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:

• 

  Excellent Car - 2010 Acura TSX
  By Accura Driver - November 3 - 9:15 pm

  I test drove the manual and the auto. The manual is the one to get. I find my TSX fairly entertaining to drive on windy roads and yet very comfortable and relaxing in the highway. The interior is a nice place to be the seats are exceptionally comfortable. The engine is refined and is powerful enough to be fun with the manual. It is only at speeds above 60 mph where it cannot compete with the smoothness of a good V6. Im impressed with the fuel economy, 31 mpg. Quality is excellent, I have not found a single rattle or manufacturing defect.

• 

  Great sports car - 2010 Acura RDX
  By geohov - November 3 - 7:47 am

  This vehicle handles better than any car Ive ever owned. It does have a hard ride though. My friends think it was over $50k. Quality is first rate. Its my wifes car, but I take it for a ride whenever I can.

• 

  Great Car For The Money - 2009 Acura TL
  By dj1billion - November 2 - 11:21 pm

  Acuras Trunk Space: Great! Interior Space: Good! The Ride is smooth as silk. I bought the car for the technology and the TL Tech has all the Latest User friendly Options on the Market. Best Bang for the Buck under 40k! Value & Safety 2nd to none!

• 

  Fun to drive - 2005 Acura TL
  By Motorcarz - November 2 - 5:33 pm

  A great ride and fun to drive. Outstanding standard features. A sporty look and drive with luxury features. Ill keep this one for awhile.

• 

  Better then Lexus - 2007 Acura RL
  By alivenwell - November 2 - 3:20 pm

  Test drove all the usual suspects and actually bought a Lexus GS300 AWD and had to take it back because of transmission issues. So glad I did. An 07 RL came up for sale in my area and I jumped on it. Absolutely love this car. Got rid of a Tahoe and wanted AWD for my wife. Interior quality is better then the GS, Engine is better then the GS, Interior room is better then the GS, AWD is better then the GS, Exterior is not as pretty as the GS, but considering the RL was the same price for a year newer, same mileage, and more feats it was an no brainer. Just wish the Navi was available. This was literally the only RL available in a metro area of 2 million people. That has to say something!

• 

  Blk on blk Type-S...amazing car!!! - 2007 Acura TL
  By DrI - November 2 - 1:07 pm

  Perfect mix of safety, performance, style, and luxury. You really get a lot for your money! I look forward to driving it every day.

• 

  perfect - 2006 Acura TSX
  By JEFF - November 2 - 12:06 pm

  everything for the money.why pay more for others and get less.

• 

  BEST GETS BETTER - 2003 Acura MDX
  By PDTEXAS - November 2 - 2:00 am

  JUST TRADED A 2OO2 TL S TYPE FOR THIS MDX. RIDE IS SMOOTHER AND QUIETER. SEATS ARE MORE COMFORTABLE. NEW SUSPENSION CONTROLS VEHICLE WELL AT HIGH SPEEDS. SOUND SYSTEM IS OUTSTANDING. WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS VEHICLE

• 

  TL Type-S - 2003 Acura TL
  By brad - November 2 - 2:00 am

  Could not be happier...

• 

  My Best Car Ever - 2007 Acura TL
  By JK - October 31 - 8:43 am

  Its fun to drive again. After 20 years of driving "basic transportation" I once again have a car that I take out in the evening just for the pure pleasure of drving. The Acura TL is simply the best car I have had. Selected over the Infinit G35 and BMW 328i because of total cost of ownership and value per dollar.