Car Review Growth spurt
MT WASHINGTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE » The roads around this famed New England mountain are just right for testing cars.
Cars may be losing in popularity, but the 2018 Honda Accord demonstrates that this isn’t because they aren’t well-designed and well-built vehicles. There were still two million mid-sized cars sold here in 2016, and Honda makes it clear that this in one of their bread-and-butter products
This new Honda is the 10th generation of the Accord in the past 41 years, and now all of them are made in America – at the Ohio plant which assembled the first Japanese car made in America. They must know what they are doing, because the chief of Honda’s brand in the U.S., Jeff Conrad, confirms that they’ve made Car and Drivers’10 Best list 31 times. He also pointed out that this is the most comprehensive redesign of the Accord since the car was introduced.
You can tell because the Accord is longer, wider, and slightly less tall, but with a two-inch longer wheelbase. The result is a car slightly smaller overall but with a larger and more usable cabin. In profile the Accord has a longer hood, giving the car a very different – and more sophisticated – profile. That hood itself is well sculpted.
Because the A-pillars are narrower and slightly further back the view out the windshield is broader. The Accord’s roof line sweeps back in a very coupe-like fashion. You would think that would impact headroom in the rear seat, but it really doesn’t.
What it does do is make this the most attractive Accord Honda has come up with. It is distinctive and modern. It appears to have a personality instead of being a somewhat generic midsized sedan, which many seem to be. For the past several years, starting with the Civic Honda has done an extremely good job of reversing their move towards automotive fuddy-duddyness.
The cabin is modern and spacious, but without appearing Avant Garde. Its design is traditional and the Japanese insistence on a unified theme does create a comfortable completeness to its look and feel. Quality points are well up near the luxury car range.
While it may have a traditional look, the 2018 Accord’s cabin is technological savvy, with a seveninch digital driver’s screed and an optional eight-inch dashboard display. This has a touchscreen interface but with physical volume and tuning knobs. Evidently Accord owner research found an overwhelming demand to return to analog controls for at least some of the common functions on the dashboard.
But the techno-oriented, smartphone-like features and functionality including customizable app tiles and home-screen shortcuts. The system as you would expect can be equipped with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The system also has Wi-Fienabled over-the-air system updates, which is as it should be if you are going to claim to have a technologically up-to-date vehicle.
You can also opt for the next-generation of HondaLink telematics including emergency roadside assistance, remote locking/unlocking and engine start, stolen vehicle tracking, remote diagnostics, geofencing, speed tracking and more.
This is a quiet and calm environment, although that physical quietness may make some wind noise more evident. In any case, this is a cabin which allows you to take your comfort with you. The seats are at least as comfortable as your trusty recliner at home and even more adjustable.
The steering wheel’s shape is sporty, and with buttons sensibly arranged to be useful without looking. The wheel itself has a molded shape that fits your hands, and makes you want to keep them where they should be: on the steering wheel.
Some of my colleagues found the steering to be a bit heavy, but I didn’t. I liked its directness and feedback and didn’t really notice any heaviness. Perhaps it’s a difference in degree, but did lead to a discussion about why steering feel couldn’t be a driver selection. While Hyundai did in a couple of years back on one of their crossovers, it wasn’t well-received. But as I recall, there wasn’t that much variation between their three selections.
With this generation of the Accord the engines of all three powertrain options will be four-cylinder turbos. These include a 1.5-liter turbo engine producing 192 hp. and 195 lb.ft. of peak torque. This powertrain is rated at 30 mpg city and 38mpg on the highway.