Energizer Bunny: Honda Accord (2002)

Who could ever forget the Energizer bunny? The little critter kept on appearing in every conceivable place—even dueling with Darth Vader in an US-only advertisement. Of course, in the end, parent company Eveready decided to kill off the pink drumming rabbit in favor of the less remarkable Battery Man.

Despite the loss of the Energizer bunny, we still remember the ad’s tagline: it keeps on going and going and going. Much like the deceased battery-operated and slightly cool (and gay) bunny, the Honda Accord does pretty much the same thing. Crank it every morning and it will just keep on going and going and going regardless of the time, the place and the driver. Of course, unlike the rabbit, this car is still very much alive and kicking.

When we first got our long-term test Honda Accord well back in 1998, it didn’t think that the 1.2 million peso entrance fee was worth it. It carried a lot less toys than the similarly priced Nissan Cefiro and it didn’t have a remarkably great engine. That said we were remarkably surprised at the Accord’s compliance when it comes to everyday duties. It’s a comfortable, slightly sporty and elegant large saloon that’s under appreciated in the local scene.

Forty thousand kilometers later, the story is still the same.

The biggest plus point of the Honda Accord has got to be the very plush ride. Though not as good as the Toyota Camry, the Accord gives a good balance between enthusiasm and comfort—giving the driver a bit of feedback with regards to the road conditions without attempting to shake out your half-digested ham and cheese sandwich. The ride is remarkably smooth even when the tires have been pumped up to 35 pounds per square inch (psi).

The build quality is solid as the Accord has no squeaks and creaks from the body work or any of the interior fittings. That is except for the center console, which is largely to my fault. Fiddling around with the 2-DIN radio, I accidentally snapped the radio spacer into two. This causes some irritating creaks when going over uneven pieces of road (mental note: never mess around with the radio other than the volume). Of course, a replacement part should silence this up.

Ergonomically, the Accord is the best one in our long-term lot so far. We’ve managed to test all the other Japanese executive-level sedans and we found this to be the real driver’s car. All the switchgears have a nice tick-tock feel and remain solid even after more than two and a half years of using them.

Though the headlights have been fairly powerful for the Honda Accord, we’ve been tempted to change the headlights and the fog lights into the HID-look PIAAs. Though it cost us close to 9,000 pesos in total, the investment is well worth it as it gives the Accord even better night driving vision as well as a plus increase in terms of pogi points.

In connection with the replacement of the bulbs, we wanted to do the change ourselves, since we’re the hands-on type of car buffs. However, because of the complexity of the fog light assembly, we were perplexed on how to deal with this. We gave Honda Cars Marikina a ring to ask how to open up the fog light casing. We got a surprising reply that’s a bitter blow to all hands-on Honda car buyers.

Their service manager refused to give the instructions on how to open the fog light casing, because in doing so, he feared that they’d lose the importance of their Honda training and hence, they could get fired. What?! Get fired over how to open the fog light casing? This horror story of Honda not wanting to give out details on how to do things yourself extend to buying extra light bulbs and screws. They never want to give out the model numbers of any of the genuine Honda parts. Although this is definitely a company policy, shouldn’t the customers have the right to choose to buy the part elsewhere?

Back to the fog light question, we ended inviting over another fellow car buff and after fiddling around for fifteen minutes, we got to replace the bulbs. Does this mean we could fire the Honda Cars Marikina service manager and take his place? We hope so.

We’ve managed to add a new Alpine 6-disc CD changer that has been fitted underneath the front passenger seat courtesy of Perfect Circle, the official distributor of Alpine products in the Philippines (according to the Alpine website). This is to compliment the obviously lacking 3-disc in-dash CD changer standard in all 1998-2001 Accord VTi-L models.

At this point, we should be praising the sound quality of the Accord’s standard 60-watts 6-speaker system, but we can’t. It seems that after the 35,000 kilometers check-up, the Accord was returned to us with damaged front speakers, causing the sound to break up at the heavy bass levels. What makes it worse is that Honda Quezon Avenue personnel seemed to be main culprit as the ‘source’ has been moved from tuner to radio. It seemed that they couldn’t resist listening to a track or two of Aiza Siguerra while changing the Accord’s oil. The same could be true with the leather seats, which have been transformed to doodling pads by the service people.

In terms of driver excitement, the Accord is typically docile, but it can give out some degree of cornering entertainment courtesy of its double-wishbone and multi-link suspension set-up. It is perfectly agile (for its size) on open highways and compliant in traffic maneuvers. However, the biggest irritant of our long-termer is the fact that understeer dominates each and every time you drive it. In combination with a softly sprung suspension, this Honda is sometimes terrifying on the twisty mountain roads and sharp-turn flyovers.

Direct front and rear visibility is nothing great as the sharply drooping hood line is hard to see especially during stop-and-go traffic situations as well as tight parking maneuvers. The same is true with the rear thanks to the car’s smallish rear window and a flat trunk line (we actually hit a parking post once). Side visibility however is superb thanks to over-sized mirrors and large windows.

The real weak point of the Honda Accord it seems is the Goodyear NCT3 195 / 65 VR 15 tires. Even at a lowly 30 psi, it doesn’t give confidence inspiring grip through cornering as it tends to squeal even at relatively gentle curves. Our 1991 Mitsubishi Galant GTi shod with 195/60 HR 15 Bridgestone Turanza tires didn’t produce the same problem. Pumping up the pressure to 35 psi up front makes things worse. The relatively narrow tires cannot take the VTEC’s rocket-like acceleration. There is a tendency for the wheels to fidget around causing severe instability during hard acceleration. To cure this problem, we’ve been debating whether to inch-up the Accord’s tires and wheels to 16-inchers with high-performance 205 / 55 VR 16 tires as the minimum.

In engine department, the 2.3-liter SOHC VTEC is still great. Although not as silent as the new i-VTEC engine found in the 2002 CR-V or even the Toyota Camry’s 2.2-liter unit, the Accord power plant delivers great performance figures with a good exhaust note. Mated to the solid 5-speed manual gearbox, this car is a surprising stop light sprinter. Though the travel between gears is bigger compared to the Nissan Cefiro manual, it engages each gear with precision. Strangely enough, that is offset by the Porsche 911-like stiff clutch pedal which makes the Accord a hassle to drive in heavy downtown Manila traffic.

Fuel consumption is a mixed bag as the Accord could go as high as 7.5 kilometers per liter to as low as 5.9 kilometers per liter, all in city-driving conditions. During the time we’ve had this car, it is fairly obvious that this car doesn’t prefer any kind of fuel. As long as it’s unleaded, it will deliver the same kind of fuel mileage any time. High-octane variants such as Shell Velocity, Petron Blaze or Caltex Vortex Gold do little to improve the Accord’s performance or fuel mileage.

With only 10,000 kilometers or so to go in our long-term test fleet, we still have to report on anything significantly negative on the Honda Accord VTi-L. A great everyday performer, this car is definitely a great companion for everyday use. Though not as agile as the smaller vehicles, the Accord is perfect for a family of four or five as it has great interior space, a huge trunk and driving characteristics that won’t leave good old dad bored.

This car will also appeal to those who want painless ownership. Though the service bills may be a bit higher compared to the Toyotas, it gives out fewer problems in the long-run.

Perhaps the only problems with the Accord lie not on the car, but in the service. Since we got our Accord, we’ve encountered problems with service centers in Honda Cars Pasig and Honda Cars Quezon Avenue (owned by different companies). A slight improvement when it comes to customer care should be a priority for Honda Cars Philippines if they want to keep an already satisfied owner even more satisfied.

By Ulysses Ang | Photos By Ulysses Ang
Originally Published in the June 2002 Issue