Accord is a smooth operator
FOUR-CYLINDER engines from Honda were, for many years, the smoothest and most refined you could buy and some car makers are still trying to catch up.
The 2.4-litre petrol engine in the Honda Accord, which went out of production in 2015, is as smooth and powerful as BMW’s six-cylinder 2.5-litre.
And as well as this petrol with an excellent 198bhp, there is also a 2.0-litre with 153bhp that’s just as smooth and no slouch.
For most though, the pick of the range is probably the 2.2 turbo diesel with 147bhp – or 177 in the Type-S – which is smooth, quiet and very powerful.
There is rarely any need to push any of the engines hard because they have great response and pull hard from low revs.
The lower-powered diesel will dispatch the 0 to 62mph sprint in 9.3 seconds and the Type S brings this down to 8.5.
But the quickest of all is the 2.4 petrol, which can do the same benchmark in 7.8 seconds. Petrol economy ranges from 33 to 40mpg, while the diesels should do about 50 with the usual careful right foot.
Handling is top-of-the-tree in both saloon and estate, with little roll, wonderful balance, vast grip and safe, sure road holding.
These road manners match the engine’s verve perfectly and make the Accord a hugely enjoyable car over short or long journeys.
The ride is excellent at speed, soaking up the worst of surfaces with great ease, but it does get a little unsettled over poor surfaces in town.
A superb, smooth changing automatic gearbox was available with petrol and diesel engines and a friend of mine swears by his automatic diesel, which has done over 120,000 miles without a hitch so far.
Every model in the range comes well equipped with things like climate control, cruise control, four electric windows, stability control, aux in and heated mirrors.
ES GT adds bigger alloys, sports suspension and Bluetooth, while the EX gets leather, USB, electric heated seats and auto lights and wipers.
Pay £8,500 for a ’13 13-reg 2.0-litre petrol ES, or £11,950 for a ’15 15-reg EX 2.2 diesel automatic.