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:

• 

  My first Acura - 2016 Acura RDX
  By Torr310 - August 22 - 9:30 am

• 

  1991 Acura Integra RS - 1991 Acura Integra
  By Judas - August 22 - 2:00 am

  GREAT FUN!!!

• 

  My Review - 2001 Acura MDX
  By Paul314159 - August 22 - 2:00 am

  Great car, but the windshield sometimes "sings" at high speeds.

• 

  SLX - 1996 Acura SLX
  By MissMrozik - August 20 - 2:00 am

  Great car, very few mechanical problems. Vehicle is large and my husbands LX470 Lexus, but it gets 17.00 mpg, 4 more than the Lexus. Acura dealers treat certified used car purchasers very well.

• 

  Heartbreaker - 1997 Acura CL
  By Radiomom - August 20 - 2:00 am

  Ive loved this car from the moment we test drove it. Ive babied it & always used the terrific dealer service). After 5 years, I have just had my first major mechanical problem, and its a biggie -- transmission. Im making the investment ($3600 - Acura chipped in with $900 off and a free rental) to keep it going for at least a few more years. The sound system is unmatched in any car Ive been in. Little things, like the leather starting to give on the seams, and the door on my glasses box (under the CD player) busting a hinge are my only annoyances. sigh. And that the transmission should go bad...

• 

  GREAT CAR - 1992 Acura Integra
  By HUBERT - August 18 - 2:00 am

  BEST CAR WE EVER OWNED. FUN TO DRIVE GREAT FUEL ECONOMY SOLID RIDE

• 

  Sunroof wind noise - 2002 Acura RL
  By Sirsmokey - August 18 - 2:00 am

  Overall our experience has been very good except for the languishing wind noise coming out of the sunroof for which the dealer can do nothing about. We have to keep inner sunroof door closed at all times, especially at high speeds.

• 

  Excellent car - 2003 Acura TL
  By DRM1 - August 18 - 2:00 am

  Excellent ride, nice acceleration with good roadholding. Very impressed with level of luxury given the price (especially good as I got a good discount since they are clearing out 03s with the arrival of the 04s). Relative to my previous cars fit and finish have been a real high for me.

• 

  better than my a4 - 2003 Acura TL
  By kronedog - August 18 - 2:00 am

  i loved my a4 but had 120k on it and was time to get rid of it. Other than cornering and passing in traffic, i will take the acura hands down. it is smooth, very comfortable, better on gas, and with all the accessories, it is better priced than the a4

• 

  Acura TL 6MT - 2004 Acura TL
  By gvahe - August 18 - 2:00 am

  Although Ive only had the car for 4 days, I cant stop driving it!!(TL with Navigation and 6MT) Previously had a 2002 Audi A4 3.0 Quatro, and for the money, the acura has this beat hands down.