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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  review - 1998 Acura CL
  By hawkdogg - January 30 - 2:00 am

  this car with a manual stickshift and tighter shocks would be the perfect drive.

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  smart alternative to new car - 1997 Acura CL
  By Duce68 - January 30 - 2:00 am

  All the reliablity youd expect in a compact, nice looking package with top notch materials. After 10k miles with this car, I havent been happier.

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  Cross Country Breakin Fantastic - 2016 Acura RDX
  By Leslie Lagdamen - January 30 - 12:20 am

  RDX 2016 Fantastic....New technology features work great....Long time coming but worth the wait....was deciding between Q5...Murano....Sante Fe....Lexus ....The overall cost in comparison to what you get is what convinced me....Although Sante Fe was close....Honda Quality and my Personal History with Honda cars sold me in the end.....Purchased the RDX 2016 with the intent to Drive Cross Country from California to east coast and back.....and wanted and needed the additional technology features ( Acura Watch Plus ) to assist and make my trip comfortable and Safe....I was not disappointed...My only regret is that I should have bought the Advance Package ....oh and it needs more USB Ports especially in the rear Seating areas.

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  Acura 3.2 CL - 2003 Acura CL
  By L124RD - January 29 - 10:00 am

  Fun and good to drive!

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  I am glad I chose this car. - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Ralphbec - January 29 - 10:00 am

  I drive my RSX over 70 miles on a daily basis and so far I love it. The interior (front seats) is well designed for both comfort and functionality. The exterior is sporty but not over the top. I love the looks I get from people at a stop light. The car handles well and never lacks power, and all for just under 30 miles to the gallon. The red interior lighting has not gotten old and the stereo is really good. Its a great first car out of college.

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  Honda should stick to motorcycles - 2002 Acura MDX
  By sadmatt - January 29 - 10:00 am

  What a joke. Service, and all dealers just downright rude. So you wait four months to find out the thing starts sometimes and not others. I can see why Toyota is the largest and richest automobile producer in Japan. This overpriced mini Van (what was I on when I bought this?) is just that. Buy a RX300 and be done with it. If you need to haul anymore than that wait for the new bigger Lexus. The service and car is much better.

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  Good value - 2002 Acura MDX
  By drb - January 29 - 10:00 am

  For the money, it is an excellent SUV. Others cost more and offer so much less. Wind noise is horrible for this "luxury" type of vehicle. Hopefully honda will fix it with the next model year. A pleasure to drive but would be better with more horse power.

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  Perfect for my wife - 2002 Acura MDX
  By pattynjeff - January 29 - 10:00 am

  We bought this vehicle for my wife and are very happy. This is a very nice daily driver. Plenty of power, roomy, smooth ride, and handles well. An exceptional value, the MDX was less expensive than the X5, RX300, and ML320.

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  so far so good - 2003 Acura TL
  By knix200129 - January 29 - 10:00 am

  Just leased my 03 with Nav a month ago. So far I love this car. Looked at the Lexus IS300/ES300, and the Volvo S60/s80. After looking at all the goodies that came with the TL, and compared the pricing vs. the Lexus and the Volvo, it was no contest. So far this car is awesome. The passing power is great, the interior room (im 62" 260lbs) is very good, and the bose stereo ROCKS!!!! I also am leasing a Honda Odyssey w/Nav(which the wife and I LOVE!) but the stereo in the ODY is horrible. Anyhow, great car, great ride, great value, and great sound. If choosing an entry level Lux car, this is your car.

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  Reliable fun to drive touring car - 1993 Acura Legend
  By Eric93L - January 29 - 2:00 am

  Model: 5 speed manual with the 200 hp. The car has excellent power and refinement. The engine revs smoothly to the redline and wants to keep going. The car handles excellent at high speeds and makes a wonderful highway cruising car. There is a lot of road noise for a car in this class, but it is still very quiet for what I am used to. Gas mileage is good for the class with the manual 27/17 mpg highway/city is what I get. The car doesnt have many features, but those it does have are of the best quality. The radio sounds great, all the controls are simple and easy to use. The leather seats are comfortable, but no seat heaters in the L model. An excellent car overall.