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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  Great Car let down by Awful nav system - 2011 Acura RL
  By scatback - February 2 - 12:02 pm

  Get the non tech package RL and youll have a great bargain. The new six speed tranny is great, the ride is the best, and the new wheels do cut interior road noise (wind noise doesnt exist below 90), plus all materials are to Acura standards. Drawback: the awful navigation: inaccurate, difficult to learn and glacially slow, with low res and voice command thats hopeless - worse than on my 2005 or 2007. I have a Garmin 1450T which is incomparably better. Im going to put it on the dash and leave the acura system off. Then it will be a great road car, and just got 26mpg over 1600 road trip

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  ACURA QUALITY - 2008 Acura RDX
  By flip110119 - January 29 - 5:01 pm

  I have the 2008 RDX with Tech package - 33,000miles & it has delivered as expected. NO problems what so ever!! All that I have done so far is change the Trans fluid, rear differential fluid & Oil. I love the SUV from the performance to the comfort & utility. Its the perfect size for utility & still can parallel park in the city with no problems! Ive seen a few reviewers complain about Gas Mileage but I havent really experienced anything less than the 17/22 which Acura expects. Ive been getting 19.6mpg in the city & 26.1mpg on the highway with the cruise control on at 70MPH. I keep the tire pressure at 40PSI & I drive with a roof rack. Id buy this car again!!

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  This Car Was Made for Me - Update - 2010 Acura TSX
  By david_r - January 28 - 6:54 pm

  Have now owned car since June 2010. Would buy another without a second thought. Outstanding value given all the features in the technology package. The handling is superb chassis limits/FWD limits can not be legally reached on public streets. It took me a 90 degree turn with slight drift to get inside front tire to lift enough to engage the stability control. Traction and vehicle stability control work extremely well in snowy or slick conditions. Took a 3000 mile road trip from Seattle area to western Nebraska car was loaded. Had no lack of power or acceleration issues with mountain passes or passing other cars.

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  Great in the Snow! - 2010 Acura ZDX
  By rgj21 - January 27 - 3:10 pm

  I have had the ZDX for six months and I do like it quite a bit. There are a couple of negatives but overall it is a very fine vehicle--well designed and built and great to look at. I particularly want to note that it is outstanding in the snow. Acura has been running commercials featuring its SUV line capering around on ski slopes. It is all true! This car performs extremely well in snow. When a very ugly 6 inches hit here in the Mid Atlantic, the ZDX handled it like a champ when others failed. The technology package is spectacular. The only criticisms are 1) seat comfort--very stiff, not luxurious, promotes fatigue IMHO 2) gas mileage: not good at all. That is disappointing

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  One of a kind - 2006 Acura TSX
  By lilvic - January 27 - 11:26 am

  I had a tsx for 1 year i had never had a problem besides wear and tear like brakes and tires. I work at a used car dealer myself where i get to drive all the similar vehicles like 3 series the Lexus Is and decided to go the Acura route because of the maintenance and better gas millage would recommend to anyone thinking about getting a 2010 model

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  2011 MDX Advance - 2011 Acura MDX
  By el_pic - January 25 - 9:07 am

  MDX = Multi Dimensional LuXover. Its not a rugged 4x4 SUV and its not a sports car but it is AWD and a luxury performance way to 5+2. Compared to 2011 others in its class (and be certain to compare the same class) ... Ten: Infinity FX - Nine: Grand Cherokee Overland - Eight: Land Rover LR4 HSE - Seventh: Volkswagen Touareg V-6 - Sixth: Volvo XC90 Sport - Fifth: Lexus GX470 - Fourth: Mercedes-Benz ML350 - Third: BMW X5 3.0si - Second: Cadillac SRX AWD V-8 - First: Acura MDX. Better price, handling, dependability, fit, finish. Enuff said ! Pros: Luxury Performance Value Dependability ! Cons: Single engine drivetrain choice - no Turbo, diesel, hybrid.

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  Overall satisfied but plenty of room for improvement !!! - 2010 Acura MDX
  By yar7 - January 23 - 1:48 pm

  After having a bad experience with the dealer who insisted & put a different remote starter because of supposedly Acuras is not reliable and dealing with Acura headquarters who were not responsive to our complaints, I am now content with my 2010 MDX ,7,500 miles on it. There is room for improvement in terms of gas mileage, noise reduction and quality of interior materials.

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  A Tribute - 2007 Acura TL
  By scatback - January 23 - 12:41 pm

  Just traded my 07 TL with 50,000 miles. What a marvelous combination of machinery, imagination and execution. It was always eager to run. GM engines still sound like theyre doing you a favor. German engines (and the rest of the cars) will empty you wallet. But here was real value, comfort an reliability in a package that was responsive, lithe and doesnt spend more time with the dealer than with you. Only a fool ever kept a BMW beyond the warranty. The previous entry got it right. Quit the sniffling this is a great car and a victory for the unpretentious.

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  Excellent Value Packed Sports Sedan - 2007 Acura TL
  By zippy69 - January 20 - 3:10 pm

  Whats with all the whining? Enough with the complaints about turning radius..... Please. Learn how to drive and execute a 3 point turn. The day I base my decision to buy a car on turning radius, please shoot me. As for rattling, my 07 has none. Everything works perfectly. Nothing ever breaks, and its got 73,000 miles on it! You shant find another car with all the features of the TL in its price range, or even higher.

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  Disappointing - 2010 Acura TSX
  By ssmu - January 19 - 10:36 pm

  My wife has been driving a TSX since 2004, its first model year. Weve been quite happy with that car it drives well, its comfortable, and its been quite reliable. So when I decided that I didnt want to spend any more money on my aging BMW 323i, I bought a 2010 TSX. Bad decision. Although the car is comfortable and fairly quick off the line, its steering is unforgivable. The electric power steering has a pretty good-sized dead zone at the center point, and it requires constant attention at highway speeds to keep the car pointed in a straight line. After a month I gave up and got rid of the thing. I now have an Acura TL with the works, which I absolutely love.