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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  Its the best - 2003 Acura TL
  By LoveTL - March 7 - 10:00 am

  It took 2 weeks after we made the final decision to go for the TL. Test drive the new Accord and the TL and, the TL is much better than the Accord in terms of acceleration and handling. The ride is very comfortable and the cabine is so quiet. The power is so great. Weve been driving this car for almost 2 weeks. We love it. It rox.

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  Best value for your money - 1999 Acura TL
  By NudeDude - March 7 - 1:54 am

  This is really a great car! Ive owned mine for 3 years and Ive never had any trouble. I really liked the fact that all of the upgrades are standard. The TL is a great value compared to its competition.

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  2005 Anthracite Manual - 2005 Acura TL
  By dschryver - March 6 - 8:06 am

  Have only 3,000 miles or less on this car so far. Great car to drive. Manual transmission is a dream. Acceleration is great. Only problem found so far is that the seat heaters apparently draw power even when the car is switched off. Would seem to be a design flaw if thats the case. Recently came back from a 10-day vacation to find the battery deader than a doornail. Apparently left one of the seat heaters on while out of town. Gave us a chance to try out Acuras roadside assistance program. It was an OK experience. Had a slight problem getting the radio to accept the security code but OK now. Navigation system is great even if it does suggest an unneeded U-turn occasionally.

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  Love it but rattles drive me nuts - 2005 Acura TL
  By gware - March 5 - 11:16 am

  Ive had my TL for 16 months now and enjoy the car, except for all the ratles. I had a 2000 BMW 323i before my TL and it never had rattles. I have rattles in my driver side door, in the sun visors, and around the moon roof. I didnt expect that from Acura. On the plus side the car is very well equipped for the money. The engine is strong and smooth and the handling is tight for a front wheel drive.

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  New Acura RDX - 2017 Acura RDX
  By William Hall - March 5 - 1:30 am

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  90 Integra RS - 1990 Acura Integra
  By Jason Krzos - March 5 - 12:22 am

  I did a little bit of maintnence, such as replacing the distirbutor cap, spark plug wires and the spark plugs. Now the car runs perfect.

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  My FAV - 1995 Acura Legend
  By csid - March 4 - 9:53 pm

  Absolutely love the car, the way it handles, looks, and impresses others.

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  Satisfied - 1998 Acura RL
  By bigtom - March 4 - 9:26 pm

  I have always liked Acurs automobiles. My first one bought in 1990 and it is still running strong with over 130,000 miles showing. We have leased a 1198 Acura 3.5 for the last four years and liked it very much. 5 cyl with automatic transmission. We are not getting aproximately 21-22 miles pe gal. I like the car.

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  Mikes Review - 2000 Acura TL
  By Mike DeYonker - March 4 - 4:39 pm

  This si by far the best vehicle I have ever owned. The erformance is fantastic. Comfort and safety are number one. There has neven been any warranty work required in 18 months of service. Acura truley cares about me and always is in contact after every service appointment. Service costat at teh dealer are below after market places. I will definately return to Acura for my next vehicle.

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  2008 MDX-Tech - 2008 Acura MDX
  By V V - March 4 - 4:16 pm

  I just bought this about a month now. Driving is so fun, comfortable, easy to use the navigation. At night the interior looks just like a cockpit (I heard this word from my friends who saw my SUV). Most of the essential features are standard, so there are no additional expenses for a luxury SUV. The handling of this SUV is very nice, any sharp turn, neither passinger nor driver feels much body sway as like other car or SUVs. I rate this SUV 8-9/10 for most of the features.