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:

• 

  A fun everyday 4 door sports car - 2009 Acura TL
  By Bruce Kepley - November 16 - 2:00 am

  Have owned this car since Christmas, 2008, its now heading into Christmas 2010, so two years. I can say that it has been a truly pleasurable experience... The car is quick, agile, comfortable, gets 30mpg (!, surprised) and reliable...has the tech package which is VERY useful, and has a huge WOW factor...my fiance likes the car much more than her Lexus. This is my third Acura, the first, a 1999 model, was the best car that I had ever owned up until that time, the second was a 2002 (all TLs) pretty much like the first, and this 2009 model is fantastic... The only problem that Ive had was with the drivers seat bolster wearing prematurely...worth the money spent...

• 

  So Far So Good- Blown Away is more like - 2010 Acura TL
  By True Believer - November 16 - 2:00 am

  Man. This car is fantastic! I love the awkwardly beautiful looks on the exterior and the well laid out interior. I cross-shopped several cars in the luxury and near luxury segment and the Acura TL came out on top easily. For the price you get so many things standard, including leather seats, Ipod connectivity, Hands Free Link, Garage Door Link, Heated front seats to name a few things. All this in the base model. And the car drives like a dream. Very responsive in day to day driving. Just a great car all around.

• 

  My "new" used RL - 2006 Acura RL
  By Ruppster - November 15 - 2:00 am

  I am a car guy. Have owned three beemers, four Mercedes, a couple of 3rd generation RX-7s, etc. I am now a dad with two youngsters and decided to go "practical" and buy a responsible used car. After much research settled on a very, very clean 2006 RL. While it does not have the marquee value of my last to Mercedes, its a pretty darn nice car and one heck of a value. Paid about 20K for a car that listed for 50K new and still has very few signs of wear and tear. Interior features are just great. Voice recognition isnt perfect but everything else is spot on. You really feel coddled in the cockpit. Stereo is best Ive experienced, materials are top notch.

• 

  Sunroof Air Leaks and Rattles - 2010 Acura ZDX
  By gea001 - November 15 - 2:00 am

  Love many aspects of this car - exterior styling, interior comfort and design, tech features, sound system etc...price/value equation vs. BMW X6 Have had sunroof quality/adjustment issue which I did not expect from Acura. Acceleration/Power/MPG trade-off not that compelling vs BMWs Ive owned.

• 

  Great car, poor speakers - 2009 Acura TSX
  By phoking - November 15 - 2:00 am

  I have the Tech package 6 speed and love the car, but have a few complaints here and there and have owned it for just under 1 year. Pros, I love the interior look of the car. The design of the dashboard is pretty sleek and I think everything flows really nicely. Especially the gauges at night. You get a pretty nice feel from the shifter. but lately it feels like it kinda "clunks" in to 3rd instead of slipping in like it usually does. And with the tech package, you get one of the best sounding factory audio settings Cons: with that said about the audio, the speakers are bad quality. Ive had 3 speakers blow since owning the car, and I listen at moderate to low levels only. Handling is subpar.

• 

  The Sports Sedan of mid-size SUVs - 2010 Acura MDX
  By SJ - November 14 - 2:00 am

  Traded in a 2005 Honda Pilot. The Pilots acceleration, cornering, and braking cant compare to the MDX. I have it out on the twisty roads of the Sierra Nevada. It feels like a decent sports sedan, not an SUV. The interior ambience if the MDX is way more luxurious than the Pilot. Another huge difference is road noise. There is very little road noise in the MDX. Gas mileage is disappointing. At 8,000 miles on the odometer, I am still not hitting the EPA highway mileage on longer trips. So far it is has not had a single reliability issue. If is is as reliable as my previous 3 Acuras, it will be a 10.

• 

  TSX for my Teenager. - 2004 Acura TSX
  By Her TSX - November 13 - 2:00 am

  We purchased a white TSX approximately one year ago for our 16 year old daughter. She absolutely loves this car. Her friends think she is so cool. This car is very stylish. It currently has 79,800 miles and we have not experienced any problems. We will keep this car in the family for years to come.

• 

  forgetten car - 2010 Acura RL
  By Gary - November 12 - 2:00 am

  First of all, this is a great car to drive and I am happy to own it. Good handling on the curve Lower price with many high end options

• 

  forgetten car - 2010 Acura RL
  By Gary - November 12 - 2:00 am

  compared to price it has most of features and nice ride.

• 

  I Love This Car - 2004 Acura TL
  By Mike - November 11 - 2:00 am

  This is my second TL. I love the looks of this car. It is still stylish after 6 years and I never get tired of driving it. The standard features that this car has still amaze me. I have had just about zero problems with this car. Had the issue of wearing through my first set of tires at 20K but the suspension fix and new tires at half price fixed that. Second set of Bridgestones are holding up well. I have no major complaints