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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  No more tranny issues.... now just a great car! - 2016 Acura TLX
  By Scott - January 7 - 10:44 am

  I bought a 16 TLX tech package SH-AWD five weeks ago and since then have put 900 miles on it. At the time I was looking around, there was still plenty of 2015s available that were nicely marked down in price. Hoping to save a few grand, I looked around for the very specific trim package and color combo I wanted an also did all kinds of research. I found that half the reviews were good, and half were bad because of the ZF 9 speed transmission. I was initially disappointed to read so many reviews slamming the car because of it. Understanding that the first model year of any car usually has issues, I considered a 2016 in hopes whatever tranny problems may exist are ironed out. As far as appearance and features go, there is no difference in the 2 model years. I went out and test drove SIX different TLXs (four 2015 and two 2016). The problems many people reported were clunky shifting from gear 2 to 3, downshift hesitation, slow roll take off hesitation, car jerking forward as it downshifts especially when descending down a hill giving the driver the impression the car is speeding up when it should be slowing down. I took special note to almost all the bad reviews saying that the car was fine for the first few hundred miles before it started so one of the 15s I drove was a program car that had 300 miles already on it. What I found was that there is a small learning curve involved with 9 speed transmission but I found no problems with any of the cars I test drove and I was really looking for them. All the upshifts were smooth. Some downshifts required an extra half second to find a gear since it is a 9 speed but nothing crazy like I read some people complaining that they were being put into accident prone situations. While stopped, the start/stop feature which kills the engine does take half a second as well to accelerate because the engine has to turn back on but it is quick doing it all things considered. Im not sure how much gas it saves in real world but theres nothing gained from sitting still idling either. That feature can be turned off for those who dont like but I find I leave it on unless Im in a lot of stop and go traffic. Going down a hill is no problem. You can feel the car push forward slightly to downshift wen it engages the clutch and stops engine braking for a split second however it is easy to identify and adds no danger. I dont feel the least bit nervous about it. I felt no difference between the 2015s and 16s. I bought a 16 because I found the black/greystone combination I wanted with the Tech AWD (advance was too expensive and I got the dealer to throw in the remote start anyway). I had the rear lip spoiler and full aero kit put on and the car looks and feels amazing! No tranny issues here. As for everything else, the 4 different driving modes are indeed different. The engine has plenty of power in any of them but eco mode really mutes acceleration response and lightens the steering and suspension a lot. Sport and sport plus mode tightens the steering and suspension (the steering still has a bit of artificial tightening feel when compared to my previous car which handled like a champ, but not a problem at all, just the slightest notice), but the acceleration becomes lighting quick in response and the car is a blast to drive on the highway on the upper end of the RPM range. Forget the paddle shifters with a 9 speed...too much work. If you use one while in sport plus mode, you are stuck continuing to have to use them unless you drop the drive mode to eco or normal. In all other modes, it goes back to full automatic after a few seconds unless you continue to use it. I ignore it but if you like paddle shifters, they do shift well and responsively. MPGs are not as good as listed, I got 247 miles on my first tank in Normal mode and 290 or so on my second tank in ECO mode, driving very easy - its a 17.5 gallon tank but hey gas is below $2.00. The sound system is absolutely the best stock system Ive ever heard - just amazing sound. Havent figured out yet how to have texts read and replied through the blue tooth but I will be calling the service desk to inquire. Other than that the blue tooth and infotainment is great. Little learning curve with the dual screens but I like them a lot. Acura nailed it with this car!!! Love the looks (subjective I know) and the performance. If youre in the market, do not be put off by the transmission concern, drive a couple and see for yourself, maybe avoid pre-owned or left-over 15s or at least see the build date on the driver side door jam sticker. Anything built after August 2015 should be fine. Go get one, it IS that kind of Thrill !!!!

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  vibration - 2017 Acura TLX
  By Changmin - January 6 - 11:01 am

  We bought a TLX AWD V6 with tech package at end of August, 2016, the car vibrates around 75 MPH from day one. We sent it back to dealer 4 times, they did balance, changed four tires. Yesterday, they changed many parts according to the instruction from Acura. The car still vibrates around 75 MPH, but less intensively. Just improve a little bit. I have driven four TLX V6 AWD from dealer, every of them vibrates. My neighbor has a TLX AWD V6 with tech package too, his car vibrates around 75 MPH too. This time Acura made very bad car. Acura client relation is terrible. They dont care about this issue at all. We made phone, they told me they would call me back but they never called me.

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  As Good as Advertised and Better in Some Ways - 2016 Acura RDX
  By Jason - January 2 - 8:29 pm

  This is a really great car. I got out of a BMW X5 for this one and the RDX is way better than my old bimmer. The main thing I was looking for was a silky ride with a very quiet cabin. I get both with this RDX. The power train is exceptional with the standard v6. The cabin is very quiet although sone what less so than Edmunds reviews said. Where Edmunds gave it an "A" - I would say its probably a "B" or "B+". It is quiet at low speeds but gets louder on highways. As a plus, the ELS stereo on the Technology Package is an incredible system that makes the feint noise go away, replaced with beautiful music. Navigation system is lame, use Google maps instead. Edmunds says the screen controls for the tech is "confusing" but I disagree. If this control panel confuses you, you probably shouldnt be buying so.etching callEd a technology package. Love this car. Its the best Ive ever personally owned.

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  This is the only car to consider for 30K - 2003 Acura CL
  By spud - January 2 - 10:00 am

  This car rocks. A Honda with acceleration that actually comes close to my friends 1993 300ZX twin turbo! What more could you ask for?

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  The benchmark for the class - 2002 Acura RSX
  By Neil C - January 2 - 10:00 am

  Fantastic car, especially for the $$$ - lots of room, versatile and large trunk, unflappable chassis, interior finish second to none. Few complaints, had a fluke seat belt clip that was broken on delivery, stereo is clear and very functional, but low powered for my taste, a few mandatory features on a "luxury" car are missing, like retained accessory power (my 87 Legend, 94 Accord, 95 Camry, etc. all had this!!) puddle lamps, gas cap holder... all are completely forgivable in light of the dreamy power delivery and slick gearbox. No regrets thus far. All in all a fantastic package, no other car comes close - regardless of what the few naysayers (likely not owners!!) may report.