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 value - 2005 Acura TSX
  By Harry - September 9 - 11:53 am

  The TSX is a very good buy for the money and fun to drive. Everything you could want is standard.

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  Best out there - 2002 Acura MDX
  By manus - September 9 - 2:00 am

  I was one of the first to own the MDX and never had any regrets. I once got a flat in a bad area and Acura Roadside Assistance came to the scene and changed my tire in less than half an hour! Never had any trouble with the car, it lives up to Acuras reputation of reliability. Performance is amazing both on and off road. I truly believe some of the other consumer ratings were posted by RX/X5/&ML owners. They paid thousands more for so much less, I dont blame them for their animosity.

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  Basque Red Beauty - 2016 Acura TLX
  By Greg Tiller - September 8 - 10:06 am

  Luxury car not a cheap commuter. Adam is great to work with at David McDavid Acura in Plano. We drove 1.5 hrs and it was worth it.

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  My best vehicle yet - 1993 Acura Legend
  By Zak - September 8 - 2:00 am

  This has by far been the best and most reliable car I have driven over the past 30 years! It is fun to drive, it performs outstandingly, and is the most beautiful body design, even after almost ten years of driving. What a shame that Accura decided to change something this close to perfection! The only complaint I have is that the sun visor partially disrupts front view.

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  Second MDX is disappointing - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Mike S - September 7 - 2:58 pm

  I traded my 2013 Acura MDM in for a 2016 and am very disappointed in the new cars transmission. It is very clunky and shifts in and out of gears unnecessarily. Based on the transmission alone, I would not recommend this vehicle. The old transmission was a 6 speed and was much smoother than the current 9 speed. At highway speeds it is fine, but in ordinary city stop/go traffic it is not. I do like the lane change warnings and the warnings that you get when you are backing up that another car is approaching from the sides. This is very helpful when pulling out of a parking space when another truck or SUV is next to you. The car informs you someone is coming before you can actually see the oncoming car. Very nice feature! I wish Acura would offer a HUD, I have one on a BMW and it is another feature that once you have, you dont ever want to give up. The navigation system display is not very well done and the software it uses is not very efficient, also much better on my BMW. All-in-all, I would rather have my old MDX back.

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  vigor is crazy - 1993 Acura Vigor
  By #1 fan - September 7 - 2:00 am

  The acura vigor is a real nice car. Its control is unbelievable.

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  Integra Rules!!!! - 1998 Acura Integra
  By Joseph R. Platt - September 6 - 2:00 am

  I bought my 1998 Integra LS right after I had an accident with my 97 Accord. I have always liked the look of the car and wanted to own one. Boy am I pleased that I bought this car. It is the ideal car for a college student. With its sporty look and trendy exterior design, I am guaranteed to get looks when I drive it around campus. Along with its great looks, the gas milage on this car cant be beat! Finally, the car is just enjoyable to drive! I would recommend this car to anyone who is looking for a first car!

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  its great - 2002 Acura MDX
  By junghoon song - September 6 - 2:00 am

  it is really great to drive. the second row is comfortable enough.

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  2000 TL3.2 - 2000 Acura TL
  By digitalcopy - September 5 - 2:00 am

  In shop for 2nd transmision replacement. 1st one died @30,000 miles, second one dead @ 63,000. Rest of car is great. Poor tranny design which is obviously flawed. Heard this from many other owners of same model.

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  Rugged Box - 1999 Acura SLX
  By mac85260 - September 4 - 2:00 am

  The SLX is a true off road vehicle with ample cargo space. Ive used it for hunting and for launching a boat from an unimproved ramp (beach). Visability is excellent. Weve used it for family vacations and it will cruise all day at 75+. In spite of its square shape is not adversely affected by cross winds.