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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  Unreliable Disappointment - 1997 Acura CL
  By Brian DC - January 22 - 2:00 am

  My CL 3.0 has 77K miles on it, and has had numerous repairs since the warranty expired including bad alternator ($300+), bad transmission (remanufactured $2500+), check engine emissions($250). Parts are expensive for this car. What has happenned to Acura reliability? This will be my last Acura. I will purchase a long extended warranty if I ever were to get a Honda/Acura product again. Also this car has developed a LOT of noisiness and squeaks in the last few years. The CL is great for highway drives, comfortable and fast on the highway. Has a nice set of standard options and great V6 engine.

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  Bought a RSX Type S - 2003 Acura RSX
  By Youngcrew84 - January 22 - 2:00 am

  My mom finally bought me the rsx type s and i love it. it fun to drive the shifter is incredible smooth. i love the high revving i-vtec engine. The dealer was really nice and gave me spoiler and wheelocks for free! I driven the WRX but the shifter is not nearly as smooth and the rsx type s is hella fun to drive.

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  Very pleased - 2002 Acura MDX
  By MDX Rocks - January 22 - 2:00 am

  Just had our 7,500 mile service, and I cant praise this vehicle enough. Great power, looks, comfort, reliability. Having driven 330 miles through a serious snow storm on Christmas Eve, I feel qualified to say that the 4WD works extremely well. You can buy an X5 with options to match the MDX for thousands more, and you still wont be able to do anything about the space deficit. The extra seats and cargo space are VERY nice to have. If you want to be able to say "I drive a BMW", thats understandable - my wife and I just bought a 530i. But if you want value, the MDX is the clear choice.

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  best exotic on the market - 1995 Acura NSX
  By rchphker - January 21 - 2:00 am

  i have owned 2 nsxs and both have been reliable, fun and fast. ferarri builds nice cars and the mystique is there, they are neither reliable or worth the price of admission. there are other cars that are faster 0-60 and in the quarter mile, but that isnt what the nsx is about, drive one and youll understand. it is not a car for the camaro lover, if that is your niche, stick to the vette.

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  A nice car - 1997 Acura CL
  By smilee - January 21 - 2:00 am

  I bought this one in 1996, and its been the best vehicle I have owned.

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  noisy ride - 2002 Acura MDX
  By RLJEB - January 21 - 2:00 am

  We purchased this vehicle for the supposed reliability and extra seating capability. After approximately 1,000 miles I began to notice a high pitch ringing noise when going over 30mph. I have taken the MDX back to the dealer 3 times for repair to no avail. Also, whenever I change gears (i.e. go into reverse after being in park) the is a loud thud when braking. Dealer tells me this a normal characterisitc of the MDXs brake callipers (sp?) adjusting. Who knows? What I do know is that I am unhappy with the entire Acura experience. I paid close to $40,000 for a noisy vehicle which I do not enjoy driving.

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  acura tsx rules in its class! - 2004 Acura TSX
  By meet joe black - January 20 - 10:00 am

  i liked that everything was standard. (i had looked into a mazda 6 s, but with options, it quickly became a $29k mazda). the tsx has a nice tight, solid feel when driving it, even over some of bostons roughest roads.

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  Classy - 2004 Acura TL
  By Sundance - January 20 - 10:00 am

  The ride is very harsh, brought about by racy tires etal, much harder than an Accord. These tires result in a wider turning radius over the Accord which makes it hard to manuver in tight spaces. The windows on both front sides rattle which would never happen on an Accord. While we like the TL, Honda needs to turn up the quality button. We also have an Accord V6.

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  acura power! - 2004 Acura TL
  By mo-paul - January 20 - 10:00 am

  This is the best car that we have ever driven! We received a good deal on the car and are very satisfied! It combines luxury with style and performance. Its the ultimate baby boomer 21st century cruiser!

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  Poor Mans Sports Car - 1999 Acura Integra
  By 6000 - January 20 - 2:00 am

  Almost 4 years old, and not one fault from day go. Best car I have ever owned. It beats my previous car, Volvo, with the exception of interior room.