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:

• 

  Just Sweet! - 2004 Acura TL
  By tgbroom - April 6 - 2:00 am

  Great car, was looking at accord, found 6 sp, but only avail in coupe, then, went to Acura and test from 6 sp TL sedan, and never looked back.... Dream Ride!

• 

  Excellent ride, excellent value - 2004 Acura TL
  By Tobergus - April 6 - 2:00 am

  Acura continues to make fun, performance-based cars at great value. All of the amazing features are standard (the only options are the navi system and summer tires) including DVD- Audio, surround sound, XM Radio, Bluetooth, etc. No detail is overlooked making the car a true joy. The ride is phenomenal--it is a smooth, fast car. All in all, dollar for dollar a truly amazing vehicle. I highly recommend it.

• 

  This Car is Awesome - 2004 Acura TL
  By Bpaulsrud - April 6 - 2:00 am

  Before purchasing my new Acura TL i drove the audi A4 and the Infiniti G35. Both the Audi and Infinity were great cars, but if you want the most for your money the TL is the way to go. The TL performs as well if not better than both the Audi and the Infiniti, and there are few things that you can upgrade because everything comes stock on the TL. If you purchase a new TL, I promise you wont regret it!

• 

  Great car as expected. - 2005 Acura TL
  By Tnrealtor - April 5 - 6:10 pm

  I have owned several new BMWs which turned out to be not so reliable. This car has more features, horsepower, and realiabilty than BMW. Way to go Acura, you have gained a loyal follower.

• 

  love the car - 1999 Acura Integra
  By buzzer - April 5 - 2:00 am

  This car has proven itself to be fun to drive. I love the way it handles back roads. In my situation, single dad with two pre-teen kids, it has plenty of room (the four doors are nice) and the trunk is adequate. Gas mileage is good and no need for premium gas. I have been very happy with this car.

• 

  A solid car - 1995 Acura Integra
  By skippy - April 5 - 2:00 am

  Ive owned my 95 Integra for nearly 7 years now. Ive had problems with rattles in the dash and sunroof areas, a minor rust-colored stain on the carpet (when the car was brand new!) and the steering wheel airbag cover finish was peeling off when it was a few months old. Other than that, the car has been very reliable and is fairly fun to drive. It can be noisy in the cabin at higher speeds, though. Theres also a typical Japanese soft steering (over- boosted power) on this "sports car".

• 

  my integra - 1994 Acura Integra
  By zuritaf - April 5 - 2:00 am

  Ive had lots of fun with this car do to the fact of all the after market parts you can bye for it.I also enjoy driving it ,it has excelent handling through windy mountains.it also rides very smooth at speeds of 100+mph threw long desert streaches.

• 

  Excellent car - 1994 Acura Legend
  By Robert Marks - April 5 - 2:00 am

  excellent car...acura made a mistake when they quit making the legend.. although I hear its coming back

• 

  Sharp as a bullet - Forget the Accord - 1999 Acura CL
  By Jerzeemike - April 5 - 2:00 am

  Just traded my Integra for this car. I thought I loved my Integra till I drove this car for a day. Now an Integra just feels like an upscale Civic. Its luxurious, fast, and a really upscale version of the Accord coupe. It has all the amenities, not too mention the Acura Preowned Certified Warranty. Its one great car for the money.

• 

  2002 Acura TL - 2000 Acura TL
  By markm - April 5 - 2:00 am

  I love my Acura 3.2 TL. Fun to drive, care free at 33,000 miles. Very quick, comfortable. Great car