QUITE THE COUP FOR A COUPE
Honda offering has a mid-size niche
Honda must have a secret. Its Accord Coupe is the only frontwheel-drive, mid-size coupe available on the market. It has outlived, among others, the Toyota Solara, Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Avenger Coupe, and Nissan’s Altima Coupe.
But why has the two-door version of Honda’s bestselling sedan continued to live on while other family sedan-based coupes have dropped like flies?
First introduced in 1990, the Accord Coupe continues to find a market, because it offers the same comfortable driving experience as the sedan, but with the much sleeker, eye-friendly proportions of a two-door car.
From some angles, you’d swear you were looking at a Mercedes C-Class Coupe — until you spot the H badge on the new chrome-happy grille. Among the changes to the Coupe’s look for this mid-cycle refresh are sleeker LED headlights and tail lights, a revised lower air intake, LED fog lights, and a larger, more sculpted rear bumper.
The styling tweaks, along with the Coupe’s contoured body lines, give it much more road presence. Our top-line Touring V6 tester’s attractive 19-inch wheels complete the sporty look. There’s a reason Honda charges more for this sixspeed-auto model ($36,830 before freight and PDI) than the similarly spec’d Touring V6 sedan ($35,790) — there’s a premium to be paid on looks alone.
The 3.5-litre naturally aspirated i-VTEC V-6, the same engine from last year, produces a robust 278 horsepower and 252 pound-feet of torque. Not quite on par with a V-8-equipped Ford Mustang GT, but it offers more than enough oomph for daily driving. The car’s drive-by-wire throttle input is very responsive and there’s no trouble getting off the line in a hurry. Hitting the gas gets a satisfying growl from the V-6 and low-end grunt comes on quickly, carrying smoothly to the midrange with enthusiasm.
Fuel economy, as you’d expect with a V-6, is not stellar, but it’s also not punitive. The V-6 is rated at 11.4 L per 100 km in the city and 7.3 on the highway. I averaged a fair 9.8 L/100 km over about 750 km.
In the Touring V6, a six-speed manual can be had for a grand less than the auto-equipped model, but the tester’s six-speed automatic transmission was a smooth-shifting affair. Unfortunately — it’s the same fault that befell the Accord’s defunct rivals — there is not much to differentiate the two-door’s driving dynamics from the sedan. While the suspension (MacPherson struts up front, multi-link independent suspension in back) feels adequately firm, it’s still tuned primarily for family-hauling comfort. On the plus side, the electric power steering is well weighted and gives good feedback. The 2016 Accord Coupe comes in four trims — EX, EX-Honda Sensing, Touring, Touring V6 — and starts at $27,090 for the base EX model. The V-6 engine can only be had in this fully loaded model, which also features a handsome, chrome-tipped dual exhaust, while the 2.4L i-VTEC four-cylinder found in the sedan (185 h.p. and 181 lb.-ft) is standard on the other three trims. So, what do you get in the loaded Touring V6? Just about anything you can name, includ- ing heated perforated-leather seats, Bluetooth, power moonroof, dual-screen display, wireless phone charging, navigation, and a multi-angle rear-view camera. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also supported, and I found the system a breeze to use. Simply plug your phone in the USB port and use voice controls to make phone calls, get directions, play music and send messages. There’s also active safety tech, such as forward-collision warning, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, and Honda’s useful LaneWatch blindspot display, which sends a video feed of the car’s passenger side to the upper 7.7-inch screen.
Controls are easy to use and decipher, save for annoyances such as the gimmicky — and laggy — touchscreen volume control. I defaulted to using the physical volume control on the steering wheel. Also, the placement of the hazard-lights button directly below the touch screen is awkward. Often, I’d inadvertently press the button as I rested my hand on it while operating the screen.
Cabin materials feel high quality, but there is an overabundance of black and grey. The seats, however, are well bolstered and there’s a lot of space to move around up front. And there’s room in the back for two average-sized adults, although getting in and out is still a pain.
As it stands, the Honda Accord Coupe’s handling isn’t quite as sporty as its looks, but it does just about everything else well, striking a good balance between power, comfort and practicality in a stylish two-door body. And that, perhaps more than anything, is the secret to this car’s continued existence.