever made - 2002 Acura RSX
  By DC5driver - May 30 - 2:00 am

  This car is awesome. What caught my attention was the styling. The exterior is so sleek, and the interior design is very classy. The dash glows red at night which is so different than other vehicles. Performance is decent, 0-60 in 6.7 and 1/4 mile in 15.5. It gets a few looks everytime I go out. Im definitely not regretting this purchase.