Acura

In 1986, Honda launched into the luxury market with the Acura, marketing these vehicles in the US, Canadian and Hong Kong markets. It was the first Japanese brand to appear on the luxury market. Styles were limited really to the Legend and the Integra, the Legend being a sedan while the Integra came in either a sporty coupe or a sedan. Acura built on Honda's reputation for reliability and low cost for the quality was instantly successful and while it lacks the glitter of luxury European models, there is no doubt that the Acura is packed with luxury features and desired performance. In the early 1990s, Honda introduced the NSX sports car to its Acura line up. It stayed true to Honda's reputation and matched its competitors while undercutting their prices. During the 1990s, the Acura name experienced difficulties as Honda tried to determine and establish the image it wanted to project for this line with renamed models, and a renamed version of a competitor's SUV. It tried to meet rising consumer interest too quickly.

In the 21st century, however, Acura has buckled down and revamped its range of available products to meet the variety of consumer interests. The MDX appeared in 2001 and is Acura's answer to the Luxury SUV, featuring family friendly amenities. In 2002, the RSX sport coupe was introduced to replace the Integra and in 2004, the TSX an entry level sports sedan was added to the Acura fleet. It also redesigned the midsize TL sedan, Acura's most popular fleet model and in 2005, redesigned its RL flagship model.

Acura RDX

The Acura RDX is the first compact crossover sport utility vehicle from Acura. Generally speaking, this model was previewed as a concept car and the production model of RDX was shown at the 2006 New York Auto Show, which hit the showrooms on 11th of August, 2006.

So as to handle car's advanced all wheel drive system, the RDX uses a unique platform for its production and it overtakes the MDX as Acura's entry level crossover sport utility vehicle. The direct competitors to the vehicle include Mazda CX-7, BMW X3 and Infiniti EX.

The compact crossover sport utility vehicle is a five door body style vehicle powered by a 2.3 liter K23 A1 turbo I-4 engine and the engine is mated to a standard five-speed automatic transmission. The SUV car is offered in four wheel drive. The compact car is related to the Honda Element, Honda Civic and Honda CR-V. As far as the dimensions of the car are concerned, it has the wheel base of 104.3 inches. The length, width and the height of the SUV are 180.7 inches, 73.6 inches and 65.2 inches respectively. The curb weight of the car is around 1800 kilo grams.

Looking at the positive side of the car, with the all wheel drive system provided it has good road handling capability and also provides comfort to the passengers in both the front and rear seats. On the negative side of the SUV, the interior materials do not look up to the standards, not enough cargo space, rear seats does not adjust, minimal towing capacity, harsh ride quality and the steering wheel does not give a good feel.