HONDA Accord Review

If you mention the name Honda, most people will think of the Civic and while this is the carmaker's most representative model, it's not the only one with a tradition in its range. The next car in its line-up, the Accord, is also very important for Honda, and just like the Civic, this has come a long way since it was introduced three decades and a half ago.

The Accord plays in the mid-size segment and is a global product, but not 100 percent. By this we mean that the vehicle has been adapted to the different needs of customers in different parts of the world. To be more precise, North America gets a totally different Accord than the one sold in Japan and Europe (again, just like in the Civic's case).

If you're a European customer and you encounter an Accord, it might not seem like a vehicle that is its eight generation, but this is only because not all of them have been popular. In fact, Honda launched a mild facelift for this eight generation last year and here we are testing it.

The Accord is a pretty exotic presence in its segment and this is not because we call Japanese women exotic and we've decided to borrow this for the country's cars - the Accord is pretty special due to its dimensions, as the vehicle stretches the upper limits of the mid-size segment it plays in.

You see, the vehicle competes with Germans cars like the VW Passat and the Ford Mondeo, French models like the Citroen C5 and Renault Laguna and its domestic rivals, such as the Mazda 6, but it's larger than all of them, especially in terms of length, being comparable to the vehicles in the next segment.

We've got the same story in terms of marker positioning, as the Accord can be found somewhere between aforementioned vehicles and the premium ones offered by Audi, BMW and Mercedes from this point of view.

However, unlike other models, such as Volvo, Honda doesn't charge that much for its desired premium status, so the pricing is also between the standard and the premium segments.

We've got you pretty confused about the Accord, right? We'll let's go for a drive with a Sedan using the 2.0-liter four-cylinder petrol engine and the Executive range-topping equipment level and see what this car is all about.

Some of the people that we talked to during our test drive asked us if this was a facelift for "the one with those simpler headlights", referring to what was actually the previous generation of the vehicle. So, while the Accord isn't extremely different in terms of design from its predecessor, the revamp introduced last year follows the same line as the generation it was applied one, binging minor changes.

Most of these can be found on the front fascia, where the car has had its aggression factor increased. Our vehicle benefited from one of the revamp's blessings, the optional Bi-Xenon, active headlights. At the rear, we find gently restyled headlights, as well as a bumper that brings mixed feelings: we like the sporty lines, but we didn't enjoy the visibly-covered area where the second exhaust pipe was supposed to be. However, the general opinion is that this is a car that looks good and its styling cues do back Honda's sporty ambitions.

The sedan version we tested manages to generate a few emotions, with this being an asset that Germans such as the Mondeo and the Passat don't have. In addition to that, its profile comes with simple lines, lines that remind you that cars don't necessarily need to try all that hard in order to make friends with your eyes.

The massive character of the front end, coupled with the generous length of the car, determined one to mistake it for a vehicle that belongs to the large segment, rather than the mid-size one it's actually included in.

However, the sporty exterior ambitions do bring certain disadvantages, with one of them being that the rear headroom isn't exactly generous.

Like we said in the previous chapter, the revamp only brought a few changes to the front and rear of the Accord and once you climb inside the car, you realize that this has received even less tweaks.

While the exterior gets what it's safe for you to call a facelift, the cabin received more of what can be described as a model year update, with this including the materials, trimming, as well as blue illumination for the foot wells.

The rest of the cabin is the same as the pre-facelifted model's one. This means that you get a mix of in Yin and Yang (yes, we know the concept comes from China, not Japan).

To be more specific, you receive pair of front seats that, in the case of our test car, offer a good level of comfort, a bit of lateral support and smooth perforated leather, but there's a tad too little headroom in the back.

The soundproofing is excellent, with this being one of the invisible assets brought by the refresh, but the ergonomics leave certain things to be desired. Honda went for a "there's a dedicated button for everything" approach, which has led to a layout that can become annoying and crowded in certain areas.

While the massive knob that dominates the center console is practical and the instruments are easy to read and well-lit at night, the multitude of buttons can confuse you at times, even after spending quite some time inside the car.

The luggage space is decent, and so is the access to it, but the materials used in the trunk, such as the carpet and the plastic of the handle placed on the inside of the lid, are way too cheap for this kind of car.

As for the visibility, this is decent, despite the fact that the vehicle's exterior doesn't use simple lines. However, you really should opt for the rear-view camera our test car was gifted with, which proved to be a true friend of the city.

When you hear about a 2.0-liter naturally-aspirated four-cylinder unit and a sedan that stretches the upper limits of the mid-size segment, you really don't expect to get a reasonable relationship with the gas pump as long as you're driving inside the city.

However, HONDA's VTEC (Variable Timing and Electronic Lift Control) system, as well as the carmaker's impressive six-speed manual gearbox, offered us quite a surprise from this point of view.

We don't get to match a the official fuel efficiency figures for a car, especially in the city, but this time we did, even in pretty heavy traffic. This is because the Accord 2.0 i-VTEC doesn't come with systems such as Start-Stop, which don't actually work in the real world.

Instead, the VTEC system allows the engine to operate efficiently even at below 2,000 rpm and if you're gentle with the pedal on the right, the car will use its gearshift indicator to invite you to select an upper ratio as low as 1,800 rpm.

We also had some times when either the traffic or our feet were heavier, but this didn't make the car much thirstier. In fact, the engine-gearbox combination makes allows the car to offer a decent package for city driving.

Despite the fact that it's a large car for its segment (it measures 186 in  or 4724 mm), the Accord's suspension and steering allow you to run free in the urban jungle and you are never bothered by this.

Our test car was also pretty easy to park, as it came fitted with both parking sensors and a rear view camera. The extra soundproofing brought by the facelift meant that you can enjoy some time away from the city's frenzy, while the design, which is neither boring nor spectacular, allowed us to cruise without too many eyes on us.

However, the engine does tickle you with its voice if you happen to forget to perform an upshift, which makes you want to get out on the open road and see what it can really do.

The language people use to describe certain things can be pretty confusing and one of the words that perfectly describes this is "sporty". Many people like to say that they've got a sporty driving style, but in reality this only means that they abuse their cars and nothing more. It's the same with clothes - there are a lot of people who choose sporting apparel, but aren't necessarily fit.

Well, unfortunately, in the configuration we tested, the Accord can be found halfway between the aforementioned description Honda's dynamic claims.

We'll start with the simple numbers: if you use a 156 hp engine on a 3280 lbs (1488 kg) car, you won't get more than decent driving dynamics, no matter what you do.

We added the last part because Honda has really made efforts to gift the car with dynamic assets, most of which resulted in an impression of being sporty.

The numbers show you that is you place the 2.0-liter four-cylinder petrol under the hood of the Accord sedan, you'll get a 0 to 62 mph time of 9.4 seconds and a top speed of 134 mph (216 km/h), performance data that match those of the average diesel-powered sedan in this class.

So, there you are, driving your sporty Honda and being potentially slower than, for example, a more gifted mid-size SUV (this really did happen during the open-road part of our test-drive).

However, the fact that we drive in the modern world, where the heavy traffic and the strict laws make it really dangerous to push the speedometer to far, means that it would be nice to have a car that allows you to feel sporty, but without going too fast, and this is exactly what the accord does.

The engine's willingness to rev,its elasticity and sound (all coming from the VTEC System), as well as the six-speed manual gearbox's precision and ratios, all made the driving experience feel like an action-packed one, giving you certain thrills.

The suspension setup is comfortable enough for the car to be used as a family vehicle and yet manages to be a bit on the firm side, allowing you to push the car into a corner. As for the steering, this is decent, but don't expect too much feedback.