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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  My new Best friend - 2003 Acura MDX
  By Lord of the house - August 16 - 2:00 am

  Buying the 2003 MDX with the Rear entertainment system was not a total suprise for me. What was a suprise is the pleasure I get from it. It has more of everything I want. More room, more power and a great ride.

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  Love my TLX 2017 - 2017 Acura TLX
  By Toni Porzio - August 15 - 9:36 pm

  I have had Acuras int the past.. The car is extremely comfortable and has a nice smooth ride..I enjoy the IDS system which allows you to drive in sport mode etc. No Back seat USBS which I found surprising and the Technology features offered were expensive additional packages where other 2017 car manufacturers included these in the price of their cars..I went with the 4 cylinder which has a lot of pep and I enjoy the stick shift for a sportier interior look over the 6 cylinder with the push buttons. Overall I love the car , but they could have included more in the base model..

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  Honda engineering = Peace of mind! - 2009 Acura TL
  By japruss paddington - August 15 - 8:20 pm

  A few weeks ago I purchased this 2009 Acura TL and absolutely love it! This Acura TL is super quiet, super smooth super fast and super solid. It tracks like a locomotive and never loses its composer. I traded a 2008 Lexus ES350 for this Acura and I am very proud of my decision. The Lexus felt cheap and sloppy when compared to this Acura TL. This is the best choice I made!

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  Great car!! - 2003 Acura RSX
  By Rob121 - August 11 - 2:00 am

  I really ejoy this car because it has clean lines and is great on gas.

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  Fun to drive, reliable, great car! - 2003 Acura RSX
  By Ryanoby - August 11 - 2:00 am

  I drove a lot of cars in this price range before deciding on the RSX. You get so much more car for the price, you cant beat it! Of the two doors out there, the Eclipse and the Celica are the only real competition - both are much more expensive. The Ecliipse has questionable quality and the Celica is a little too stylistic for my taste! I also drove the new Accord coupe - which completely lacked the sporting character of the RSX. All is all, I couldnt be happier.

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  Best car Ive ever owned - 2002 Acura TL
  By Jeff Traintime - August 11 - 2:00 am

  This car is just pure fun. Looks, power, safety, everything. Each time I look at it I smile, whenever I drive it, its pure joy. The extra $2,000 for the S model is clearly worth it, in that it turns this great car from a mere low end luxury model to a powerful beast with attitude.

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  Great Car/Great Price - 2009 Acura TL
  By BensTL - August 10 - 10:33 pm

  Have had the car for about 2 weeks now and so far all I can say is awesome. Had an 04 Infiniti G35 AWD and it rattled like crazy. Then a 07 Lexus ES 350, great car but boring to drive and expensive with options. The new TL takes the best of both those cars and puts it into one attractive, fun to drive package. The nav. system and sound system are top notch. Fit and finish are great and with only 600 miles on the car I am avg. 20 mpg in the city, not bad for a car with 280 hp. The seats feel good and the steering wheel has a nice feel to it. The kid in me loves the paddle shifters.

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  Highly competent daily driver - 2005 Acura RL
  By david41750 - August 10 - 7:00 am

  This car is not only a pleasure to drive, but its a pleasure to be driven in. An exceptional body structure, sophisticated electronics, excellent handling characteristic, and more than sufficient power for every day driving experiences made this an excellent choice for me. My other car is a Boxster S, so I get to play with something that is much more fun, but for a satisfying commute to work, golf, or a long trip, I know of no car in this price range that I would find to be of greater value. I test drove the e-class Mercedes, Audis A6 and the 5-series BMW and preferred Acuras RL to the Germans.

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  Good car for the money - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Johhny Depp - August 10 - 5:06 am

  Compared to some of the other cars of comparable size and cost, the Acura RSX is by far the best value. I can tell you that for a 2.0L engine, this car has a lot of zip. The Acura name gives people the impression of a vehicle with class, which is one of the reasons we are on our second Acura lease (previously had a 1999 Acura CL).

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  MDX is the best! - 2005 Acura MDX
  By Massie - August 8 - 8:40 am

  More than a year of research and finally decided to get the MDX. The 2005 model have almost everything I wanted in a vehicle, the voice controls, blue-tooth tech., navigation, DVD entertainment, power seats, memory, on-star, backing-up camera, rain- sensing wipers, 7-seats, AWD, blah blah blah... etc. It is worth every penny and the whole family loves this car so much.