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HONDA Accord Tourer Review

OUR TEST CAR: HONDA Accord Tourer 2.4 i-VTEC

 
HONDA Accord Tourer  - Page - 1
Manufactured since 1976, the Accord has become one of the main stars in the Honda lineup over the years. Initially presented as an entry-level hatchback in the mid-size segment, the Accord has evolved into two separate entities, depending on the market it's being sold on. To be more explicit, the North american Accord is now completely different from the car bearing the very same name in Europe and Japan.

We're going to center on the European version of it, the one which has entered its eighth generation for almost two years now. Unlike the North American variant, the European one is still competing in the mid-size segment, albeit in the larger half of it.

In other words, the latest Euro Accord is almost as long as a previous generation 5 Series or an E-Klasse, but its main competitors are still the mid-size Volkswagen Passat, Ford Mondeo, Mazda 6, Peugeot 407, Citroen C5 and Renault Laguna. The longer length and wheelbase are obvious advantages in the competition for who has the largest interior space, and the new Accord has plenty of it.

For a car that's not exactly luxurious, the Accord can now be even better equipped than some of the German triumvirate of mid-size premium sedans (Audi A4, BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Klasse). To put it differently, the Accord can now pose some real premium aspirations, but without the premium image.

To see how the latest mid-size offering from Honda stacks against it competition (and not only), we took a fully decked-out Accord to the test. With the intent to make it even more interesting, our test car was a Tourer and it was equipped with the most powerful engine in the line-up, the 2.4-liter high-revving four banger. Read on to find out what we really thought about it.

After the Honda Civic took everyone by surprise with keeping more than 99% of the concept's appearance in its production form, most people were expecting a similarly bold take on design from the Accord as well. Sadly, the latest Euro Accord sports more of a an evolution of the old one than a groundbreaking design line.

This is not to say that the latest Accord Tourer has numb, boring design. It's just that it reminds us maybe too much of the old one. On the good side, it does keep the family traits alive, while adding a nice touch of modernness. Of course, some may say that a few of Mazda's DNA can be traced in the front grille, while other may very well say that that is also just a modern take of the previous Accord grille.

The front is actually rather Acura-ish, albeit thankfully without resorting to a European version of the ugly braces-like grille of its more expensive cousins. The headlights are a bit smaller but sport a similar look to the ones found on the previous generation.

Considering that, beside being a station wagon, our test car was also black and had tinted rear windows, there was more than one occasion that we were mistaken for a bunch of undertakers. For some people that might prove to be a good thing, since driving a car with “credentials” like these would prove to be both inconspicuous and attention-grabbing, depending on how you look at it.

Compared to the old one, the new Accord is much longer and wider, which makes it look quite a bit sportier, even in this “Tourer” form. There also plenty of “Katana” styling cues taken straight from the Honda Civic, with the most obvious being the sharp-looking door knobs.


Unlike the previous generation, the rear end of the car looks more sporty and less hearse or ECTO 1-like. Sure, it can still haul enough luggage to satisfy a family of shopping addicts, but now it has a sportier and less utilitarian look. All in all, the Honda Accord Tourer is way above average when it comes to styling, and could even turn some wagon-haters around.

Despite having more "premium car" aspirations, the latest Honda Accord doesn't quite make the grade when it comes to the interior, or at least not in absolutely every chapter. The quality of the plastic bits found on the center console is a bit questionable when comparing it to an Audi or a Mercedes-Benz, albeit similar to a BMW. The quality and the softness of the leather trimming on the seats and on the inside of the doors, on the other hand, sure beats the standard leather option found in the 3-Series.

Despite having a size best fit for a driver that's either wearing heavy winter gloves or has gigantic hands, the center knob on the dashboard is pretty ergonomic, although it could have been placed lower on the center console, maybe between the front seats.

Every other instrument is neatly placed just where you would hope to be. For example, the decently-sized LCD screen for the navigation system and/or other car functions sits almost at eye-level in order to not distract the driver's sight from following the road. It is also buried deep in the dashboard so that sunlight doesn't take away from its visibility.

The overall interior space is more than ample for all the passengers, in just about every direction possible. The only chapter where the Accord Tourer somewhat lacks space is, curiously, the luggage compartment, since it's even smaller than on its sedan counterpart.

At 395 liters (13.9 cubic feet) in standard mode, it doesn't exactly scream that it can haul a lot of stuff. However, once the rear seats are folded flat, following a 60:40 percentage, and you fill it up to the ceiling, the available volume is similar to that of a compact ambulance, so more than enough to carry even the largest luggage you can find.

All in all, the Accord Tourer in Executive trim is not exactly an executive station wagon, but the amount of space and quality it offers is a nice compromise between a popular wagon and a premium one.

Since our test car was equipped with the highly-acclaimed 2.4-liter four-cylinder VTEC engine, but with a rather old five-speed automatic transmission, we didn't expect much from its in-city mileage In theory, coupling a high-revving engine that has little low-end torque with an "old-school" automatic transmission is not the best idea to achieve a good fuel economy in heavy traffic.

The theory reinforced itself when we actually got to drive the Accord Tourer 2.4 in the city. As we already mentioned, the engine-transmission combination is probably not the best choice for someone looking for a car to be used mainly for short errands, especially since in our three-day test drive we didn't manage to get the medium fuel consumption to go under 14 liters per 100 kilometers (US 16.8 mpg). Most of the time we were achieving 14.5-15 liters per 100 km (US 15.7-16.2 mpg).

Since our test driving conditions weren't exactly perfect and we encountered lots of heavy traffic, we suspect that in a more relaxed city from this point of view the fuel consumption might drop to around 13 liters per 100 kilometers (US 18.1 mpg), which is mighty close to the official 12.7 liters per 100 km (US 18.5 mpg).

Apart from the rather high fuel consumption, we didn't encounter as many problems as we would have expected driving such a large station wagon in the city (4740 millimeters, or about 186.6 inches in length). The ground clearance, although it seemed pretty low, is more than enough to tackle almost any speed bump or roadside curb, while the all-round visibility is just right.

Our test car was also equipped with parking sensors and a rear view camera, both options helping you park pretty much anywhere the car will fit. Another useful option for people who take their car on a weekly shopping spree at the supermarket was the electrical-opening of the luggage compartment, which could also be made remotely from a button from the key fob.

All in all, the Accord Tourer, at least when fitted with the top gasoline engine and automatic transmission is better suited for the open road than for a highly congested city, but overall it didn't disappoint as much as we would have thought at this chapter.

The open road is where the fun should begin whenever talking about a Honda with a VTEC engine that achieves its maximum power at a stratospheric 7000 rpm. As you probably guessed from reading the other chapters, we weren't exactly impressed with the car's five-speed transmission, especially from a sporty point of view.

Since most of the 201 horsepower are available starting with an rpm at which most other "regular" engines would only burn fuel and provide less power, the 2.4-liter four-banger must be really kept at its boiling point in order to extract every available ounce of performance from it. Even so, the 9.1 seconds required to go from naught to a hundred kilometers per hour (62 mph) are a bit on the slow side when looking at the car's specs and weight.

The Accord Tourer in this configuration weighs only 1600 kilograms (3500 pounds), but the five-speed auto "takes away" so much power from the engine that the only time when you're really enjoying pushing the pedal to the metal is between gear shifts. On the other hand, the engine sounds just like any Honda mill, while the transmission, albeit slow, really let's it rev beyond 7000 rpm whenever you use its (also rather slow) kick down option.

We found the car's suspension settings to be an almost perfect mix of high-speed and/or cornering firmness and comfort while cruising. Considering the rather long length and wheelbase, high-speed stability is also very good.

Moving on from the pretty disappointing performance, especially after taking a look at the car's technical data, another surprise came in the form of much more pleasant part. Our test car was equipped with both the Honda CMBS (Collision Mitigation Braking System) and the Honda LKAS (Lane Keeping Assist System).

In a perfect world, where highways have very few curves and the road markings are perfectly clear, the aforementioned two systems, along with the intelligent cruise control, could actually get your Accord from point A to point B without almost any driver input.

Other than that, the open road fuel consumption dropped quite a bit from our in-city stint, averaging at around 7.5-8 liters per 100 kilometers (US 29.4-31.4 mpg) when driving on the highway with the cruise control set between 120 and 130 kilometers per hour (75-80 mph). All in all, the Accord Tourer 2.4 is a very comfortable choice for long distance trips, with enough grunt from the engine to please the more demanding drivers.
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autoevolution Mar 2010
65
History
6
Exterior
6
Interior
6
In the city
5
Open road
6
Comfort
7
Tech facts
6
Gadgets
7
Safety
9
Conclusion
7
69user rating 37 votes
Rate this car!
 
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