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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  Lots of bang for your buck! - 2003 Acura TL
  By ledname - October 17 - 2:00 am

  Great power and handling. A couple of squeaks in the interior here and there...just havent had a chance to bring it in. One downfall is the climate control which is supposed to be automatic but really isnt. The temperature setting is there for show. If you want heat, you have to turn it up to 90 just to get it to 70 when it is cold out.

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  Best car ever built!!! - 1991 Acura NSX
  By stunts7 - October 16 - 2:00 am

  As it IS rated one of the best 10 cars ever produced, I had to have one. It has lived up to its ratings 100%!!!!!

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  Couldnt be happier - 2002 Acura NSX
  By rjk - October 16 - 2:00 am

  The more I researched this car, the more I thought Id like it, but I hadnt even begun to understand how much Id have liked it. Driving this car is as fun as driving it for the first time every time I get in it. Truly spectacular. Worth the extra 30 thousand dollars over the Corvette -- this thing has *soul*.

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  Former Corvette owner - 2002 Acura NSX
  By NSX Owner - October 16 - 2:00 am

  Advantage of driving a corvette: It goes fast Advantage of driving an NSX: Luxury Style Handling It turns heads feels solid at ANY speed a real gearbox STREETABLE TORQUE! (ever heard of TOO MUCH TORQUE? The Corvette was rediculous - had to start it like a grandma or risk standing still in a burnout) havent had a single reliability issue with it in 23,000 miles.

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  Love my TL - 1999 Acura TL
  By Bott1263 - October 16 - 2:00 am

  We wanted a car that would be safe, fun and reliable. After testing the TL we knew this was the car. After one month and a 600 mile trip I know we made the right decision. This is a very easy car to drive.

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  Redrock Pearl - 2002 Acura MDX
  By jatharp - October 16 - 2:00 am

  This is by far the best SUV I have ever driven. There is absolutly nothing I can find wrong with it.

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  Want my ES Back - 2000 Acura TL
  By BuKoDahm - October 16 - 2:00 am

  After two years with a Lexus ES 300 I decided to see what else is out there in the entry-level luxury market. Kind of like dating a girl, shes fine and all but you just never know if something better is waiting for you. Anyway, the car is fun to drive and is very sporty, but overall quality is unquestionably the ES 300. Sure, the Acura is faster (by a second in 0-60 times), but the car that still has my heart is my old ES 300. Guess I shouldnt have left the old girl.

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  better than the more prestigious names - 2002 Acura MDX
  By bjg - October 15 - 2:00 am

  I owned and Explorer, Grand Cherokee and an X5 before buying this one. It drives extremely well on and off road, provides luxury and utility in large doses and has a great sound system. There is also the added benefit of Acura (Honda) quality and I havent even had a small rattle yet.

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  Ill buy another - 2002 Acura MDX
  By ReiverToo - October 15 - 2:00 am

  I love this car...er,truck...er,SUV. Ive owned it 2 yrs & have found nothing that I seriously dislike & a whole bunch thats great. I live in the So.Cal. mountains & spend a lot of driving time on curvy, up & down roads. The MDX handles super. It is fun & stable to drive. On ice & snow the AWD really comes through. It has an amazing amount of interior space considering the outside appearance. The biggest negative with the vehicle is the dealer network. Having owned two MBs and two Lexi, Ive become spoiled by excellent service. Acura dealerships(Ive been to three)are about on a par with Ford. Not what you expect of a supposed luxury nameplate.

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  X5 Beatter - 2002 Acura MDX
  By maxw - October 15 - 2:00 am

  I have had an extrordinary experience with my MDX. The ride is excellent and the most features are convenient. I have not been able to get the home link to work with my garage door opener, but otherwise it has been great. The only bad thing to say is the Acura dealiships know they have a good car and are sometimes a little arrogant.