Have you ever walked past a clothing store, seen a suit that looked so intriguing that you walked in and tried it out? Then, when you put on the pants and jacket, it felt absolutely perfect? You know just then that there’s no way that you’re walking out of the store without that suit in an oversized paper bag.
Well, that hasn’t happened to me, but I imagine that would be the same feeling when I opened the door of the new Accord VTi-L and plopped into the driver’s chair. Every square centimeter of the seat felt precisely tailored: the seat cushion that extended all the way to the back of my knees, the beefy side bolstering and the firm back support. Lower back support is so abundant that sliding the lumbar control forward of the minimum position would have given me scoliosis. The armchair for the front passenger is just as good and it, too, has all-power adjustment. Both seats been upgraded, of course, from the previous model.
Much like everything else in here. Take a look around and the entire cabin has been given the luxury massage treatment. The black and tan color scheme hits just the right tactile and visual notes and there’s plenty of room for all occupants. The aircon and stereo controls occupy a Darth Vader-face smack in the middle of the dash. Everything is clear and cleanly laid out. No gimmicks or multitude of switches here—it’s neither a buttonfest nor a single mouse control. One button per function, and I hope they keep this design for Accords till kingdom come because it is perfect. The glovebox and grab handles are softly damped and there’s a recessed reading lamp for each outboard passenger. The leather steering wheel both tilts and telescopes. The quality of the interior can now battle with the midsize offerings from Germany and Sweden.
The traffic-stopping exterior is also a first for the Accord. Honda has always gone for the mainstream with the Accord’s looks, resulting in outer shells that are pleasant if somewhat bland. What a change this is. The design brief speaks 4-door S2000; walk anywhere along the front of this car and you know they’ve nailed it. The low-slung fenders with the triangular lens cutouts lead to a prominently bulgy hood. It’s a pleasingly complex shape that looks best when you see it in the metal. The boxy profile and large doors make entry and exit comfortable, and those doors now have a solid, weighty feel.
As with previous Accords, Honda designers chose an animal to inspire their design. Looking at the front, there’s a little bit of the quoted cheetah in the fiendishly rakish lines; with a lot of squinting we deciphered the connection. The cheetah effect diminishes progressively as you scan your eyes along the sides until finally you reach the uninspired Buick-like rear end. Oh, well. Maybe when facelift time comes they’ll make it look like the rear of the next NSX.
The LED instrument panel lit up gradually as we inserted the key then fired up the engine: first the green and white scale markings, then the bright red needles. The dohc 2.0 under the hood is the same powerplant propelling CR-Vs. It combines VTEC variable lift and timing with infinitely variable timing control. Result is 149 bhp and 186 Nm of torque.
That’s not bad for a 2-liter, but given the car’s 1475 kg mass, we thought that it’ll be rather challenged. Indeed, launch is tame and subdued, even if you floor it. Press on, though, and as the engine spins past 3000 rpm there’s enough grunt to keep even SiRs at bay.
Blistering acceleration is not the strong suit of this car, but cruising is. It feels stable and quite comfortable at sustained speeds of 140 km/h. At 100 km/h, the engine spins lazily at barely past 2000 rpm, saving both liters and decibels. We recorded 7.81 km/L in mixed city-highway runs. That’s also due to the five-speed automatic, which its thing unobtrusively and efficiently. There’s a bit of a tug from 1-2 and 2-3, giving up a little to its archrival Camry in the smooth-shifting department. That said, it’s hard to tell just what gear it’s in or what it’s doing, and that is the point of an automatic.
If like me, you’re addicted to the VTEC soundtrack, then you will probably miss something here. The VTEC sound is like a hornets’ nest—you have to stir it a bit but does it sound righteously angry when you finally get its attention. In contrast, this engine sounds like a smooth turbine all the way to redline. It’s more 747 than the VTEC’s F16.
When we gave up trying to provoke the engine into singing, we had fun in other ways. The Accord’s steering doesn’t offer much in the way of road feel, but it is responsive, with a quicker ratio than the previous model’s. There’s a discrepancy between vision and gut feel because the cabin is quite huge, especially when we looked behind and saw how much car there still is. That contradicted what our gut told us, that beneath us was a small and agile vehicle.
The suspension retains the previous’ model’s double-wishbone front / 5-link rear setup. Bumps, highway joints, and the remains of Manila Water diggings are now filtered out almost completely. The cabin is quiet, too, with tire roar substantially diminished. The ride is firm but never harsh, and never floaty. The 205/60 16 tires are the perfect running shoes, providing good grip and sporty looks. Although the Accord still plows its front, there’s less understeer and body roll than the previous model.
The brakes feel substantially stronger now, with larger front rotors. It does increase driver confidence to the point where alarmed passengers questioned our seeming late-braking maneuvers. ABS, EBD and dual airbags are standard, even for the cloth-uphosltered VTi, and the top model includes side airbags as well.
The interactive windshield wipers (release the foot brake and the wiper swipes once) are retained, and their new overlapping design has them wiping every square cm of the lower windshield. The washers are now tucked behind the hood and spray in a mist pattern. The rear seatback has both pass-through and a fold-down capability. The trunk and passenger door have no keyhole, as the main key incorporates the remote functions. Individual aircon setting for driver and front passenger. These may be nerdy little details but we absolutely appreciate features like this.
Is it the perfect midsize sedan? The engine is just adequate, the steering still numb and the handling far from sports-car level. But just sit inside that sumptuous cabin, on that sublime driver’s chair, and operate the responsive mechanicals. The new Accord may not yet be perfect, but in this category it’s still the best.
Five Years On:
motioncars.com and the
Honda Accord
motioncars.com published its first article five years ago, and our very first test drive was the Accord VTi-L. How fitting then that we are testing the next generation of the Accord for this, our fifth anniversary issue.
The Accord continues to be in our long-term fleet and we have developed quite a fondness for our 1998 VTi-L. The engine had always been one of its aces. Though not quite matching Nissan’s silky VQ in smoothness, the 2.3’s rev-happy nature and song at full VTEC made it best-in-class. Its chassis was also the most agile among its Japanese compatriots, and the cabin the most driver-oriented, with a perfect driving position.
Another endearing quality is just that, its bullet-proof build quality. Save for routine maintenance items, a brake light switch, and power actuators for the door locks, no mechanical parts ever needed to be replaced in 60,000 km. We inadvertently plunged it into a knee-high flood and amazingly the car kept running until we reached dry ground. The only casualty was a radiator fan, and that, too, resumed its operation after it had dried up.
We said then that “Dynamically, the Accord is an excellent car. Its one failing is actually its exterior styling…it’s somewhat boring and wanting for interesting details.”
The new model addresses that and then some. Its primary competition then was its Japanese archrivals but this model’s goal is to reach up to BMW and Volvo levels. A far stretch, you think? The quality of the cabin says not. Our new tax regulations mean that bigger engines such as the 2.4 inline-4 and 3.0 V6 should eventually make their way here. If the time comes to replace our Accord, then right now only one car comes to mind.
By Jason Ang | Photos By Ulysses Ang
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