Acura is a brand name used by Honda in the US, Canada, and Hong Kong since March 1986 to market higher-end line of Hondas.
Acura relies solely on badge engineering. Every model including sport utility (SUV), family, and sports cars are rebadged Hondas.
After a decade of research and development, Acura launched the Legend-the first Japanese luxury brand to appear in the U.S. market. Since its arrival, it has offered the luxury car world a consistently appealing combination of precision, performance and comfort. A large part of the success of the Legend can be attributed to the fact that it set a new standard for luxury based on qualities that were rare in luxury cars of the day, such as precise handling, responsive power trains and excellent road manners. In this respect, Acura has had a significant effect on the way people think about luxury cars.
In addition to the Acura Legend sedan and coupe, were the Acura Integra sport coupes and sedans which featured attractive contours, high performance potential and outstanding engineering credentials at a competitive price. Its extensive technological innovations, crisp handling and everyday practicality made it the favorite of a generation of enthusiast drivers.
The exotic Acura NSX sport coupe created great fanfare, bringing a host of new technologies to the automotive world. Motor Trend called it the "best sports car ever built." The aluminum bodied, mid-engine supercar redefined the exotic sports car. Here was a two-seater with the performance potential of traditional European exotics but could also be driven every day in complete comfort and with utter reliability.
In 1991, the Acura Legend coupe won Motor Trend's prestigious Import Car of the Year trophy. The same year, the Integra took the laurels as one of Car & Driver's Ten Best, and the Acura Vigor sport sedan was introduced, bridging the gap between the sporty Integra and the luxurious Legend.
The groundbreaking Acura MDX sport-utility vehicle made its debut in 2000. Conceived and developed at a Honda R&D facility in Ohio, the Acura MDX is built in North America. The 265-hp V-6 engine and a custom-developed 4-wheel drive system make the MDX uniquely qualified to travel both the freeways and the back roads with equal confidence. Shortly after its introduction, the MDX won the prestigious Motor Trend "2001 Sport/Utility of the Year" award.
In 2001, the streamlined Acura RSX sports coupe was introduced. It was the first Acura to employ the i-VTEC™ system, which delivers flexibility, efficiency and LEV-II (Low Emission Vehicle) rated emissions. The 160-hp RSX shared its debut with the even sportier RSX Type-S, which employs a more sophisticated i-VTEC system to help wrest 200 peak horsepower from the 2.0-liter LEV-II engine. The RSX Type-S arrived on the market with an exclusive short-throw 6-speed manual transmission.
Performance enthusiasts across the country were forced to reprioritize their fantasies with the April 2003 introduction of the 2004 Acura TSX sports sedan. The 200-hp TSX, available with Sequential SportShift™ 5-speed automatic or close-ratio 6-speed manual transmission, was quickly recognized as a 4-door antidote to the compromises of settling down.
In October of 2003, an even higher form of performance arrived with the debut of the all-new 2004 TL. From its class-leading 270-horsepower, 3.2-liter engine to the bold, sleek lines of its redesigned exterior, the new TL redefines modern luxury. Inside, plush leather seats and an impressive list of technologies fill the instrument panel, including HandsFreeLink™ with Bluetooth® wireless technology and the Acura/ELS® Premium 8-speaker Surround Sound System with DVD-Audio and DTS CD 6-disc Changer.
Now, the all-new 2005 RL is making history by redefining the luxury performance sedan. With a 300-horsepower, V-6, VTEC engine, it boasts the most powerful Acura engine to date. Its revolutionary Super Handling All-Wheel Drive™ (SH-AWD™) system is the world's most advanced all-wheel-drive platform, which makes maneuvering and cornering more stable and precise. And the all-new RL is North America's first and only automobile to feature a telematics system with real-time traffic that displays traffic updates 24 hours a day in select metropolitan areas. |
