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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  I love my TL!!!! - 2006 Acura TL
  By Belinda - March 11 - 4:03 pm

  I bought my TL after 10 years of driving the Denali. I thought it would take a while to get used to sitting down low but after driving for one week I knew Id made the right choice. It is so much fun to drive and the gas mileage is awesome. I get 34 on the highway. The luxury inside the car is awesome as well. The a/c dials down to 58 degrees and in this hot Texas weather it is awesome! I looked at a lot of cars and this car for the money couldnt be beaten. I got the 18" chrome wheels, wood trim inside and some extra body moldings outside and I get so many compliments! My girlfriend has a BMW 550 and she is just smitten with my TL.

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  Great car - 2007 Acura TL
  By Jon Ford - March 11 - 3:24 pm

  Uses premium gas. Otherwise, an ideal vehicle.

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  Great Car - 2002 Acura RSX
  By JoesTypeS - March 10 - 6:26 pm

  The cars sweet. End of Story

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  09 TSX is Absolutely Amazing!! - 2009 Acura TSX
  By Yanks4life - March 9 - 12:43 pm

  I sold my 04 Mazda 6 for my new 09 TSX. I have had it for a little over a week and I am absolutely in love with it! When I first saw it was coming out with all of these features I knew I had to have it, so it was really only new car I looked at and boy I am not disappointed. I am getting great gas mileage for normal city driving and highway to work driving. The sound system and display is amazing with tons and tons of features you will love to play with. I cant wait to drive it every day and everyone I have shown cant say enough about how great it looks! Dont wait, Go get one today!

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  Transmission Failed at 5,000 miles - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Diana S - March 8 - 1:18 pm

  Do NOT buy this car. We replaced our 2013 MDX with the 2016 and wish we had the old one back. This car is a dud. Do not buy it. We were driving on the expressway going 65 mph and the transmission catastrophically failed. So glad we had just went through a 1 lane stretch on 75 undergoing construction and were able to pull over to the side of the road. Dealership was awesome, but this car is terrible.

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  TSX - 2006 Acura TSX
  By unc05 - March 8 - 12:16 am

  Im a car freak, so I did tons of research before I bought my TSX five months ago. During this time, it has been a wonderful car, and Im happier every day that I bought it.

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  AcuraTLGasGuzzler - 2004 Acura TL
  By pointguard - March 7 - 10:00 am

  Beautiful car, silky smooth eng/trans direct competition for BMW 540. Major disappointment: Acura sticker reads 17- 23 city 23-28 mpg prem gas.Appears to be real fraud to me.Decived this buyer. Truth 500 miles of which 300 city 14 mpg and 200 highway 16 mpg. Looking to join class action lawsuit and compensation from Acura/Honda as car will cost several thousand more to operate over 4yrs than represented and a big reason I bought TL instead of G35 or ES330.

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  04, TL, Auto, Navigation - 2004 Acura TL
  By Huayunkhan1 - March 7 - 10:00 am

  Beautiful and day to day useability in a prestigious and highly technical package. Quite and a powerful drive/acceleration with excellent gas mileage. Dont be afraid of the hype about the "torque steer". Most of us are not driving maniacs and so do not drive our cars to its extreme limits and so will not feel any torque steer. We would rather be happy with its more stable front wheel drive layout which is very functional and pratical in snow/ icy conditions.

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  Awesome Ride - 2004 Acura RSX
  By JCB - March 7 - 2:00 am

  I purchased RSX type-S in Jan 04. I am very happy that I got this car. I was almost going to buy the new mazda RX-8. But the price of the RX-8 and the lackluster fuel economy lured me to the RSX instead, and I am not disappointed at all.This gorgeous looking vehicle gets alot of stares from other drivers. It looks sporty enough, has responsive handling, powerful engine that begs to be driven fast. Very fun to drive ,also, the audio system is great.

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  Great car from Acura - 2003 Acura TL
  By ljgordon - March 7 - 2:00 am

  This car was my first venture into the Japanese auto market. All of my previous cars were either American or German made. To say that I was not disappointed would be an understatement. When I first drove it, I had difficulty in determining the differences in handling and performance I got in the BMW. There was practically no difference, even with the Acuras front wheel drive. Acceleration was superb, steering was tight, and the ride was comparable to anything the Germans make. It provided excellent road feel. Fuel economy of 23 city and 31 highway is outstanding, too. The car has been absolutely reliable, with no service issues whatever.