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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  EXCELLENT AUTO - 2002 Acura RSX
  By lmsjas - May 30 - 2:00 am

  PASSENGER COMPARTMENT HOLDS UP WELL IN MAJOR ACCIDENT. WAS HIT IN LEFT FRONT BUMPER WHILE STOPPED AT LIGHT CAUSING CAR TO SPIN AND MOVE TWO LANES OVER. NO DAMAGE TO INTERIOR.

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  Acura RSX - 2002 Acura RSX
  By whitty - May 30 - 2:00 am

  Fun car! But has a little to much road noise.Toyo tires helped quiet it down a bit. Bose factory system not as good as expected. It is real fast for a 4- banger.

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  My Acura - 1994 Acura Integra
  By 666545 - May 29 - 2:00 am

  I have just bought this car, so I dont know how long it will last me. It has 100k miles on it but It is incredibly fun to drive and I dont think I could have found a better car.

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  3.2 TL Premium, Excellent car - 1997 Acura TL
  By Ken Biddulph - May 29 - 2:00 am

  I love this car, its a bit big for my needs but it handles great inspite of its sheer mass and 15 inch wheels. Excellent interior, better looking than the newer TLs in my opinion.

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  acura 3.2 T.L. - 2001 Acura TL
  By Grant Smith - May 29 - 2:00 am

  The car has been a great experience. The body style could stand to be redesigned, but the interior is great. I have been in the Audi A6 and the BMW 3 series niether of witch have the ease of operation of all controls like my TL.

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  Finally!!! - 2005 Acura TL
  By Stör - May 28 - 6:26 pm

  I knew I wanted an Acura TL when I first saw it at the LA Autoshow two years ago. During that time, I researched many other vehicles with the TL being the one to beat. While some other vehicle may have bettered the TL in a certain area, none had the whole package. Now that I have my TL, Im thrilled.

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  Best Buy! - 1994 Acura Integra
  By Miguel Lopez - May 28 - 2:00 am

  Best car investment ever! Bought it used in 1996 with 27,000 miles on it and it is about to turn 200,000 miles. As long as you do the regular maintenance, this car will continue to run without having to put much into it. In almost 200,000 miles, there have not been any major repair other than regular maintenance. Has not even needed an alignment! Not once has it left me stranded on the road. Extremely reliable. Would definitely buy another one, but it may be a while, this one is still going...

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  Not too shabby - 2001 Acura TL
  By Phillip M. - May 28 - 2:00 am

  For the most part I like what this car has to offer as basic features.. heated seats and mirrors, sunroof etc. I did have to have a new transmission but in after the last one almost killed me by stalling and almost stopping dead in its tracks on I-95 in Florida but overall I think its a great car for the money and resale looks good.

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  3.0 CL - 1997 Acura CL
  By Curry - May 27 - 2:00 am

  I am 17 and this is my second car...not a good start but whatever! i have lowered my CL 4" and have 18" wheels w/ high performance tires making the handling much better then it already was. This cars performance is great! Quick pick up and ive done a good 145 mph. So top speed isnt bad. Great stereo and looks! Overall i have been pleased with this car.

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  A Very Mixed Bag - 1996 Acura TL
  By WavyGravy - May 26 - 2:00 am

  This car is in one word interesting. The materials and design on the inside and out are of top quality, but the engine is another story. The inline 2.5 Litre inline 5 cylinder is the outcast of Acura engines. While it loves to rev high and sound very buzzy, it doesnt move you as fast as you would expect it too. With some very agressive driving in my automatic 2.5, Ive been able to squeeze out a 0- 60 time of 7.4 seconds. Not too bad in my book, especially since its a 5 banger pulling around 170 horses. Not a fast car, but one that will move you around in style and almost guranteed to fire up every morning.