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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  Best Value - 2006 Acura TL
  By justjon - January 15 - 12:10 am

  I debated long and hard about the purchase of this car. I drove trucks for years, and decided because of the jump in my annual mileage for work that i would buy a comfortable car. I chose the TL because of its price, reliability ratings, performance with economy, style, and comfort. All things have held up to their end of the bargain. I have had the car for almost four months and a little over 12k miles. It has been truly the best car i have ever owned. The only thing i have had an issue with was a rattle in the passenger door that has yet to be resolved.

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  Best luxury SUV available! - 2002 Acura MDX
  By mdxmd - January 5 - 6:10 pm

  Drives like a car, but like most other SUVs, its a bit underpowered for the amount of weight it has to haul around.

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  2006 Acura TL - 2006 Acura TL
  By Kim - January 4 - 9:24 pm

  I looked at the Lexus IS 250, Infiniti G35x and then there was the TL... better power and styling at the lowest price out of the three.

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  A decent compromise - 2006 Acura TSX
  By steve - January 2 - 5:50 pm

  The TSX is an all-around decent car, but not best in show in any category. The TSX has a high revving low torque engine, and as a result the gears are too close together causing frequent shifting at low speeds, and high rpms at highway speeds. I find the seats quite uncomfortable and hard to get adjusted. The navi system works, but the data that comes with it is sorely lacking. It only uses validated roads for plotting routes and often takes you miles out of your way. It tells me I can drive straight to a Conoco station from my house. We dont have Conoco stations in Canada, and the road it tells me to use has been closed for over 30 years.

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  Not a bad choice for the price - 2006 Acura RL
  By hondabob - December 31 - 7:52 am

  I purchased a leftover 2006 RL w/o tech in September. I got a car with stately design and that, once I added A-Spec suspension and 18" wheels, handles well in the twisties while maintaining excellent composure on local bumpy streets. The interior is nearly perfect except for small buttons. Luckily, voice activation works for all the common controls. I have owned Hondas previously and so am used to having to stomp on the gas to get adequate power and when you do, this car really does accelerate fast. In 50/50 city/highway mileage I am getting about 17.5 mpg, not so great especially when gas is so expensive. Overall, a good deal on a gorgeous ride!

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  Fantastic Car - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Jerome81 - December 28 - 6:00 pm

  The seats are probably the most comfortable and most supportive Ive ever experienced. The steering and shifting is top notch. The ergonomics are superb. The engine is a gem. The old Hondas lacked low end, but the i-VTEC motor really improves all around driveability. The car screams when pushed. The handling is very good. Though I feel the tires give. If this car had better rubber on the rims the driving experience would improve drastically. All in all a great car!

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  Best in Class if you ask me. - 2004 Acura TL
  By AAARGH - December 28 - 10:00 am

  Ive had my TL for 3 months. So far, I love it! It is by far the best mix of performance, styling, and comfort. I found the G35 and BMW to perform better, but gave up a lot in comfort, size, and interior styling. They were more expensive when adding similar options to what the TL has standard. The interior of the TL is gorgeous. As with any Honda made vehicle, the ergonomics are almost perfect. The only disappointment is the use of fake wood. It still looks good though. Perhaps the only real problem I have is rattles and creaks. This seems to be common with the Â’04 TL. I would have thought Honda would have done a better job with this.

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  My RDX - 2007 Acura RDX
  By Wayne Shaffner - December 28 - 8:31 am

  My RDX has many great technological features, however some important ones to me were left off. My TL had seat memory for the drivers seat. This was a great feature for me because people at the dealership move the seat all the time, and it takes me a week to get it perfect again. No power seat for the passenger is also missed by my wife. Drivers side mirror does not tilt down. Rear lift gate should be remote controlled both from the remote lock / unlock and the dash as the trunk was on the TL.

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  Issues & comments - 1999 Acura CL
  By KyLarry - December 25 - 11:08 am

  Surprisingly wide turning radius. Fuel injectors replaced @ 70,000. Drivers side window mechanism failure @ 60,000. Very nice ride on trips. Overall a very good car.

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  Disappointment - 2003 Acura MDX
  By Chnc - December 24 - 2:00 am

  There is nothing really wrong with the Acura but there is nothing exciting about it either. Kinda cheap on the inside and outside and the vehicle isnt cheap. Bought one for my wife and it doesnt compare to the Volvo XC90 T6 that I bought. Price was close between the two but the Volvo is much nicer both on the inside and outside and has so many more safety features. A boring car that gets the job done but doesnt excite in anyway.