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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  good value for compact cross over - 2014 Acura RDX
  By ewl88 - March 3 - 11:50 am

  Good performance and value.

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  Excellent Commuter Car - 2014 Acura ILX
  By bybchucky - March 2 - 9:52 am

  I recently purchased an ILX with the Tech pkg, and I am very pleased with it. I had a 2008 Acura TL prior to purchasing this car, and I thought I would miss the V6 acceleration, but I honestly dont. A lot of the reviews say the 150 hp is underpowered, but I find the car to be adequate. In fact, it picks up quite nicely on the highway and I dont have trouble passing cars. The interior is nice, well built, and feels a lot wider than what the outside appearance would make you believe. The rear leg room is also excellent considering this is a compact car. As stated above, this is an excellent commuter car.

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  Diappointed and mislead - 2014 Acura MDX
  By hhhjjj - February 24 - 7:14 pm

  We purchased a 2014 Acura MDX 2WD. It has a harsh and noisy ride over bumps. This is due to the light suspension and the light rear end. If you accept more bounce and are indifferent to thumping noises you will be OK. Our dealer suggested riding around with a 50lb bag of dog food to help quieten. Also, notice the resistance when the engine downshifts. Our biggest objection is the Dealer, Gary Force Acura in Brentwood Tennessee, mislead us by putting us in an AWD model for our two test drives. We thought we were buying a much smoother and quiet vehicle. Either way, I would not recommend this vehicle. Based on price you can do much better purchasing another vehicle.

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  If I had known then what I know now - 2013 Acura RDX
  By tnuzzi1 - February 22 - 8:42 am

  I have had my RDX for 1 year and 19,000 miles. After the first few months of owning it i noticed a vibration between 2nd and 3rd gear and 4th and 5th gear. I brought the car to the dealer and had a technician ride with me so I could point it out. The vibration, the dealer stated, is due to the deactivation of cylinders and that it is minor with no fix. This is not minor when you spend many hours driving. A vehicle that is considered a "luxury" suv should not be vibrating. The gas mileage is not as stated. I average around 19mpg. I drive about 50/50 highway/town. The dealer replaced my bluetooth mic but that did not improve. I can hear fine, people have a hard time understanding me.

• 

  Acura Venza - 2014 Acura MDX
  By bgf18 - February 8 - 3:30 pm

  Overall, we are seriously disappointed. We made the mistake of trading in our 2011 MDX for a 2014 before we had a chance to live with it. Acura has, unfortunately, transitioned the MDX from being an SUV to a minivan-shaped SUV, much like the Toyota Venza. The vehicle is shorter, fatter, and longer. If you need or want an SUV-shaped minivan, then this is the vehicle for you. Also, if you like navigating touch-screen menus while trying to stay on the road, youll love the new MDX.

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  Well rounded car, Navigation is substandard - 2013 Acura RDX
  By rjxg - January 21 - 7:59 pm

  I have been driving my RDX AWD w/Tech for 7 month now and really like the car. Plenty of power and I find it to be a great value for the cost. My only issue with the car is the poor quality of the navigation system. It is like using DOS commands on a PC. A million things to remember and it take 5 minute to enter an address. I am shocked Acura put it out there for use like this. Otherwise the car is good but it is hard to overlook a Navi system so frustrating I dont even us it unless I have no other choice.

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  Not an SUV - 2014 Acura MDX
  By steve526 - January 15 - 1:17 pm

  Nice car! Quiet, comfortable once inside. Decent mpg. Unlike most SUVs, driver is close to the ground, more like a car. Not for certain body types. Short body with long legs will not be able to see over the steering wheel... cannot raise the seat or lower the steering wheel enough to make it work. Larger men under 6 feet will have difficulty getting in because the steering will not go up far enough making for a tough slide-in.

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  OK but..... - 2014 Acura RDX
  By newro - December 30 - 3:19 pm

  Have had Acuras since 1998, always a TL. My wife needed an all wheel/4 wheel drive that was not huge so we got out of a 2010 TL and into a 2013 RDX without the tech package. Its nice, but its not going to blow you away. As with all of my previous Acuras, its a quality build and reliable. Quick enough but I find it a little herky jerky in the steering, but, I have a 2010 Pathfinder which is like a tank compared to the RDX. It is pretty good in the snow, which is why we got it so I suppose that all in all, it does what its supposed to. It shares a radio with the Honda CRX and from what I am told, the all wheel drive platform as well. I guess its the Acura version of the CRX.

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  So Far Disappointed - 2014 Acura RDX
  By tramm - December 18 - 6:25 pm

  The RDX replaced my 2011 Q5. I bought it because it had more standard features than a Q5, was $5000 less than a Q5 and positive reviews. It is a good car in many respects but the suspension, interior quality and road noise reduction are not quite as good as the Q5. However, my biggest issue involves a subtle but obvious drive train vibration that occurs at certain speeds and RPMs. Acura is aware of the problem, claims it is "normal" but is working on a fix. If you do a lot of driving between 35-50 mph I would wait to buy a RDX until this annoying problem is fixed.

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  Great value and decent features - 2012 Acura MDX
  By sebring95 - December 7 - 8:56 am

  Weve had this for a little over a year and 30k miles. It was really no more expensive than a loaded Honda/Ford/GM SUV. Normally I wouldnt buy a "luxury" brand for our family hauler given the 25k-30k miles per year we drive, but operating costs on an Acura are a fraction of the Euro brands. Depreciation also appears to be significantly more favorable. Transmission is relatively lazy and you have to keep after it to capitalize on the 300hp. Backup camera is terrible at night. Gas mileage is as expected...averaging 19.5 and 21-22 on long trips at 75mph. Unless youre comparing it to something significantly more expensive or smaller, this is a great overall vehicle.