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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  A foregone conclusion - 2003 Acura TL
  By StickyBear - September 20 - 2:00 am

  Moved into this car from a Toyota Solara SLE V6. Head and shoulders better for about $4K more. What a deal! Also tested the 330i and the A4 3.0, but for the price the Acura is untouchable!

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  Lots of car for the money! - 2003 Acura TL
  By Mike712 - September 20 - 2:00 am

  Great Car! I was looking at Maxima SE, and Passat V6. This car is fast and sporty, with a heavier feel to it than the Maxima. The Maxima lacked the heavier European driving feel, while the Passat lacked the horsepower.

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  Are You Kidding Me? - 2003 Acura TL
  By tommiek - September 20 - 2:00 am

  If you even consider purchasing a Lexus, Merc, BMW, or Audi (of comparable class) you should get medical help! THis car has everything you could want - horsepower, style, reliability, EVERY option at the absolute best price! Too much fun to drive .

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  How cool is this car?!! - 2004 Acura TL
  By John R - September 17 - 7:36 am

  One full year of ownership and I am still as in love with this car now as the day it was delivered. Incredibly comfortable, incredible DVD audio (with the right discs), outrageously fun to drive and still has valets telling me how cool it is. Although Ill admit to changing all the interior lights to blue LEDs to match the dash and this seems to draw the most comments. I have three more years on my lease and Ill either get another TL or upgrade to an RL. Im an Acura driver for life after this car - its that good.

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  fun car - 2004 Acura RSX
  By arlozoe - September 16 - 2:00 am

  I love this little car. It is fun to drive! I drive it, my teenage daughter loves to drive it and all her friends want one. I hiighly reccomend this for a fun, sporty, fuel efficient car!

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  Love this car - 2004 Acura TL
  By fartnocker - September 16 - 2:00 am

  Miles beyond the old TL. Theyre really taken this car up-market with only a slight increase in $$. XM is awsome, as is the large Nav screen. This is a homerun for Acura. Cant wait to see what the next RL has in store!

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  TL Overall - 2004 Acura TL
  By Alicia / doctor04 - September 16 - 2:00 am

  Excellent car, enjoyable to drive, complete comfort

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  Great SUV - 2016 Acura MDX
  By Jeff - September 14 - 11:43 pm

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  Great car - lousy subwoofer - 2002 Acura RSX
  By eric_n_dfw - September 14 - 10:00 am

  Ive only had the car for a week, but it is already tied for the most fun car Ive ever driven. (Tied with a 90 CRX-si I used to own) Everything is very well put together and the 6 speed is the best shifter Ive ever used. I drove a base model with the automatic as a loaner yesterday and am very glad I opted for the Type S. The automatic, combined with the lower horsepower, was noticably slower and the step-tronic shifter seemed silly. Gear shifting without a clutch just lacks the feel needed on a sports coupe. My only real beef with the Type S is the inexplicably weak subwoofer. From some searching on the internet, it seems that a lot of other owners agree.

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  Why buy a high endAccord,Avalon,orLexus - 2003 Acura TL
  By F Meyers - September 14 - 10:00 am

  TL is a cream puff- Keyes Van Nuys- great price and no stress).-Internet shopped. Wife "wanted"Avalon but now only wants to drive the TL. Regrets-look more closely at the TL S. What discouraged me were the larger turning radius (40 vs 37 ft) and the 17" tires (less treadlife and possibly not as comfortable).