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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  Safety Specs - 2001 Acura TL
  By warren - February 26 - 10:09 pm

  Had a high speed accident driving at 72 mph on cruise control, when a large SUV crossed the highway. No time to hit brake or turn steering wheel. On impact the air bags deployed, the seat belts held, the engine crushed and dropped. The interior and exterior of the car from the front doors back were not damaged. I was the driver and walked from the accident, although hurting, and my wife in the passenger seat sustained multiple broken bone injuries, but not critical. I will buy another one soon.

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  Tremendous Car Except for Two Things - 1994 Acura Integra
  By Brian Terr - February 26 - 8:54 pm

  From climbing steep mountains to go skiing to formal dinners where I valeted next to Rolls RoyceÂ’s to picking top execs up from the airport this car is a champ. The only two problem with this car is I have replaced the radiator twice. The automatic transmission has also slipped since the day I bought it. It is pain to hear the engine rev when you step on the gas going around the corner. The only other thing that is worth a casual mention is the poor visibility when parallel parking.

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  Solid performer - 1999 Acura TL
  By Mackster211 - February 26 - 6:15 pm

  The Acura TL was simply the best value in its class. Solid performance, comfort and reliability across the board for much, much less than comparable luxury cars.

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  2002 Acura CL Type S - 2002 Acura CL
  By NateBoozer - February 26 - 3:49 pm

  Sweet car. Love the performance! Great interior and top notch customer service!

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  Great reliable,fun car - 1998 Acura Integra
  By phil413tx - February 26 - 2:42 pm

  This is a great car. I have had mine since 1998 and the only problem I have had is with the door locks. The resale value on these cars is outstanding! I would recommend this car to any one who asks my opinion.

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  ACURA CL 2.2 - 1997 Acura CL
  By JOHN - February 26 - 1:21 pm

  GREAT CAR... JUST HAS LOTS OF LITTLE DEFECTS THAT COMPANY SHOULD HAVE TAKEN CARE OF. THE WARRANTY IS A GOOD THING, HOWEVER IF YOU TAKE IT TO THE SHOP, YOU HAVE TO PAY 45.00 TO DIGNOSE IT, BUT IF IT IS UNDER WARRANTY YOU DONT HAVE TO PAY. THE SEATS ARE VERY UNCONFORTABLE WHEN TAKING LONG ROAD TRIPS. AND VERY DIFFICULT TO TAKE CARE OF. SOMETIMES IN SMALLER CITIES, IT IS HARD TO FIND SOMENOENT TO FIX IT

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  Great SUV - 2007 Acura RDX
  By rsbell - February 25 - 5:30 am

  Ive only owned the vehicle for 1 day, but have put 300 miles on it. There IS some turbo lag, but once the turbo winds up, youre pressed to the back of your seat. A bit smaller than I expected, but appears to have ample rear space, especially with the back sets folded flat. Very nice, leather. The tech package is with voice control is very detailed, and very complicated. Will definitely take a few good days of use to get all of the commands andm options down, but looks to be well worth the effort.

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  Top Quality and Performance for the $$ - 2004 Acura TL
  By twruprec - February 23 - 2:00 am

  I test drove the 04 Altima, Maxima, G- 35 , and the TL .. and fell in love with the latter. The G-35 is a spirited performer, but the interior feels a tad too snug, and the controls are a little balky compared to the Acura. The shift action is not as smooth, the clutch pedal is stiffer, and it has noticeably more vibration than the TL. The Acura is whisper quiet and butter smooth in everything it does. It has a level of quality and refinement I didnt find in the other three cars. The surround sound system is fabulous; all other factory systems Ive heard pale in comparison ... or should I say muffle in comparison. :o)

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  bmw-audi competitor - 2004 Acura TL
  By jimchicken - February 23 - 2:00 am

  i test drove the audi a4,bmw 330 and then the acura tl.audi a4 quatrro is very sluggishwith loose steering. bmw had slightly better cornering ablilty than acura tl with less body lean.bmw engine and acuras were both impressive but bmw is 10k more.overall acura interior much better than bmw,audi. and a much better value this car will scare the hell out of the germans, i highly recommend it

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  A great little car - 2000 Acura Integra
  By D - February 22 - 3:09 pm

  This car is fun to drive, especially on curvy fast roads like the PCH. The engine is fairly noisy inside the cabin, but I like that. There is hardly any headroom in front and the back seat has almost no headroom at all. The cupholders are not adjustable and get in the way of the gearshift. If I have anything larger than a cup of coffee, I cant put the car in park. Ive had no mechanical problems, except sometimes it is hard to close the hatchback. It takes a few slams before it stays closed.