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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  SWEET - 2010 Acura TL
  By Ed Robust - December 12 - 1:39 pm

  This car is on $$$$$... has everything you could want in car and more. Styling, handling and the pure enjoyment of this car makes me get out and just ride. Ive owned a 3 Series BMW and this car excels past that, no longer crave that in-line 6. Went with SH-AWD, with bigger engine and tighter suspension "YOU CANNOT" ask for more!!

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  Not Bad for a 1st time SUV owner - 2010 Acura RDX
  By Maria - December 11 - 3:47 pm

  I have owned this car since August 2009. I got it using the Cash for Clunkers program. I am overall pleased with the car. The gas mileage could be better but it is a 4cyl. turbo. I used to have only 6 cyl. vehicles and this car is faster than what I used to own. I wish we could use regular gas. It is fun to drive, handles the road well, great technology and love the heated seats. It suits the needs of my small family and I also did not want a large SUV being that this is the first time that I have owned an SUV.

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  Ecstatic About My New Car - 2005 Acura RL
  By Bruce H - December 10 - 2:56 pm

  After researching and driving the German cars in this class, I had no problem picking the 05 RL as my new car. It has everything the Germans have plus the reliability that they dont. Handling and the comfort of luxury features are as good as any other car available, and my family feels safe and secure no matter what the weather or road conditions.

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  Great Value and Great Look - Classy SUV - 2017 Acura RDX
  By Terttu - December 10 - 1:31 pm

  Lots of space in the back seat. Wish it would have real leather seats!!! Looks like leather but they are not real leather seats.

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  2003 MDX - We like it. - 2003 Acura MDX
  By AC4 - December 9 - 2:00 am

  The MDX is quiet and a pleasure to drive and ride in. My mileage has been between 17 and 18 for mixed city driving. On the highway, I get around 22 in the foothills of NC, and around 24 in the Piedmont (a somewhat flatter area). So the mileage is not too bad for a 7 passenger SUV. Note that my highway speed was 70mph with the air conditioner turned off.

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  Very reliable, build performance car - 2003 Acura TL
  By deccan - December 9 - 2:00 am

  Except for exterior styling and average braking, the car is outstanding

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  I Love this car! - 2002 Acura RSX
  By RSX2002chicago - December 8 - 9:03 pm

  I bought my car new on October 8th, 2001. To date I have had only 1 problem with the car and that was a faulty O2 sensor at 79,000 miles. Thats it. Everything else has been routine maintenance( fluid flushes, filters, brakes, wipers). This car has been so reliable. Ive driven it to Texas and back and in the mountains in Colorodo near Longmont/ Estes park and back to Chicago. This car is super reliable. Handling is great. Steering feel is perfect. You cut the wheel and the car responds instantly. Perfectly weighted steering. Fuel economy is 30s highway, 24 to 26 city. Drops to 17 to 19 in the winter (idling/warm up).

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  Definition of reliable - 1992 Acura Integra
  By Kane - December 8 - 3:32 pm

  Bought this car used with 260,000 kms on it, drove it for 2 years and all I had to do was change the oil and put gas in it. Amazingly reliable car. This thing will run forEVER. Handles great, got 27-32 mpg no matter how hard I drove it. A/C stopped working but that was no big deal.

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  Loves to redline! - 2004 Acura RSX
  By Adam - December 7 - 12:13 pm

  Bought my Type-S used with 29k miles in 06. 3 years later and now with 83K miles the car still drives great. Very reliable, great on gas, with few bolt ons car will give you a run for its money. I have driven the car hard for 3 years and never gave me any problems.

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  Great Reliable car - 2003 Acura TL
  By VK - December 6 - 5:50 pm

  I bought the car new. After 105K miles its still running great. I did have some transmission trouble and while it was out of warranty and did not fall within the recall group, Acura graciously replaced it. Feel good about the safety features.