Honda hopes its all-new Honda Accord will finally establish the Japanese brand as an alternative to German prestige marques.
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Audi, BMW and Lexus were benchmarked for the new car on everything from quality levels to driving performance and electronics.
The eighth-generation model will launch in saloon form on June 1 and as an estate – called the Tourer – on September 1. They promise sharper exterior styling, a smarter and more refined interior, better handling, Euro5 emissions compliance on all engines and leading-edge safety options.
The Accord’s completely new platform is shared by the saloon and Tourer and has about 75% commonality between the two. Now they both have an identical 2705mm wheelbase (an increase of 35mm for the saloon and a reduction of 15mm for the Tourer) and are the same width (1840mm) and height (1470mm). Only the lengths differ – 4726mm for the saloon and 4740mm for the Tourer.
Global sales expectations for this platform are 800,000 per year as it is also the base for the American and Japanese Accords and the Acura TSX and TL models.
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By GlobalDataThe new cars are certainly more stylish and coherent in form, with the Tourer in particular looking like a car that’s been designed to be an estate from the outset – not a saloon with a big end added after. There were two independent design teams for the old saloon and Tourer but the new versions were designed by one team from the start. It shows.
The new Tourer is 30mm lower with a more sloping roofline and a ‘faster’ rear hatchback featuring more distinctive taillights. Bolder side creases and flared wheel arches make the old Tourer’s slab sides history. Less convincing is the widely spaced metal effect slatted front grille that seems ill at ease with the smart new headlights. It looks (and feels) cheap up close too.
The more rakish Tourer’s lines have also significantly affected luggage space and functionality. Seats up, the Tourer actually offers less than the saloon – 406 versus 460 litres. The old Tourer had an enormous 626 litres and even the new Audi A4 Avant – a key rival – has 490. The Accord Tourer does offer a useful extra 53-litre rectangular under floor space (where the spare wheel would normally go) that will fit a mid-sized weekend bag but folding the rear seats down still only makes the main luggage area expand to 672 litres up to the waistline. The old model managed 921 litres to the same point.
There are still boot wall shopping hooks and a helpful one-height load floor, so there’s no lip to lift stuff over, but the wheel arches intrude significantly to impede long wide loads and the tonneau cover no longer slots away the under the load floor when not needed. It did on the old version.
Honda describes the exterior design changes as ‘evolution’ but the interior ones as ‘revolution’. It’s a fair assessment. Inside, both cars offer a fit and finish well above their respective predecessors, with a high quality leather grain effect and rubber feel dashboard, thick deep-bolstered front seats plus a much more modern centre console and switchgear. Sound insulation has been improved too. Most things you touch feel every solid.
With the higher quality come higher prices than the outgoing models. In Britain they start at GBP19,260 for the base petrol 2.0-litre ES saloon rising to GBP27,960 for the top spec new 2.2-litre diesel EX GT. This car includes Honda’s safety package ADAS (Advanced Driver Assist System) that comprises lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control and collision mitigation braking – the first time the latter system has been available in this sector.
Buoyed by recent experience of customers up-specifying its CR-V and Civic models – Honda says 85% of its early CR-V sales last year were top spec EX models – the brand is quietly hoping the Accord’s sales mix will follow suit.
The Accord features a new 150PS 2.2-litre i-DTEC diesel engine that is 10PS more powerful than the existing i-CDTi engine and has better economy (50.4mpg) and emissions (148g/km CO2). It is expected to take 70% of Tourer sales. Petrol-engined models – a 156PS 2.0 and 201PS 2.4 – will make up the rest of the 10,000 2008 UK sales target. All engines get a six-speed manual gearbox for now with a five-speed automatic option with steering wheel paddles on the petrol units. A diesel auto will follow in 2009.
Honda is also working on an Ammonia Catalytic Converter for its diesel engine exhaust systems that will allow it to meet tough NOx requirements of the US TierII/Bin5 standards. It hopes to launch such an equipped diesel in the US by 2010.
Guy Bird
Honda targets more dealers, fewer owners
