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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  A Japanese Euro Sedan in America - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Peter - January 13 - 12:06 pm

  Acura has definitely lived up to the hype. A limited production vehicle, the TSX is in definite competition with the BMW 325i, Audi A4, Mercedes Benz C Class, Subaru WRX, and Infiniti G35. The interior is luxurious and tasteful, with a plethora of features and amenities, especially the useful navigation system. The exterior is well designed, with the grill complementing its aggressive stance. The ride is firm but soft, as the suspension withstands bumps nicely. The body is agile and has minimal body roll, giving the TSX a sports sedan attitude. The 200hp VTEC engine is smooth and silky, with plenty of low-end torque for passing and freeway acceleration. At $30,000, a definite best buy.

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  Great Power and Style!! - 1996 Acura Integra
  By TurboGSRMark - January 13 - 2:00 am

  The GSR is a great bang for the buck! 1.8L and the hp Honda motors make! This motor is VERY reliable and come alive in the upper Rs. Pulls hard to 8k rpms. Great brakes, power, and style. Enjoy it all!

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  TSX is it !!! - 2006 Acura TSX
  By Jerry M - January 12 - 9:26 am

  Love this car. Manual (6 speed) is a must. Great car to drive, drives excellent and low price (about 27K+tax). Love dual AC temperature control.

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  A good all around car. - 2003 Acura RL
  By jrender - January 12 - 2:00 am

  This is a great Japanese luxury sedan for the price. I was looking at the 5 series Bimmers and the lexus ls 430. This car was much less than both, after the rebates. Extremely reliable and fun to drive.

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  awesome car - 2016 Acura RDX
  By Raj - January 11 - 8:27 pm

  i love my RDX . Best car for that price . So quite and comfort ride

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  My Lexuss Younger brother - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Chuck - January 11 - 5:51 pm

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  Better Than Ever Possible! - 2003 Acura RSX
  By Russcom87 - January 11 - 10:00 am

  Awesome car, awesome at everything. At a great price too.

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  NSX - 2002 Acura NSX
  By Long - January 10 - 2:00 am

  This is a excellent car. I love it, it is fun to drive. Go and buy this car.

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  Excellent Vehicle - 2006 Acura TL
  By CommBank1 - January 9 - 5:26 pm

  The TL met or exceeded all review reports. With the exception of not having rear wheel drive, dollar for dollar the TL compares favorably to both the 3 and 5 Series BMW, while leaving between $8000 to $15000 left in your pocket. Fun to drive.

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  Acura RDX 2016/Advance Package Red - 2016 Acura RDX
  By Debbie - January 9 - 2:28 am

  We purchased car January, 2016 - love it - first new car in a long time and very happy with purchase even though it was on the high end of our budget. Car is very comfortable to drive and is made well. Technology is very easy to figure out and has lots of cool features. Took ride up to Minnesota and ride was very stress free with cruise control system features. Smooth quiet ride. Some reviews state navigation system is cumbersome and at times it is, but no different then using a Garmin. Sound system is great and love the HDD CD Drive. Even though dealers do not deal much in price we found a much better deal at an Illinois dealer vs Milwaukee area and they were great! Hope we get lots of years out of it and it holds it value.