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 Vehicle Lousy Service - 2001 Acura MDX
  By als mdx - January 4 - 2:00 am

  Vehicle excellent is spite of dealers lousy service and rip offs.

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  Great Value - 1992 Acura Integra
  By Armitage - January 3 - 2:00 am

  I did a lot of research trying to find a fun, reliable car for under $5,000. I was able to find it in my Integra. I bought the GS model which has all the power accessories but does not have the vtec engine. The 1.8 liter engine in it though, has plenty of zip and has been really reliable. There are plenty of after market components you can buy to make it faster or look better and its really not that much differenet than a Honda Civic if you do your own auto repair. I found this car to be a much better value of comparable models like the Nissan 240 or Toyota Celica.

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  Boring and Stale - 2002 Acura RL
  By ref - January 3 - 2:00 am

  Car is well build, reliable, and sound. But a bore to drive try to rent one for a week before driving, Deal discounts abound, but dont fall in love of the deal (I did) OPPS! With deep discounts and an overload of lease returns, your 10,000 mile value will devistate you. Bearly in the black after $11,000 down at purchase and after $9,000. discount of sticker.OUCH! Working hard to trade for BMW or Benz.....REAL HARD

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  type r rules - 2000 Acura Integra
  By costas - January 2 - 2:00 am

  this vehicle is a race car straight out of the box. you need to do absoulotely nothing to it. no other veh on the road can offer you this type of formula 1 technolgy for the price. if you cant afford a nsx this is definitely the next best thing. the more i drive it the better it gets.

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  2nd time arount - 2006 Acura TL
  By bill - January 1 - 2:13 pm

  This is teh second TL that I have had and I love teh new voice activated nav and sound system. Combine this with Blue tooth technologoy you can leave your hands on the wheel the whole time you drive. Excellent performance for a 3.2 L, good exhausts sound and the Michelin tires are better than the Bridgestone. I would buy this car again especially if they could squeeze in a V8

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  Second to None - 1991 Acura Integra
  By Nick Walker - January 1 - 2:00 am

  I drive a 91 GS Hatchback. Everytime i get into my Integra i feel like im in a brand new red sports car. The integra does not look like an 11 year-old car. The engine could be a little more powerful but there is no doubt in my mind that this car is like the Jerry Rice of NFL recivers. This car is Second to None. No domestic cars are even in this same catagory. Not even some of the 90s civic can even hope to challenge this beast.

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  had an 86 for 200,000 mi., wanted more - 1991 Acura Legend
  By markyg - December 31 - 2:00 am

  After 14 years of driving an 86 Legend, I was convinced of Acura quality (engine still ran perfectly). I shopped for 4 months and bought a 91 coupe w/ 32K mi. Looks, feels & drives like a new car. Many people assume its a brand new car. Unbelieveable for a 12 year old car.

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  Refined Quality with a little Zip - 2001 Acura CL
  By teton_jumper - December 31 - 2:00 am

  The Type S is a beautifully constructed vehicle that exudes quality. The 260 HP gives the CL good punch, whether from a dead stop or while passing. I have owned several Mercedes and this vehicle is comparable as a road cruiser, but doesnt quite achieve the German road feel. The handling is a bit heavy, as would be expected from a front-driver. Overall, a comfortable and competent performer.

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  Awesome new TL - 2009 Acura TL
  By PMcK - December 31 - 1:13 am

  I love the new TL. This is my third TL in a row (04 and 06) and it is by far the best one Ive every owned. Like many I was skeptical about the exterior styling, but Ive had nothing but thumbs up. I live in Canada and with the winter tires it handles fantastically well. I love the iPod interface and the bluetooth. I also love the ticker steering wheel, I only wish it was heated. I also love the paddle shifters and that you can shift gears while the transmission is still in drive. Im a little disappointed in some of the material used like the interior door handle. Overall I definitely would recommend this car.

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  Fun Econoluxe Gas Sipper - 2006 Acura TSX
  By cartfan72 - December 30 - 5:10 pm

  We compared this against the new Jetta. We felt the Jetta (GLI) drove better (more torquey and quicker handling), but could not pass up the unparalleled Acura Navi system, built in Bluetooth and overall build quality. Our dealer experience here in Cary NC was very poor when it came time to negotiate a final price on the car we wanted. After offering a firm price I was told the car I wanted had been sold and no others in the area were available! What a lie!I found one myself only an hour away.I ended up buying the car out of state and saved about $1000, even with transportation costs. But, it was definitely worth the added hastle. The dealer I used in MD was fantastic, throrough and fair.