’23 Honda Accord adds hybrid model
One of America’s favorite cars gets significantly better for 2023 as the Honda Accord adds a new hybrid drivetrain and features including Bose audio and Google assistance. The Accord has dropped the performance models that accounted for a small share of its sales, though.
Honda says the Accord has been America’s best-selling car over the last 50 years, but the midsize sedan took it on the chin in 2022.
Sales fell 24% to 202,676, a pittance for a model that regularly racked up 300,000 annually before SUVs overtook sedans and COVID-19 manufacturing disruptions rendered manufacturing schedules as reliable as coins dropped in a wishing well.
Honda expects – make that hopes, fingers crossed, rabbit’s foot in pocket and a horseshoe on the wall – the Accord will lead a return to normalcy in 2023, when the automaker expects its U.S. sales to rise 20%-25%.
The 2023 Accord’s new body is sleek and attractive, with a long hood, narrow LED lights and fastback style rear window.
The Accord’s chief competitors include sedans like the Hyundai Sonata, Kia K5, Nissan Sentra and Toyota Camry.
A new hybrid
The 2023 Accord is 2.3 inches longer than the outgoing model, though its wheelbase is unchanged. Height and width are unchanged.
Honda has trimmed the Accord’s model line to two drivetrains. The base 1.5L four-cylinder turbo is unchanged from 2022. It produces 192 hp and 192 pound-feet of torque.
The hybrid is entirely new, with a new 2.0L four-cylinder turbo and a pair of electric motors.
Hybrid power rises to 204 hp and 247 pound-feet of torque, up 1% and 6%, respectively.
Curb weight increases for 2023. The top of the line Touring hybrid weighs 102 pounds more than in 2022. The base model gained 89 pounds.
The hybrids deliver satisfying acceleration, but without its performance models, at least for the moment, none of its drivetrains approach the output of 2022’s Touring 2.0T and Sport 2.0T, which boasted 252 hp and 273 poundfeet of torque mated with a 10-speed automatic transmission.
EPA fuel economy ratings increased modestly versus 2022, despite the most efficient model’s impressive score of 51 mpg in city driving. Most models gained about 1 mpg in combined city and highway driving.
Behind the wheel
Engineers added chassis reinforcements and reworked the rear suspension for a more comfortable ride.
The steering is quick and direct. Acceleration is acceptable.
Several drive modes are available. Sport alters steering and throttle response, while EV allows battery-only driving for short distances at speeds up to around 30 mph.
The 2023 Accord was composed on mountain roads and quiet at highway speeds.
● Adaptive cruise control
● Automatic high beams
● Lane departure alert and assist
● Front collision alert and automatic braking
● Traffic sign recognition
● Traffic jam assist
● Parking sensors
● Hill start assist
● Brake hold
The long hood and fastback rear window contribute to a sleek sport looks. The slim horizontal running LED lights complement that, creating an impression of width.
Bigger windows improve visibility, while a wide center console provides useful space for cupholders, bins and devices. Passenger and luggage space are essentially unchanged, but the interior is entirely new, including a 12.3-in touch screen in hybrid models. Hybrids also get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility.
I spent most of my day driving a top of the line Touring hybrid with every available feature, including a head-up display, 12-speaker Bose audio, voiceactivated Google maps, virtual assistant and music.
It was comfortable, quiet and very nearly luxurious, trimmed entirely in black. Soft materials covered virtually every surface and the air vents had real metal grilles, as in the Civic.
The touch screen responded quickly, but Honda remains wedded to the idea that while volume dials may be a regrettable necessity, tuning dials are simply ridiculous. Don’t even ask for one.
There’s some progress on the userinterface learning curve: physical buttons and a toggle have replaced the maddeningly vague capacitive steering wheel volume and tuning controls on previous models. They’re intuitive and easy to learn.
Honda and its user interfaces remain locked in a dance of one step forward, one step back, though: The volume dial below the center-stack touch screen has been shortened and moved to an odd angle that makes it harder to use.
Trim levels and prices
LX: $27,295
EX: $29,610
Sport hybrid: $31,895 EX-L hybrid: $33,450 Sport-L hybrid: $33,875 Touring hybrid: $37,890