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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  Some Major Issues with the New MDX - 2007 Acura MDX
  By Telee - August 19 - 5:13 pm

  Rear view is extremely limited. Very small side view mirrors and late to upload rear camera do not help. Back up lights are almost useless. The seats become very uncomfortable if you are slender. A seam cuts across your rear, otherwise they would be great. Our 2001 Lexus nav system was better that the one they pack in the MDX. The auto window lock-out locks the driver out as well as the passengers. Our dog continually lowers the windows with his paws, and turns on the heated seats both front and rear. The tail gate is slick, but the rear hatch opening is too small to fit furniture that, otherwise, should fit. The key fob is not intuitive. Take a long look before you buy.

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  Headrest issue - 2007 Acura MDX
  By jaystuff - August 18 - 11:33 am

  About 4000 miles now. Never has been to Acura for a single problem. For the money, you get a lot of stuff. Voice recognition is for the birds. Main problem that I didnt notice during my test drive: if you keep the seat erect, at a good angle for your posture, the head rest pushes your neck down !!! Most uncomfortable headrest in the industry. Acura claims that it is a safety feature, but it only works if you angle the seat back about 15 degrees!!! Mileage is okay for a heavy SUV. Get the sport package - handling is out-of-sight.

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  I love Acuras - 2007 Acura TL
  By Patrea Pabst - August 17 - 3:19 pm

  I have been driving a 1999 Acura TL with 230,000 miles. Great car, reliable, high performance, comfortable. Went same place for a replacement (kids get old car, still running great). Wish it had darker interior, better rear visibility, more comfortable seat for shorter driver (53") and better gas mileage but cant fault anything else. Co-workers very envious. Love the sound system, navigation, maintenance features.

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  Not all its cracked up to be - 2007 Acura RL
  By Wingnut - August 13 - 8:19 pm

  This car looked like a terrific value, but it has not turned out that way. I was looking forward to "Honda Reliability" but too many things just dont work well or are gimmicky. Fuel economy is atrocious (14-15), electronics dont work that well, run-flat tires are super loud, there is some wind noise, key fob/keyless entry never works the same twice in a row. Car is pretty slow off the line, but decent on the highway. Ride is too much of a compromise. Handling is good, but the Michelin run-flats are lousy performance tires in all but the correct temperature range. I came out of an Audi A8, and would NOT buy this car again.

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  Transmission nightmares! - 1999 Acura CL
  By roadtripgirl - August 13 - 1:45 pm

  Bought a 1999 CL 3.0 new from the dealership. Only the dealership serviced my car. Four transmissions at 67K miles. Dealership and Corporate Acura would not do anything on behalf of customer loyalty to make this right except an occasional free oil change. Do not, do not, do not buy an Acura!

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  57K miles and still love it - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Vince - August 12 - 10:32 pm

  This car does nothing great, but does everything well. It has enough power to be useable in daily driving, yet it feels like a different car when VTEC kicks in around 6K RPM. Stock it handles well enough, but go aftermarket for serious handling. The interior is good. Nothing in this car requires the owners manual. Honda has perfected user-friendly interiors. When driven reasonably, Ive averaged 34-36 MPG consistently. The chassis has developed some rattles, mainly when the temps are cold. Other than that, the chassis is solid. I had 2nd gear grinds earlier on, but it now only happens when extremely cold. Overall, I love this car and I think its a great car for the young professional.

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  RDX - 2007 Acura RDX
  By judy - August 10 - 5:57 pm

  I love driving this car. It rides smoothly and it feels luxurious. The only thing I really hate is having to fill up the tank so often and having to pay so much because I can only use premium.

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  Rough Rider - 2004 Acura TL
  By imabettor - August 4 - 10:00 am

  rides like it has 4 square wheels (obviously exaggerated) but not by much! SEATS TOO HARD. & PASSENGER DOOR TOO WIDE. WIFE CANT REACH THE HANDLE TO CLOSE THE DOOR WHEN SEATED. DIFFICULT TO ENTER& EXIT UNLESS LOEWRING SEAT.TOO MUCH BLIND AREA .

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  Some serious design flaws - 2007 Acura MDX
  By LexThor - July 31 - 10:03 pm

  Huge side blind spots make lane changes a gamble. Uncomfortable seats. Dashboard angled steeply away from driver so in sunlight you cannot see the digital readouts. The 4 dash A/C vents almost close when you aim them to blow air at you. And under powered - if you think the 300hp stat means this car will outperform a 265hp V8, a test drive will show this car powers more like a 210 hp V6 costing $15K less. On the plus side, solid luxurious quiet ride and decent handling. Perfect for soccer moms. Not for inner city driving where you need power to zoom up hills and need to be aware of surrounding traffic in case of quick lane changes.

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  Very few flaws - 2007 Acura RDX
  By remke44 - July 31 - 2:26 pm

  The RDX is a great small SUV. Ive had mine almost a year and I love the ride, handling, and sleek interior. The interior and cargo space are much larger than the exterior of the car would indicate. The biggest drawback is the poor gas mileage. I drive 80% in the city and 20% on the highway and Ive only averaged 15 MPG. Thats pretty bad for a small SUV. Other small annoyances -- the seat belts dont fit snug and rattle the front seats should slide back further to increase front leg room. Cheaper than the BMW X3 and more luxurious and sportier than the RAV4 or CRV.