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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  95 Acura Legend Sedan - 1995 Acura Legend
  By dhassell - February 20 - 2:00 am

  Ive had excellent service from this car - it now has 130000 miles with only normal service, incl. timing belt. Seem to have transmission overheating problem - no resolution yet. I loved the color - Champagne gold with gold lettering.

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  Best possible car for $21,850! - 1999 Acura CL
  By ohcello - February 20 - 2:00 am

  Bought car at the end of 1999 when they were bringing in the new body style. Sticker was $26,800 and they sold it for $21,850. I have put a lot of hard miles on this car and they only problem I have had was some bent rims (NY roads are terrible!). The tranmission holds on for dear life and does not want to shift but you get used to it. Other than that, this car is perfect! Engine is very smooth and when pushed, this car responds. This car is at its best at high speeds on the highway, where its road manners are very impressive. Not much more to say, just a great car.

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  Whod a thought?! - 1991 Acura Legend
  By PB9717 - February 19 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car as a replacement for my constantly breaking mark 7, which broke again for the 5th time in a year. Initially iconsidered it a glorified Honda, and I still kinda do, but it does drive impeccably, runs fantastic, and has never givien me any reason to have to repair it. I will do all scheduled maintainance, and should get over 200K miles out of it. And its 12 years old, with 67K on it now. The window regulator broke 2 days after I bought it, but thats it. It really does run and run.

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  New Transmission for 2004 CLs - 2001 Acura CL
  By masm07 - February 19 - 2:00 am

  It is a fact that Acura has identified and stands behind their warranty on the sportshift but if their goal is to compete with BMWs 3 Series they need to engineer a transmission that will withstand the 260 horses that the CL Type S produces. Yes, it can be a fun car but my tranny went out at 29,000 miles, so what if you get new one...if this is such a great car then why not build one designed for engine. Thumbs down on the tranny, I am disappointed with this vehicle and will think long and hard before I purchase another Acura product. I hope there are some Acura engineers reading this review. That is why BMW 3 series still leads the pack.

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  07 Acura TL Type-S - 2007 Acura TL
  By Tobini - February 18 - 5:20 pm

  This is a beautiful car, loaded with everything youll ever need... and its FAST, really fast. Its exhaust note sounds awesome and it is comfortable beyond compare. The 6-speed gear box is indescribably crisp and precise. For the std equipment level, youd have to pay >$7K more on a BMW 328xi, my second choice. Make no mistake, the sport sedan purists and cognescenti scoff at anything other than a rear-drive set up. That said, the torque steer is WELL managed and barely perceptible. The reliability of Acura & Honda is well-known and the technology present will keep me busy for years to come. This is the baddest car for money!!

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  Acura MDX - 2001 - 2001 Acura MDX
  By jjt1234 - February 18 - 2:00 am

  Fantastic car - styling and features and ride are awesome

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  1994 Integra GS-R 4DR - 1994 Acura Integra
  By elusualsuspect - February 17 - 2:00 am

  Purchased in May 1998...extremely reliable and fun-to-drive...more than enough speed for the freeway and around town...has a lot of practical functionality like folding rear seats...pulls .87 on the skidpad...change oil every 6K with Mobil 1...compression remains as strong as the day it was bought...very responsive to driver inputs...has the handling characteristics of more expensive cars, but is very affordable and fun to drive...consider this car "point-and-shoot performance with a practical twist"...best value for a front-driver under 25K!

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  How Fast is Fast Enough? - 1999 Acura RL
  By Dr. Wu - February 17 - 2:00 am

  From Mercedes to BMW to Audi to Cadillac, this is the most reliable, comfortable, easy to drive, predictable and stylish car weve ever owned. Fit and finish top my Benz. The sound system is adequate for even my kids demands. The vehicle will easily top 120mph if requested upon. I dont understand the fuss over a bigger engine everyone keeps talking about.

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  The ABSOLUTE best car for college!! - 1998 Acura Integra
  By Grant - February 17 - 2:00 am

  Have had the car for 5 years and NOT ONE problem! This car is just awesome and is the best college car a student can have. On top of being reliable it is still worth 9k with 75000 miles!

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  CL Type-S - 2003 Acura CL
  By esucker - February 17 - 2:00 am

  Elegant, understated, conservative, stokin motor!