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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  Integra GS-R - 1995 Acura Integra
  By Ratman - June 13 - 2:00 am

  This is the best car Ive ever owned. Its 1.8L DOHC V-Tec engine is a powerhouse in a small package. When you punch the gas this little car gets up and goes!!! Its sound when you hit 4600rmp (v-tec) is just a teaser for things to come. You hit 6000rpm and its absolute furry under the hood! Its shifting response is unbeatable. 80mph, dump it in 3rd gear and mash the gas. You will be hooked! Oh yeah, the gas mileage is awesome. Its a beautiful car with great lines and sporty style. I cant wait until I can afford the RSX type S. This car turned me into an Acura fan overnight. I was a VW man for 12 years!!!

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  1998 Acura-4 years later - 1998 Acura Integra
  By professor jim - June 13 - 2:00 am

  The car is extremely reliable. The only downside is the comfort of the passenger seat it needs the lumbar support of the driver seat. Youll want to get out and stretch every hour or so on a long ride, particularly if youre 40+

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  A great car - 2008 Acura MDX
  By the man - June 12 - 4:00 am

  This car is so smooth. I also have a pilot and this car rides and handles much better. Has a real luxury feel to it.

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  teg lives up to name - 1991 Acura Integra
  By stupid mistake - June 12 - 2:00 am

  ive had this car for 8 years, cant say that ive had any major problems...all my friends that have driven it say it feels like youre going faster than you really are, thats a fun quality to have

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  Great Car - 1998 Acura TL
  By Rick Ward - June 12 - 2:00 am

  Excellent quality, very reliable. Highly recommend.

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  Dream car - 1997 Acura NSX
  By ash - June 12 - 2:00 am

  Edmunds price is ridiculously low. good luck finding a car at that price. I paid mid 50s for a 27mi, 97 NSX-T.

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  2001 RL Rocks - 2001 Acura RL
  By TennisPete - June 12 - 2:00 am

  Honda products are reliable beyond my wildest expectations. The RL is an absolute delight. It has delivered the reliability we have come to expect, the luxury features are top shelf and we like its classic elegant look. My wife wanted reliability and comfort. The RL delivers! I am sold on Honda/Acura reliability and I really liked the fact that there was only one option to consider for the RL (the navigation system). Everything is standard, as it should be on a car in this class. This car is everything we expected. TennisPete

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  Acura Confidence - 2003 Acura TL
  By aspatc - June 11 - 2:00 am

  My husband and I bought this car just 5 months ago. We previously had an Integra which I bought just out of college. My husband has a nasty commute and the Integra was "just too small" for him. Hes 63" about 240lbs. I finally conceded to the new car and we traded the Integra for the TL. He loves it and I enjoy driving it when hes not around. Our Integra was just about 5 years old and had almost 100,000 miles on it. We never had any work done outside of the scheduled maintenence. So far the TL is living up to the reliability standards of the Integra and my husband really appreciates the headroom.

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  I love my car - 2003 Acura TL
  By slinc - June 11 - 2:00 am

  I love my car. I tell my husband all the time. I drive 36,000 miles a year. I have no desire to drive anything else. We have a house divided. Im KU, hes MU. I drive my TL, he drives his I-30. And life goes on.

• 

  TYPE _S Rocks! - 2003 Acura TL
  By S-type lover - June 11 - 2:00 am

  I just purchased a Brand new TL Type S and It rocks. Very satisfied by the performance however, I am a greedy Sob so I plan on modifing it with the complete Comptech upgrade including the new Supercharger.