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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  Acyra RL - 2002 Acura RL
  By strandbl - August 11 - 2:00 am

  Excellent automobile and underrated by people who write auto reviews. They want a rear wheel V8, but a front wheel V6 is quite adequate and the RL is a superb auto all the way around. Quality is unsurpassed. It is easy to spend more on cars in this category and get much less car compared to...than an RL.

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  More cars should function like this - 1994 Acura Integra
  By ranman - August 10 - 2:00 am

  How many times Ive used this car to pick up furniture and always get the same look as I pull up to load it.. like what does this guy think hes doing??? Yet every time the desk, hutch, or whatever it happens to be (last time it was a baby crib) fits perfectly with the rear seats folded down. Yet, pull the seats up, and take the care for a ride, it is a sweet ride, just make sure you buy the manual transmission - it is better

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  Pretty Good - 2000 Acura TL
  By Liam - August 10 - 2:00 am

  I like this car. It is fun to drive, good acceleration and handling, and gets decent mileage,. I came out of a 1997 Infiniti I30, which is in the same class. For a while, I thought the I30 was the superior car, but after owning both for roughly 3 years, I would get the Acura again before the Infiniti. Decent leg room, I am 64", and it is more comfortable for me than many SUVs.

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  Opinion Counts - 1999 Acura SLX
  By DEH - August 9 - 2:00 am

  Family likes the visibility and cargo space this vehicle offers. Center console can be a challange due to controls being too accessable to accidental engagement. Otherwise we like it.

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  I love this car - 1994 Acura Integra
  By yahoo@hotmail.com - August 9 - 2:00 am

  I bought my GS-R used about 6 years ago and have loved driving it every minute. It is fun, fast and still can comfortably seat 4 people when it needs to. I cannot think of any car I would rather have than this one.

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  Best car ever! - 1998 Acura Integra
  By typer800 - August 9 - 2:00 am

  Ive driven all kinds of cars and nothing even comes close to how great this car is. Its a car with not only unbelivable performance, but also unsurpassed reliability. Just keep up on the maintanence, and it will run forever.

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  Best car Ive ever owned - 1994 Acura Vigor
  By shiela - August 8 - 2:00 am

  Through my driving years Ive owned 2 brand new Ford products, a new Chrysler and a new GM. No car has ever performed as reliably as this one. After 115,000 miles my 16 year old is getting it and Im getting a new one. Acura makes great products that last. Not one single thing has broken or has needed to be replaced outside of normal things ie. brakes etc. This is is more than I can say for my husbands Jaguar.

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  Wished I kept my Honda - 1997 Acura TL
  By ktwill904@yahoo.com - August 8 - 2:00 am

  Worst car Ive ever had. Everyone else has the exact same problems with their cars. A technicians told me that the 2.5 TLs were the worst cars Acura makes. I will NEVER buy another Acura. Hard to believe that these people make Hondas. Ask a TL owner about problems theyve had with their cars. Youll get a list. Here are things to worry about: parking brakes, regular brakes wind noise, radiators, if your car goes dead and you dont have the code to your radio you are screwed,inside brake lights, power lock shortage, the center piece in your rims will fall out,numerous recalls

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  2005 MDX Premium - 2005 Acura MDX
  By RedSox18 - August 7 - 10:26 am

  I have had Hondas for 15 years and have owned two CRVs during that time. This Acura was a bit of a splurge for me, but I felt it was a step above the Honda Pilot, offering a solid, quality vehicle with a little more luxury, comfort and style. I spend a couple of hours per day in my car, so I am pleased with the purchase so far. I have two kids, and the MDX comes standard with side curtain airbags, which the Pilot does not. So far, I am impressed with the MDX and the smooth ride and responsive handling. It handles well in rain and snow, and hugs dry pavement much better than my small SUVs. Highly recommend this quality vehicle. Loads of room, too!

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  Best value on the market - 2004 Acura TL
  By Car-Nut - August 7 - 10:00 am

  Owned a Lexus, Infiniti, Jag, Mercedes in the past few years. This is by far the best overall car of the above. I had heard so much about the new Chrysler 300 and thought sure I would buy one the day they came out. Not only is the Chrysler 3.5 more expensive, it is junk compared to my 3.2 TL