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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  Love this car but problems are starting to add up - 1999 Acura TL
  By danielle_1989 - February 28 - 12:20 pm

  I love this car I got it in 2007 It drives so nice and love all the features that this older car has to offer. Problems are starting to add up the driver seat is ripping and it is leaking oil and in order to figure out why they would have to tare the engine apart. Also major problem the catalytic converter is going and was told that cost a lot to fix, also the lights are really stupid to change cost me $400 to change the bulbs and they had to tare my engine apart just for that. Gas miles are okay not too bad. I really do love this car and if nothing was wrong with it I would run it till it died. One more thing Not good in the snow at all!!

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  Fun to drive - 2010 Acura RDX
  By hmsq5 - February 28 - 6:37 am

  This car puts a grin on my face every time I drive! Granted the front shield can be polarizing but overall the car is incredibly fun to drive. I had a 08 A4 prior to the RDX and the RDX handles corners better than the A4. And with way more power. Noise level between the two is about the same but the turbo growl on the RDX is really pleasant. I find the ride to be very comfortable, steering with good road feel and the interior clean and functional. We have a 11 Q5 2.0 and the RDX is much more fun to drive. The Q5 is bigger, quieter and feels more numb on the roads. It doesnt handle as well as the RDX, costs $8000 more comparably equip and Acura dealers are >>>>> than Audi.

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  Very Good Value, Fun, Some Improvements Needed - 2011 Acura MDX
  By panic492 - February 26 - 11:00 pm

  I have had my 11 Nav/Tech for about a month now and I am overall very happy. The engine is silky smooth and the seats are very comfortable-it is a pleasure to drive. The tech "stuff" is great-nav, voice, IPod recognition...I also looked at the Audi Q7 (close 2nd choice) and BMW X5 (distant 3rd choice). My small complaints about the MDX are the fake wood trim, it is plastic. When the sun hits it, it blinds you. Also, the visors are very flimsy. No big issues so far other than my AC is giving me a bit of a funny smell, probably needs a new air filter. Should be a reliable, fun SUV.

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  Transmission Cycling will cause performance delays - 2010 Acura MDX
  By er405 - February 24 - 12:46 pm

  I traded my new 2010 MDX after months of working with Acura Client Services and the Dealer. The MDXs progressive transmission, in my opinion, is poorly designed. Although, the driver is pressing the gas pedal, the MDX will have long delays during gear cycles. This could be dangerous if attempting to make a quck turn in on-coming traffic. You want to go, but the MDX moves very slowly or not at all. Second, the cabin lets in so much air that during the winter, the heat must be set to keep the cabin warm, especially at the feet. Last, the MDX looses lots of horsepower as it cycles through the gears. A sluggish ride at best. For the money, find something else.

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  1-year, 22K mile update - Not sure if I would buy again. - 2010 Acura TL
  By jimmyt_2 - February 23 - 1:17 pm

  I took delivery on 3/1/2010 and have put 22K on the car since. Overall I love the car and think it is an amazing value. BUT...the car has a noise that is related to tire speed. It ranges from the sound of a thousand crickets to something that sounds like a squealing belt. Of course every time I take it to the dealer, they canÂ’t hear it, or by the time they have someone that can ride with me, the noise subsides. IÂ’m concerned that they will not get it fixed before the warranty is up. The dealer mentioned that they are replacing a lot of the AWD shafts due to noise but he didnt think that was my problem.

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  Beware! - 2011 Acura RL
  By scatback - February 9 - 10:42 pm

  My 6th Acura, very comfortable and well equipped for the price. But multiple gremlins including a transmission malfunction, directional headlights dont operate, keyless entry malfunctioned, the new directional microphone for voice command must point in another direction because the system is unuseable, the nav doesnt include HD graphics, is still DVD rather than hard disk based and is therefore slow and distressingly inaccurate. Id like to like the car, and there is much to recommend it, but from the time I picked it up (and discovered 45 lbs. of pressure in the tires) it has been a disaster

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  Snow machine! - 2007 Acura MDX
  By nregier - February 8 - 8:21 pm

  We love our MDX Sport. Smooth, powerful, stylish, great looks, handles like a sports sedan. Weve had lots of snow and ice lately and this Acura handles it like a champ. The vehicle stability control, ABS, big tires, and 300hp V6 make for a formidable all weather machine. Driving it inspires confidence. We get 14mpg in city, best ever is 24 on highway.

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  Excellent - 2010 Acura TL
  By waltercmarsh - February 7 - 4:46 pm

  I bought my Acura TL about 1 year ago. I did the auto research on Edmunds and test drove similar cars from other manufacturers (BMW, Infinity, Audi, Mercedes, etc.). Not only did I find the Acura TL to be the most fun to drive (the Infinity was a close second) but the price made it by far the best deal. I have not been disappointed. The car drives great - it is a pleasure. I recommend it highly.

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  Great car - 2010 Acura TSX
  By rdawg23 - February 6 - 10:35 am

  I traded in a "glitchy" Honda Civic Hybrid for a TSX Tech last year and am not regretting my decision. The TSX offers good gas mileage for the class of vehicle and has enough power so you dont feel like youre going nowhere when accelerating. The navigation unit is good, and yes, while it doesnt have some of the latest features you get from a TomTom or Garmin you buy from your neighborhood electronics store, it can hold its own. My advice is to read the manual and really learn how to use it just like you would any other computer. The ELS audio system included with the tech package is an incredible audio system. When using any digital source, the sound has a lot of depth and quality

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  TL Junkie - 2005 Acura TL
  By bgump - February 2 - 2:40 pm

  This is the second TL we have owned and I think once you own a TL you are hooked. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this car. It is such a pleasure to drive and so comfortable. A very reliable car. In the winter my husband puts snow tires on the car and I have absolutely no problems getting around the hills of Pennsylvania. We love the TL so much that we are thinking about trading it in for a 2012. This car has been so reliable that we dont even look at other makes of cars because we know we will be disappointed in the quality.