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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  marlands review - 2005 Acura TL
  By o5 3.2 tl,nav - April 1 - 8:10 pm

  lot of fun too drive excellent interior nav is awesome

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  Great car for the money - 1996 Acura TL
  By Trey - March 31 - 2:00 am

  I am 16 and this is my first car. From the first time that I saw it, I knew it was the one I wanted. It has the Acura/Honda name so you know it is reliable and luxurious. There arent that many performance parts and stuff for it out there, but you can do a lot of stuff to it and make it look really nice. check out www.acura-tl.com if you want to see some of them fixed up!

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  Supprt and transmission - 1999 Acura TL
  By rom - March 31 - 2:00 am

  It is a good car. However, considering power train performance, Maxima can "make circles" around my TL. (Yes, I also have 95 Maxima.) Transmission is the "weakest link"... especially between first and second gear. Windshield glare is very bad (I have tan color dashboard). Put something black to prevent eye strain -- it works. Attention to customer problem doesnt exist. And this is not about my dealer (I think they were sincere) but Acura technical reps. After numerous phone calls, and even, an apparent, visit of the regional technical "specialist" my problem still exists -- intermittent (!!!) operation of the remote control. They just tired me out -- I gave up.

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  sunroof rattle fix - 2003 Acura CL
  By tliang - March 30 - 10:00 am

  for those of u who has the same sunroof rattle/noise problem. put some armor all on the sunroof weather strip. it works really well. I dont hear a thing for a long time since.

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  Efficient but boring! - 2002 Acura MDX
  By grotto - March 30 - 10:00 am

  Very efficient SUV, falls short of being a "Luxury" SUV.

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  Better than BMW? - 2007 Acura TL
  By smidge - March 29 - 4:03 pm

  I compared the Type S with 6 speed manual to BMW 335 and Audi A4. The TL is much more roomy inside, especially the rear seat foot/legroom (TL more like BMW 5 series for interior room). I bought red exterior with lighter interior - was gonna get black interior but decided too dark. TL has highest crash test safety ratings, highest Consumer Reports score for its class (entry level luxury). The navigation system is excellent and easy to use. The clutch is perfect and the shifter snick-snickety smooth - real nice! The motor sounds awesome - like a turbo almost, and car is fast! Car is a real pleasure to drive. Audio system is excellent. Good value.

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  none - 2016 Acura TLX
  By Augustine Trinchese - March 29 - 2:08 pm

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  An American Compact would have broke! - 1999 Acura Integra
  By Andynnola - March 29 - 2:00 am

  This isnt the best car on the market but for reliability and fun to drive at a reasonable price this car is second to none. I have owned it for three years and anything American at this price would have been an unreliable rattle trap by now (based on how I drive it). The GSR is solid and quick enough to get around without guzzling gas. Not impressed with Acura service but it doesnt spend much time in the shop. I am looking forward to many years/miles of trouble free flogging in the future.

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  smooth riding - 1998 Acura TL
  By George Cash - March 29 - 2:00 am

  A wonderfull car to drive. Rides smooth and handles smoother. Very few problems however, when they do occurr parts are more expensive than on the 3.2 model

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  Practical Performance - 1995 Acura NSX
  By Compasso - March 29 - 2:00 am

  This is an all around great car to drive. I wish Acura of Columbus performed like the car!