Acura vs. Audi Comparison
You have a lot of options when shopping for a luxury car. From newer brands like Acura to the older European marques like Audi, it can be a lot to sort through in choosing your next vehicle. That’s why we’ve put together this comparison, to help highlight some of the differences between the two that might not be all that obvious at first glance.
Performance Car of The Year
Since it was first introduced, the Acura Integra has been a car that provides driving enjoyment well beyond what its price tag suggests. With the reintroduction of the Integra in 2023, this driving enjoyment was also revived, to much fanfare from the automotive press and enthusiasts alike. Then in 2024, Acura brought out the Integra Type S, which turns up the performance dial, and inspired even more praise and awards from the press. Car & Driver declared1 that it “might be perfect” and put it on the Editors’ Choice list. But Road & Track went even further and named it Performance Car of The Year3. This is the second time an Acura model, the first being the NSX, has won this award in the last decade. No Audi model has ever won.
American Made
There are a lot of good reasons to buy a vehicle made in the US. You’re supporting local communities, higher labor standards, and parts for repairs tend to be cheaper and more readily available when not imported. Neither Acura nor Audi is considered a domestic brand, but these days that no longer means that they aren’t built here. Because it’s no longer so easy to tell what is and isn’t built in the US, Cars.com publishes a list of all of the vehicles that have final assembly in the US, and then also ranks them according to how much of the labor that has gone into them that comes from the US2.
Acura is the highest-rated non-domestic luxury brand, with almost every current model in the top 20, beating out a huge number of vehicles from “domestic” brands. The only exception being the ZDX, which is produced in a partnership with GM, and built in completely different factories. Not that Acura needs to rank all that well in order to beat Audi, which isn’t on the top 100 list at all. Acura and its parent company Honda have more top 20 models than any other automaker from any country.
Complimentary Maintenance
Acura wants you to have a hassle-free experience owning your vehicle, and that’s why every new Acura vehicle now comes with the Acura Maintenance Package*. This package gives you routine maintenance for the first 2 years/24,000 miles of ownership free of charge. The closest you can get to this with Audi is to pay for service over the same period in advance, which Audi promotes as a hedge against inflation. It just doesn’t quite compare to free though.
1 Source: https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a44212736/2024-acura-integra-type-s-drive/
*Acura Maintenance Package covers certain factory scheduled maintenance on select eligible vehicles for two years or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first. Certain models may require different maintenance schedules as recommended by the vehicle’s Maintenance Minder system and described in the vehicles’ Owner’s Manuals. See an Acura Dealer for vehicle eligibility, coverage details, and exclusions. Valid only in the United States of America.
