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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  Great Car-SUV - 2011 Acura RDX
  By Siva - October 8 - 2:00 am

  I love this one - I have been dring Honda Civic, Accord, Odyssey, Ford and others Tried Pilot, New Odyssey, Sienna, Routan, BMW X3, MDX and finally went with RDX Unbelievable feeling Drove - 600 miles around houston - local + highway - avg 21mpg

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  Impressive - 2010 Acura MDX
  By CR1970 - October 8 - 2:00 am

  I purchased one of the last 2010 Advance/Entertainment MXs that the dealer had on the lot and couldnt be happier. We test drove a number of SUVs including the new RX, Highlander, and BMW. The vehicle handles so much better than the RX and just seems to have a good balance of sport and comfort. I love the selectable ride option as well as the blind spot warning indicators. The stereo system is AMAZING and light years ahead of my RX. Voice recognition and navigation system were much better than the BMW we looked at. The new 6 speed transmission shifts smoothly and pickup is impressive for a vehicle of its size. Fit and Finish is also impressive.

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  2011 MDX - terrific nav and stereo - 2011 Acura MDX
  By jon - October 7 - 2:00 am

  Picked up new Acura w/ tech package a week ago with silver roof rack and running boards, very comfortable seats in front and second row with plenty of leg room, love the exterior styling and just today went on a trip to the airport to drop off a family member and returned rush hour crossing the nyc metro area made much easier by the nav system which redirected around various congested traffic areas and the upgraded stereo is probably the best I have owned or heard. Performance has been improved in 2010 by Acura on the MDX and it makes it a much smoother and peppy drive than the 2009 and prior.

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  Good Value and Lots of Gadgets - 2010 Acura MDX
  By JJ10 - October 6 - 2:00 am

  Have had the car for a month and overall quite happy with it. It is the best value for the money in this size/category. The tech pkg has tons of features, though some are more gimmicky than useful. Not crazy about the exterior, but interior is roomy and comfortable. Cargo area is smaller than Id like. Performance is ok. The engine lacks torque and has to rev hard for power (while making a lot of noise). Coming from a European SUV, I feel the suspension is too soft and steering is way too loose. The torque vectoring is a bit unpredictable when cornering. Road noise is surprisingly high. The car had a couple of small issues upon delivery, which is disappointing for a Honda product.

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  Amazing Balance - 2010 Acura TL
  By David - October 6 - 2:00 am

  Test drove BMW, Infiniti and Audi and dont understand why "they" dont see this car as an option versus the S4 (but then again dont really care). What I noticed most about this car was the overall balance of features, performance, engineering and safety (2nd to none). Too many buttons? Who cares as you can do almost everything through a great voice command system. 6MT certainly does allow for immediacy and the handling is idiot proof. Huge rear seat area.

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  Too many rattles - 2010 Acura TL
  By luisja2000 - October 5 - 2:00 am

  I own a 2010 TL SHAWD & what I can say at this point its to stay away from it. The car has been in the shop for over 45 days because a noise coming from the right and left pillards. It appears it is an structural problem and after having a factory rep in town they decided not to do anything about it. The service manager told me they started having more cars coming in with the same problem and they do not have a clue have to fix it, they were using mine as a platform for future repairs. Buy something else until Acura addresses this if they do because this could affect the integrity of the car in case of an accident plus the noise it is so annoying that you wont enjoy your ride at all.

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  2006 Acura TSX - 2006 Acura TSX
  By Jack Cockerham - October 3 - 2:00 am

  95,000 miles and original brake pads still servicable, although rotors must be warped a little as the car has begun to shudder under braking from highway speeds. Car has recently developed a strange whine at times from the rear end(?) but only when backing up. These are the only issues this car has had in the 4 1/2 years weve owned it.

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  Great Car - 2006 Acura RSX
  By Brian - October 2 - 2:00 am

  Great car in every way, very fun to drive, some road noise but its still a sports car so whatever. No problems since i bought it, car has 20k more miles and runs like the day it came out of the factory.

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  Not what I expected from Acura - 2009 Acura MDX
  By Papa Leo - October 2 - 2:00 am

  13 months into ownership and I have nothing but a trouble with that car. One week into ownership, Air Bag warning came up. It was found that side B-pillar air bag was lose. Another 2 month, car started to pull to the side badly (car had only 3K miles on it), it was found to be misaligned. Another 2 month, gas door wouldnt keep close (replaced under warranty). Another 6 months into ownership and drive side window wouldnt open (window motor bad). My previous 03 Mitsubishi Montero didnt see repair shop for 6 years I owned it (55K miles), only oil changes, tire replacement, and one new set of brakes before drunk driver plunged into me and totaled it. This is my first and the last Acura.

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  Best car Ive had in 40 years TSX 4cyl - 2010 Acura TSX
  By Michigan girl - October 2 - 2:00 am

  My previous car was a 2008 TL, before that a VW Passat, Audi A4 sport, Acura TL, Subaru X 2, Pontiac, Chevrolet, CHevelle Super Sports Surprisingly, TSX is much quieter (far less road noise) than any previous car. Surprisingly, it is very peppy, fun to drive. The ELS sound system is BY FAR the best stereo in a car ever. Im short, small, but seat position adjusts better for me than any previous car. TSX is only minimally smaller than the 2008 TL. Its not the smoothest car in driving over bumps, but having a ultra smooth drive is not a priority for me as much as quiet ride and sound system. There is minimal engine sound when revving it at mid speed but none on the freeway.