HONDA

REFINED AND REDEFINED If Honda is to chase the premium market, it needs a top notch diesel engine in its latest Accord. Andy Enright takes a look at the 2.2 i-DTEC version.

It’s getting there, but the Honda Accord i-DTEC diesel isn’t quite on touching terms with the German premium compact executive models. It wins a few battles in key areas but as an overall proposition, it’ll still appeal to those who dislike the German marques and want a high-tech alternative at a keener price.

Put yourself in Honda’s position for a moment. The company has seen sales of medium range cars dwindle as more and more buyers realise that the low depreciation of premium models like the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4 often makes them cheaper to own. In this predicament, a company has three options. It can do what Nissan did and give up on that market sector, it can do what Ford has done with the current Mondeo and attempt to build a product too good to ignore or it can try to crash the premium party. Honda has chosen a combination of the latter two strategies. It’s a risky move. If a company’s badge equity isn’t up to snuff, buyers will laugh at its naked ambition and sales will go through the floor. Many have tried going head to head with the Germans and almost all of them have failed. Armed with a punchy 149bhp diesel engine in its latest Accord, Honda thinks it’s in with a shout. Honda has waved goodbye to its i-CTDi diesel engine design and instead thrown its lot in with another bunch of acronyms – i-DTEC. Generating 149bhp at 4,000rpm, this unit is more refined than the old 138bhp i-CTDi engine and also beats it in terms of emissions and fuel economy. With a peak torque figure of 350Nm, it’s also extremely punchy. This powerplant is mated to six-speed manual gearbox. Perhaps the most significant difference is in terms of engine flexibility. Where the old diesel engine felt strong but a bit peaky, forcing you to stay right on top of gear changing duties, the i-DTEC spreads its torque rather more generously and will pull from low revs with less turbo lag; handy for when you need to zip out onto a busy roundabout.

"There’s little doubt that the latest Accord looks a more substantial car than its predecessor…"

Honda benchmarked the BMW 3 Series in the development of the Accord, but then most manufacturers do. It’s how close they came that matters. The centre of gravity of the latest Accord is lower, the track across the axles is wider, body rigidity is improved and variable rate damping and revised multilink rear suspension also assist agility. A quicker ratio steering rack also features. These are all solid improvements but none are ground breaking. The Accord differentiates itself from the opposition in other ways. There’s little doubt that the latest Accord looks a more substantial car than its predecessor. Despite being a completely fresh design from the ground up, the latest Accord shares many styling cues with its progenitor. Park the two cars side by side and you’ll see that the latest generation is lower and far wider, has a more aggressive, hunkered down stance, and more pugnacious wheel arches. The V-shaped front grille and sculpted headlamps give the Accord some serious rear-view mirror presence while the Tourer’s rising window line gives it an edgier, more dynamic look. It’s a neat piece of design work. The cabin has been improved, ridding the Accord of the rather reedy, lightweight feel of older versions. The dashboard extends from the centre console to sweep around the front seats, giving the Accord’s interior some character. The dash features floating backlit instruments with an LCD information screen housed in the middle of the speedometer dial. The cabin badly needs a central controller system like Audi’s MMI, Mercedes’ COMAND and not like BMW’s infernal iDrive. Instead the Accord perseveres with lots of buttons which give a bitty look to the fascia. Prices for the diesel Accord are, model for model, around £2,000 less than for an equivalent Audi A4, so while the Japanese may be pushing the premium quality angle with some enthusiasm, they’re smart enough to realise that parity on price is, for the time being at least, a non starter. The Accord i-DTEC saloon trange kicks off with the entry-level ES model but the version that most customers will buy, the ES GT, comes after that – which includes 17-inch alloy wheels, half-leather seats, cruise control, aero kit, sports suspension and climate control. Meanwhile, EX grades come as standard with DVD sat nav, Bluetooth hands free telephone, full leather seats, electric/heated front seats, rear parking camera and a premium 6CD stereo. Continuing Honda’s quest to bring E-sector advanced technology to lower segments, Honda’s hi-tech ADAS Pack is available as an option, adding Collision Mitigation Braking (a first for this D-sector), as well as Lane Keep Assist, Advanced Cruise Control and HID lights. Honda’s ace in the hole with the last Accord was its high-tech equipment and myriad of options that sounded as if they’d just rolled straight off the floor at the Consumer Electronics Show. This version is no different. The Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) and Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) are just a couple of acronyms to get you started. Then there’s that optional ADAS system, at its best when combined with the Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS). While British car buyers have become accustomed to hearing manufacturer assertions that their latest generation engines are more powerful but at the same time more economical and cleaner, Honda’s can’t claim a clean sweep on that score. A combined economy figure of 50.4mpg for the i-DTEC Accord means it’s a couple of miles per gallon thirstier than its predecessor, but it is more powerful and the car it’s propelling is a good deal larger. Besides, 50mpg is a very decent return, the benchmark car in this sector, the BMW 320d, not quite managing this despite its EfficientDynamics measures. The i-DTEC diesel engine is claimed to be so clean it meets the US’s stringent ‘EPA Tier II Bin 5’ emissions standards with out requiring special (and expensive) modifications such as the NoX-reducing urea injection system that Mercedes needed to fit to its US-bound Bluetec diesel engines. This, however, translates to carbon dioxide figures of 148g/km which are relatively mediocre. By contrast, an Audi A4 2.0 TDI SE, a car Honda likes to benchmark, emits a markedly superior 128g/km and the BMW 320d the same 128g/km. Honda is clearly off the pace in this one key area. Some cars are very easy to pass judgement on whereas others are far more complex propositions. The Honda Accord diesel falls firmly into the latter category and so much depends on how you choose to define the judging criteria. This is a very good car, but not a great diesel engine. It’s decently economical and acceptably refined but it falls over in terms of emissions. It’s far from on a par with the German elite in that respect and Honda hasn’t had the belief in its own conviction to match these cars on price, instead pitching this diesel Accord a couple of thousand pounds less than an equivalent Audi A4. This changes the equation considerably. Against similarly-priced peers, the Accord does a convincing job in making them look old and rather dumb. Perhaps if Honda could ditch the aspirational grandstanding and content itself with a more proletarian standing, the Accord would be increasingly judged for what it is: a very competitive proposition car that’s possibly the best in its particular class.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Honda Accord i-DTEC range PRICES: £21,100-£26,250 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 10 - 11 CO2 EMISSIONS: 148-157g/km PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 131mph / 0-60mph 9.3s FUEL CONSUMPTION: [Tourer] (urban) 37.7mpg / (extra urban) 56.5mpg / (combined) 47.9mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front, side and curtain airbags / ABS with EBD WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: (saloon) Length/Width/Height mm 4930/1847/1476 WHO TO SEE:

BUCKING THE TREND Honda’s Accord Tourer is unashamedly sleek and stylish. If you need a boxy utility vehicle, best look elsewhere. Andy Enright reports

Honda is a company that likes to do its own thing. Just as the trend for sleek, ‘sportback’ style estate cars seems to have waned, the company pitches in with its Accord Tourer, perhsps reasoning that with most manufacturers looking to build big holdalls, a gap in the market may open for something slinky and stylish. They may well have a point.

Despite the seeming lack of logic that surrounds an estate car that can hold less bags than its saloon sibling, it seems the public bought into the concept. For some years, this was a very modish sector for car manufacturers to be in but then the wind seemed to change, indulgence and style became dirty words and solid practicality was once again what sold medium range estate cars. Honda believes that this needn’t be the case and in the rather sassy silhouette of its Accord Tourer, it clearly believes that there remains a market for stylish albeit rather limited estate models. Of course there have been estate versions of the Accord before and the outgoing model was a rather ostentatiously styled thing, but the latest car aims to be a vehicle that buyers could choose instead of an entry level BMW 3 Series Touring or Audi A4 Avant. That may be a stretch. If you’re going to buy an estate car, chances are that it will need a decent engine and the big story with this generation Accord is an all-new diesel unit that Honda calls the i-DTEC. Generating 149bhp at 4,000rpm, it’s more refined than the old 138bhp i-CTDi engine and also beats it in terms of emissions and fuel economy. With a peak torque figure of 350Nm, it’s also extremely punchy. Otherwise there are two petrol engines, starting with the 155bhp 2.0-litre i-VTEC with its revised valve lift and timing and better gas flow. Or there’s a 198bhp 2.4-litre i-VTEC unit which has also had a good deal of internal revision to make that power figure without recourse to turbocharging. All engines are mated to six-speed manual gearboxes, while the petrol units have the option of a five-speed auto.

"This Tourer’s rising window line gives it an edgier, more dynamic look…"

Honda benchmarked the BMW 3 Series Touring in the development of this Accord, but then most manufacturers benchmark BMW. It’s how close they come that matters. The centre of gravity of the latest Accord is lower, the track across the axles is wider, body rigidity is improved and variable rate damping and revised multilink rear suspension also assist agility. A quicker ratio steering rack also features. These are all solid improvements but none are ground breaking. The Accord differentiates itself from the opposition in other ways. If you were expecting a state of the art loading system at the back of the Accord Tourer, you may well come away disappointed. Load space is actually reduced by some 14 per cent compared to the outgoing car and the rear suspension also intrudes at the sides of the floor, robbing the Tourer of a clean, square bay. The tumblehome – the amount the side windows angle inwards – is also quite marked. The exterior isn’t going to shock too many customers. The latest generation is lower and far wider, has a more aggressive, hunkered down stance, and more pugnacious wheel arches. The V-shaped front grille and sculpted headlamps give the Accord some serious rear-view mirror presence and the Tourer’s rising window line gives it an edgier, more dynamic look. The cabin has been improved, ridding the Accord of the rather reedy, lightweight feel of older versions. The dashboard extends from the centre console to sweep around the front seats, giving the Accord’s interior some character. The dash features floating backlit instruments with an LCD information screen housed in the middle of the speedometer dial. The dash could use a central controller to rid it of all the buttons though. Honda has spent a big proportion of the budget on the front seats, being at the same time more supportive and better able to dampen vibration. The Honda Accord Tourer range is priced from around £20,000 and kicks off with the entry-level ES model. The version that most customers will buy, the ES GT, comes after that – which includes 17-inch alloy wheels, half-leather seats, cruise control, aero kit, sports suspension and climate control. Meanwhile, EX grades come as standard with DVD sat nav, Bluetooth hands free telephone, full leather seats, electric/heated front seats, rear parking camera and a premium 6CD stereo. Continuing Honda’s quest to bring E-sector advanced technology to lower segments, Honda’s hi-tech ADAS Pack is available as an option, adding Collision Mitigation Braking (a first for this D-sector), as well as Lane Keep Assist, Advanced Cruise Control and HID lights. Comparing prices? Well, model for model, you’re looking at a saving of around £2,000 on a comparable Audi A4. Honda’s ace in the hole with the last Accord was its high-tech equipment and myriad of options that sounded as if they’d just rolled straight off the floor at the Consumer Electronics Show. This version is no different. The Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) and Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) are just a couple of acronyms to get you started. Then there’s that optional ADAS system, at its best when combined with the Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS). While British car buyers have become accustomed to hearing manufacturer assertions that their latest generation engines are more powerful but at the same time more economical and cleaner, Honda’s can’t claim a clean sweep on that score. A combined economy figure of 50.4mpg for the i-DTEC Accord means it’s a couple of miles per gallon thirstier than its predecessor, but it is more powerful and the car it’s propelling is a good deal larger. Besides, 50mpg is a very decent return, the benchmark car in this sector, the BMW 320d Touring, not quite managing this despite its EfficientDynamics measures. The i-DTEC diesel engine is claimed to be so clean it meets the US’s stringent ‘EPA Tier II Bin 5’ emissions standards with out requiring special (and expensive) modifications such as the NoX-reducing urea injection system that Mercedes needed to fit to its US-bound Bluetec diesel engines. This, however, translates to carbon dioxide figures of 148g/km which are relatively mediocre. By contrast, an Audi A4 Avant 2.0 TDI SE, a car Honda likes to benchmark, emits a markedly superior 128g/km and the BMW 320d Touring the same 128g/km. Honda is clearly off the pace in this one key area. The overriding question with this car is that if you’re buying an estate car for style purposes, do you buy one with a Honda Accord badge on the back? I would expect that most style-conscious buyers would prefer something with a premium German badge on it and be prepared to pay more for the privilege. That’s not to denigrate Honda’s technical achievement with the latest Accord in any way, merely to ponder for a moment their understanding of buyer dynamics. The Accord Tourer is smaller but better to drive than its predecessor, helped by a great diesel engine. Its styling will do it no harm either. In the final assessment, Honda is campaigning in a market sector that some others have abandoned. It sits midway between mainstream cars like 407s and Mondeos and the premium compact executive models like the Audi A4 Avant and the BMW 3 Series Touring. It’s a car built around compromise. A worthy and interesting car, but one that’s not perhaps as focused as it could have been.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Honda Accord Tourer range PRICES: £20,600-£26,250 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 10-11 CO2 EMISSIONS: [i-DTEC] 148g/km PERFORMANCE: [i-DTEC] Max Speed 131mph / 0-60mph 9.3s FUEL CONSUMPTION: [2.0 petrol] (urban) 30.1mpg / (extra urban) 47.9mpg / (combined) 39.2mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front, side and curtain airbags / ABS with EBD WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height mm 4740/1840/1470

CRUISE LINER Honda Have Adopted Some High Tech Solutions Aimed At Making The Accord ADAS Model One Of The Most Interesting Cars Available Today. Andy Enright Reports

It’s vaguely unsettling at first. Relax your hands on the wheel of Honda’s ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) equipped Accord at motorway speeds and you’ll feel the car taking over. The steering nudges the car into the centre of its lane all by itself while the accelerator modulates itself, keeping a respectable distance between you and the car in font. It may not drive itself, but it’s enormously impressive.

I remember being similarly dumbfounded the first time I drove what is now known as an ‘adaptive cruise control system’ in the Mercedes S-Class but that was back in 1998 and the technology has progressed a very long way since then. Honda’s ACC system uses information from a millimetre wave radar fitted in the front grille and combines with the car’s ECU to calculate the vehicle’s driving parameters. Available when the car is travelling between 20 and 112mph, Honda’s ADAS seems a whole lot cleverer than the a system I recently tried in a Lexus, which was often flummoxed by higher closing speeds and obstacles on the apex of sweeping bends. ACC will apply the brakes quite firmly if it deduces the vehicle in front has done likewise, but there’s only so much the system can manage. Sweep, for example, from a fast moving outside lane to a slow moving middle lane and the car will sound a buzzer and illuminate a warning light indicating that the system has waved the white flag and needs driver intervention. It will do likewise if a car swerves into your lane with little warning, so once again it’s worth reiterating that this cruise control is an aid to rather than a replacement of proper awareness and driver anticipation. The driver can set how far apart he or she wishes to be from the vehicle ahead and the ACC system will smoothly accelerate back up to the programmed speed when any obstacles are cleared.

"Control freaks may not like it, but everybody else will agree that this ADAS technology is hugely impressive"

It’s at its best when combined with the Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS). Citroën have developed a system that alerts the driver when he or she drifts over the white lines on a major road, but Honda have gone a stage further and brought a system to market that makes it very difficult to do so in the first instance. LKAS uses a digital camera mounted at the top of the windscreen to study the road ahead. It then calculates the optimum steering torque – combination of human and assisted inputs – required to keep the vehicle in the centre of the lane. Take your hands off the wheel and you can see it doing its magic, but within ten seconds, the car detects the driver has stopped making any inputs and stops the electrical steering assistance. Drive normally and it’s an uncanny feeling, the car gently guiding you at all times. The better you are with your steering, the less LKAS will need to intervene, but combine LKAS and ACC (creating the ADAS package) and it can feel a little spooky, as if your Accord is being drawn along the road by a tractor beam generated by the vehicle in front. The driver always retains ultimate control, and LKAS is rather picky about the occasions when it will operate. In brief, you’ll need to be travelling between 45 and 112mph and both right and left lane boundary markings must be visible on roads with no sharp bends. There needs to be constant driver input to the steering, no indicators activated and without so much steering input from the driver that the system thinks the car is trying to change lanes. I didn’t get to try the system in adverse weather or at night, so I can’t comment on how well the camera coped with these conditions but in daylight it worked extremely well indeed. The ADAS system is an option on the range-topping Legend but it’s been pioneered in the UK on the 2.4-litre EX Accord, for a total price of £26,365. If you’re a long distance commuter or frequently cover big mileages on business, the ADAS system may well be a cost you can justify. The trouble is, most of these high mileage drivers will probably opt for an Accord diesel which isn’t offered with the ADAS set up as yet. If the marketing may well be a little wonky, there’s precious little to complain about the technology itself. Once you’ve spent a few minutes with a manual to get to grips with the ins and outs of ADAS, it’s relatively simple to use when on the move. All of the relevant buttons are grouped around the right hand side of the multifunction steering wheel, reducing the need to go groping around the centre console, and a clear LED display indicates how the system is performing, whether the cruise control has locked onto a target car and whether the camera can see the lane markings. The rest of the Accord package is also very impressive, Honda having cemented its position as the most upmarket of the mainstream Japanese manufacturers in this market segment. Certainly neither the Toyota Avensis nor the Mazda6 feel anything like as refined at speed or as supple around town. Viewed from straight ahead, the Accord’s nose is remarkably similar to that of the Mazda6, with a similar shaped grille and lights but the Mercedes-style indicators in the door mirrors, the jewel effect headlamps and extensive use of chrome give the Accord ADAS a boutique look. As a technological showpiece, the Honda Accord ADAS is mightily impressive. A little more work needs to be done to refine it into a system that will get new car buyers willing to spend serious money for it, but the hardware and software is there and represents a sunk cost for Honda that can now be distributed across the product range. Expect to see many other manufacturers playing me-too very soon.

FACTS AT A GLANCE CAR: Honda Accord ADAS 2.4 saloon PRICE: £26,365 - on the road INSURANCE GROUP: 14 CO2 EMISSIONS: 216g/km PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 141mph / 0-60mph 7.9s FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 36mpg [est] STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front, side and curtain airbags / ABS with EBD / LKAS / ACC WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4665/1910/1450

D-DAY FOR THE ACCORD Honda have never been a manufacturer associated with top notch diesel Engines. This diesel Accord is changing that perception. By Andy Enright

Hindsight’s a fantastic thing. Looking back, Honda’s decision to ignore the fledgling diesel market and instead concentrate on petrol engines with intelligent valve timing systems must have been one of the costlier management decisions in recent automotive history. Maybe it wasn’t up there with BMW thinking Rover looked a sound bet but it’s not far short. As medium-range diesel sales in Europe skyrocketed, the Honda Accord was left high and dry with no product to offer. Eating humble corporate pie, Honda belatedly ushered in Accord diesels. You might expect them to be a couple of years behind the game. Think again.

This is Honda after all, a company that can – and does – do miraculous things with engines just because it can. You want an engine that revs to 9,000rpm and sounds better than an F1 car? How about a high-tech petrol electric hybrid that offers punchy acceleration and almost negligible fuel consumption? Again, not a problem for Honda. Therefore when it comes to producing a very clever diesel engine, they’ve managed to muscle in among the front rankers with very little bother. This time around, however, things have become personal. The man in charge of the turbo diesel engine project is Honda’s Senior Chief Engineer Kenichi Nagahiro. He’s the same man who created the VTEC concept that ultimately led the company up a slight dead end in this corner of the market, so Honda are putting a lot of faith in his engineering genius to pull them through. First impressions are that he’s proved a safe pair of hands. The engine that powers the Accord 2.2 i-CTDi - to use the full nomenclature – is also available in the Civic, the CR-V and the FR-V – an indication of how highly it’s regarded at Honda. No longer is the Accord regarded as Vectra/Mondeo/Laguna fodder, instead Honda are pitching it as a superior quality proposition going against rivals like Audi’s A4 and the BMW 3-Series. Available in both saloon and Tourer body styles, the 2.2 diesel cranks out a hefty 138bhp at 4,000rpm and is one of the more refined powerplants of its type. Extensive soundproofing and thicker window glass help to isolate the diesel grumble and it’s genuinely tricky to aurally differentiate it from a petrol engine at normal cruising speeds.

"When it comes to producing a very clever diesel engine, they’ve managed to muscle in among the front rankers with very little bother."

You’ll know it’s a diesel when you put your foot down. The 340Nm of torque means that it’s the most torquey Honda engine currently available and it even puts the legendary NSX sportster in the shade. Mid-range acceleration is very crisp and typical motorway speeds see the engine revolving at a very restrained gait. The sprint to 60mph will detain you for just 9.2 seconds in the saloon or 9.9 seconds if you’re hauling the additional bulk of the Tourer. Emissions are another area where the Honda excels, complying with the tough Euro IV regulations. The figures of 143 and 153g/km for the saloon and Tourer respectively are excellent given that the Accord is such a substantial feeling vehicle. Diesel prices start at £18,600 and there’s a choice of SE, Sport GT and EX grades. In recent times, the Accord has had a few styling tweaks, the most obvious of which is the wide chromed bar running across the front grille where before there was none. The front and rear bumpers have also been subtly resculpted and the sides of the car look a little swoopier, thanks in no small part to the fitment of side skirts. The Tourer estate model gets a little more chrome around the rear end to give a more upmarket look and there are some revised alloy wheel designs along with an expanded palette of colours to choose from. Hardly major reasons to beat a path to your Honda dealer. It’s what’s happened under the surface that’s a whole lot more interesting and represents the reason why Honda have really differentiated this Accord. Basically they’ve thrown a whole bunch of technology at it, allowing customers access to some seriously advanced features, the like of which were the stuff of show cars only a few years ago. Some other inclusions we’re getting used to on plenty of other cars but are welcome additions. The Vehicle Stability Assist (VAS) and Drive-By-Wire (DBW) throttle system are just a couple of acronyms to get you started. There’s also the option of VASN. Any guesses on that one? Voice Activated Satellite Navigation is your answer there although how it will cope with the profanities I end up directing at most sat nav systems is still open to conjecture. Next up is HFT. That’s a Hands Free Telephone kit. The really interesting stuff comes with Honda’s ADAS system. It’s vaguely unsettling at first. Relax your hands on the wheel of Honda’s ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) equipped Accord at motorway speeds and you’ll feel the car taking over. The steering nudges the car into the centre of its lane all by itself while the accelerator modulates itself, keeping a respectable distance between you and the car in font. It may not drive itself, but it’s enormously impressive. The Accord is the most convincing pretender aiming to make the leap from mainstream to premium product positioning and this diesel engine does its chances no harm. With its aura of quality, reputation for engineering excellence and sharpened styling, the Accord is off to a good start. Factor in an engine that’s a sure fire hit and you end up with nothing less than a five-star car.

FACTS AT A GLANCE CAR: Honda Accord 2.2i-CDTi range PRICES: £18,600-£22,567 - on the road INSURANCE GROUP: 12 CO2 EMISSIONS: 143-153g/km PERFORMANCE: [saloon] Max Speed 131mph / 0-60mph 9.2s FUEL CONSUMPTION: [saloon] (urban) 42.2mpg / (extra urban) 61.4mpg / (combined) 52.3mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front, side and curtain airbags / ABS with EBD WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4665/1910/1450

NORMAL ASPIRATION? The Accord was the first Honda to reposition the brand in the quality segment and is now gunning for the user-choosers who traditionally go for German quality marques. Fresh from a long term stint at the wheel of the latest model, Andy Enright looks at its chances of success.

As a car manufacturer, it’s very easy to get ideas above your station. It’s happened to Honda a couple of times in its past when, flushed with pride at its racetrack successes, it has attempted to punch well above its weight and has had its fingers burned. Being accepted as a true premium manufacturer is a case of tiny steps and over the past few years, the company has been diligently doing the groundwork. Is the latest generation Accord now on a par with the prestige German makes? Today you can certainly argue the point. Undeniably, it’s a notch or two above the ‘big box’ mainstream marques.

Honda was fiendishly clever when it introduced this Accord series back in 2003. Where the previous generation Accord range had opened with budget 1.6 and 1.8-litre cars, this time round there was no such thing, the opening model being a 2.0-litre car. This resulted in two key effects. Firstly it deterred the usual fleet buyers from purchasing mass quantities and instantly denting residual values and, secondly, it cemented the view in the public perception that the Accord was a more upmarket product than something like a Vauxhall Vectra or a Ford Mondeo. Sit in the Accord and you’ll easily appreciate how this perception came to be. It feels extremely well built and certainly a level removed in terms of materials and design from its rather reedy predecessor. What wasn’t so apparent was that this perception is largely a very clever piece of subterfuge by Honda’s marketing gurus. Back in 2003, the price of an equivalently specified Mondeo 2.0-litre was £16,145, so in reality, the Accord wasn’t that much dearer than the Ford or other mainstream stalwarts – the public just thought it was.

"Honda is looking at the margins realised by the German premium brands and eyeing their market shares enviously"

This kind of strategy usually spells disaster for a given product but Honda was playing the long game here, trading off the short term pain of lost fleet sales for the longer term gain of being able to charge more for a product seen as an increasingly desirable vehicle. They’ve managed the Accord range very astutely since then, each subsequent update and change further distancing it from the fleet market norm. Park an Accord on your drive and you’ll have made a very conscious decision to announce your own social mobility. These days, prices start at £17,177 and, as before, there’s a choice of 2.0 and 2.4-litre petrol engines plus the superb 2.2-litre CTDi diesel we’ve been trying in our long term test car. The latest model goes in for a few styling tweaks, the most obvious of which is the wide chromed bar running across the front grille where before there was none. The front and rear bumpers have also been subtly resculpted and the sides of the car look a little swoopier, thanks in no small part to the fitment of side skirts. The Tourer estate model I’ve been driving gets a little more chrome around the rear end to give a more upmarket look and there are some revised alloy wheel designs along with an expanded palette of colours to choose from. Each step edges the Accord closer towards the BMW 3 Series, the Audi A4 and the Mercedes C Class. Before it gets there, the Honda will have to deal with the barrier guard of the Saab 9-3, the Alfa Romeo 159, the Volvo S60, the Jaguar X-TYPE and the Lexus IS, all vehicles that are also attempting to crack the premium market. In order to do that, it needs an angle, a trick up its sleeve. It might just have that in the form of the Accord ADAS – a technological showcase that demonstrates that when it comes to vehicle technology, there aren’t many that can live with Honda. Basically they’ve thrown a whole bunch of technology at it, allowing customers access to some seriously advanced features, the like of which were the stuff of show cars only a few years ago. The Vehicle Stability Assist (VAS) and Drive-By-Wire (DBW) throttle system are just a couple of acronyms to get you started. There’s also the option of VASN. Any guesses on that one? Voice Activated Satellite Navigation is your answer there, although how it will cope with the profanities I end up directing at most sat nav systems is still open to conjecture. Next up is HFT. That’s a Hands Free Telephone kit. The really interesting stuff comes with Honda’s ADAS system itself. It’s vaguely unsettling at first. Relax your hands on the wheel of Honda’s ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) equipped Accord at motorway speeds and you’ll feel the car taking over. The steering nudges the car into the centre of its lane all by itself while the accelerator modulates itself, keeping a respectable distance between you and the car in font. It may not drive itself, but it’s enormously impressive. It’s at its best when combined with the Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS). Citroën have developed a system that alerts the driver when he or she drifts over the white lines on a major road, but Honda have gone a stage further and brought a system to market that makes it very difficult to do so in the first instance. LKAS uses a digital camera mounted at the top of the windscreen to study the road ahead. It then calculates the optimum steering torque – combination of human and assisted inputs – required to keep the vehicle in the centre of the lane. Take your hands off the wheel and you can see it doing its magic, but within ten seconds, the car detects the driver has stopped making any inputs and stops the electrical steering assistance. With award-winning television advertising backing up the metal in the dealerships, Honda seems to be on a steady march upmarket. Can a company that sells budget cars like the Jazz and the Civic really cut it against the heavyweights? That remains to be seen, but if there’s one company I’d hesitate to back against, it would have to be Honda.

FACTS AT A GLANCE CAR: Honda Accord range PRICES: £17,177-£27,652 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 11-14 CO2 EMISSIONS: 155-230g/km PERFORMANCE: [2.4] Max Speed 141mph / 0-60mph 7.9s FUEL CONSUMPTION: [2.0SE] (urban)28.0mpg / (extra urban) 47.9mpg / (combined) 38.2mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front, side and curtain airbags / ABS with EBD WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: (saloon) Length/Width/Heightmm 4665/1910/1450

TECH’S IN EFFECT Honda have a reputation for dazzling us with technology. Their latest Accord range Offers some intriguing options. Andy Enright reports

Never let it be said that Honda is a company that sticks to the predictable. Nobody saw their NSX supercar coming, we didn’t expect the S2000 to feature a normally-aspirated 240bhp engine and the faces on rival executives were an absolute picture when the wraps came off the latest Civic. It’s tough to know where to go in the Honda range for something of the conventional. The FR-V features two rows of three seats abreast and the CR-V 4x4 started life rather dull but gets funkier with every passing year. Surely the sensible Accord is the last bastion of buttoned-down conformism? Not any more.

It looks much as we’ve grown to expect. Prices start at £17,527 and there’s a choice of 2.0 and 2.4-litre petrol engines and a superb 2.2-litre CTDi diesel priced from £18,600. The current car goes in for a few styling tweaks, the most obvious of which is the wide chromed bar running across the front grille where before there was none. The front and rear bumpers have also been subtly resculpted and the sides of the car look a little swoopier, thanks in no small part to the fitment of side skirts. The Tourer estate model gets a little more chrome around the rear end to give a more upmarket look and there are some revised alloy wheel designs along with an expanded palette of colours to choose from. Hardly major reasons to beat a path to your Honda dealer. It’s what’s happened under the surface that’s a whole lot more interesting and represents the reason why Honda have really differentiated this Accord. Basically they’ve thrown a whole bunch of technology at it, allowing customers access to some seriously advanced features, the like of which were the stuff of show cars only a few years ago. Some other inclusions we’re getting used to on plenty of other cars but are welcome additions. The Vehicle Stability Assist (VAS) and Drive-By-Wire (DBW) throttle system are just a couple of acronyms to get you started. There’s also the option of VASN. Any guesses on that one? Voice Activated Satellite Navigation is your answer there although how it will cope with the profanities I end up directing at most sat nav systems is still open to conjecture. Next up is HFT. That’s a Hands Free Telephone kit. The really interesting stuff comes with Honda’s ADAS system.

"The Accord looks straight-laced but beneath the sober suit is a veritable riot of technology"

It’s vaguely unsettling at first. Relax your hands on the wheel of Honda’s ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) equipped Accord at motorway speeds and you’ll feel the car taking over. The steering nudges the car into the centre of its lane all by itself while the accelerator modulates itself, keeping a respectable distance between you and the car in font. It may not drive itself, but it’s enormously impressive. It’s at its best when combined with the Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS). Citroën have developed a system that alerts the driver when he or she drifts over the white lines on a major road, but Honda have gone a stage further and brought a system to market that makes it very difficult to do so in the first instance. LKAS uses a digital camera mounted at the top of the windscreen to study the road ahead. It then calculates the optimum steering torque – combination of human and assisted inputs – required to keep the vehicle in the centre of the lane. Take your hands off the wheel and you can see it doing its magic, but within ten seconds, the car detects the driver has stopped making any inputs and stops the electrical steering assistance. Many Accord customers will continue to opt for the Tourer version, offered at a £1,000 premium over the saloons. The wheelbase of the Tourer has been increased by only 50mm over that of its saloon stablemate and the increase in overall body length is only an extra 85mm. No use expecting a van-like loading bay then. Still, a load volume of 576 litres with all the seats in place is no mean achievement for this class of car. The total volume of 921 litres with the rear seats folded is rather less impressive, but compensation does come in the form of a clever ‘One Motion’ system for easy access of what space there is. Positioned on top of the 60:40-split rear seat backs are the operating catches, one either side of the car. To fold either seat section, you simply pull the lever forward which simultaneously releases the seat back lock and automatically flips the headrest forward via an interlocking cable. You then continue to pull the seatback forward and, since this is interconnected with the seat base via a sliding linkage, the effect of this action is to flip the seat base up automatically into a vertical position behind the front seat. Since the headrest is flipped forward, it comfortably clears the seat base. There’s no messing about with seatbelts and anchor points either, since everything is integrally designed into the seat mechanism. Easy. There are a few other changes to the Accord range worth investigating. The dashboard has been tidied up and the steering wheel and gear lever improved. Better quality trim finishes and a smart drive computer are also offered while the 2.4 petrol and 2.2 diesel models get a six-speed gearbox. It remains a cut above the medium range norm in terms of style and a yawning chasm away in terms of technology. Honda wouldn’t have it any other way.

FACTS AT A GLANCE CAR: Honda Accord range PRICES: £17,527-£27,652 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 11-14 CO2 EMISSIONS: 155-230g/km PERFORMANCE: [2.4] Max Speed 141mph / 0-60mph 7.9s FUEL CONSUMPTION: [2.0SE] (urban)28.0mpg / (extra urban) 47.9mpg / (combined) 38.2mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front, side and curtain airbags / ABS with EBD WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: (saloon) Length/Width/Heightmm 4665/1910/1450

ACCORDS AIMS FOR THE PREMIERSHIP Not content with mixing it with mainstream mediocrity, the latest Honda Accord has some upmarket ambitions. Andy Enright reports

Once again, Honda is trying to break free from the mainstream with its latest Accord. Last time it only partly achieved this aim, but with a bigger, more luxurious model, it stands a better chance, differentiating itself with jaw-dropping technology and fiendishly clever engineering. As before, both saloon and Tourer estate versions are offered.

Perhaps George W Bush was thinking of the Honda Accord when he said "There's an old saying… that says, fool me once, shame on… shame on you. Fool me…. (long pause)…you can't get fooled again." On the other hand, perhaps he wasn’t thinking of very much at all, but after Honda tried to subtly hoodwink us with the last Accord, it’s understandable that we’re a little more skeptical about its latest upmarket aspirations. Here’s how it happened last time. When Honda launched the 2002-generation Accord, it initially only brought the most expensive models to these shores. There were no small engines or value trim levels. At first glance, the Accord started at almost Audi A4 money. Having established this association with the public, the cheaper models crept in, targeting company users. The last Accord wasn’t actually a great deal more upmarket than the Peugeot 407s and Ford Mondeos it traditionally campaigned against. With the latest car, Honda again claims premium status but do we buy it? The big news with this generation Accord is an all-new diesel engine that Honda calls the i-DTEC. Generating 149bhp at 4,000rpm it’s more refined than the old 138bhp i-CTDi engine and also beats it in terms of emissions and fuel economy. With a peak torque figure of 350Nm, it’s also extremely punchy. Otherwise there are two petrol engines, starting with the 155bhp 2.0-litre i-VTEC with its revised valve lift and timing and better gas flow. Or there’s a 198bhp 2.4-litre i-VTEC unit which has also had a good deal of internal revision to make that power figure without recourse to turbocharging. All engines are mated to six-speed manual gearboxes, while the petrol units have the option of a five-speed auto. Honda benchmarked the BMW 3 Series in the development of the Accord, but then most manufacturers do. It’s how close they came that matters. The centre of gravity of the latest Accord is lower, the track across the axles is wider, body rigidity is improved and variable rate damping and revised multilink rear suspension also assist agility. A quicker ratio steering rack also features. These are all solid improvements but none are ground breaking. The Accord differentiates itself from the opposition in other ways.

"This Accord has some serious rear-view mirror presence…"

The exterior isn’t going to shock too many customers. Despite being a completely fresh design from the ground up, the latest Accord shares many styling cues with its predecessor. Park the two cars side by side, however, and you’ll see that the latest generation is lower and far wider, has a more aggressive, hunkered down stance, and more pugnacious wheel arches. The V-shaped front grille and sculpted headlamps give the Accord some serious rear-view mirror presence while the Tourer’s rising window line gives it an edgier, more dynamic look. The cabin has been improved, ridding the Accord of the rather reedy, lightweight feel of older versions. The dashboard extends from the centre console to sweep around the front seats, giving the Accord’s interior some character. The dash features floating backlit instruments with an LCD information screen housed in the middle of the speedometer dial. Honda has spent a big proportion of the budget on the front seats, being at the same time more supportive and better able to dampen vibration. Taking a cue from its expertise in building mini-MPVs, Honda has also endowed the Accord with many clever storage solutions, including a lidded storage area to the side of the steering wheel, two centre console side pockets and a huge box housed under the centre armrest. Pricing for the saloon starts at around the £20,000 mark for the entry-level ES model but the version that most customers will buy, the ES GT, starts at about £1,000 more – and includes 17-inch alloy wheels, half-leather seats, cruise control, aero kit, sports suspension and climate control. Meanwhile, EX grades come as standard with DVD sat nav, Bluetooth hands free telephone, full leather seats, electric/heated front seats, rear parking camera and a premium 6CD stereo. Continuing Honda’s quest to bring E-sector advanced technology to lower segments, Honda’s hi-tech ADAS Pack is available as an option, adding Collision Mitigation Braking (a first for this D-sector), as well as Lane Keep Assist, Advanced Cruise Control and HID lights. Comparing prices? Well, model for model, you’re looking at a saving of around £2,000 on a comparable Audi A4. Honda’s ace in the hole with the last Accord was its high-tech equipment and myriad of options that sounded as if they’d just rolled straight off the floor at the Consumer Electronics Show. This version is no different. The Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) and Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) are just a couple of acronyms to get you started. Then there’s that optional ADAS system, at its best when combined with the Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS). In its run out year, Honda sold 8,500 old Accords in the UK and are looking to build that number to a figure between 12,000 and 14,000 units with the latest car. With prices around £1,000 more expensive, model for model, savings need to be clawed back in other areas. Honda is bullish about residual values, claiming that a bigger, better built car that’s cleaner and more fuel efficient will be a winner on the used market. That may well be the case. In the more immediate future, the Accord is a model citizen. The i-DTEC diesel engine is so clean it meets the US’s stringent ‘EPA Tier II Bin 5’ emissions standards with out requiring special (and expensive) modifications such as the NoX-reducing urea injection system that Mercedes needed to fit to its US-bound Bluetec diesel engines. I’m tempted to think that having cried wolf once with its premium quality claims, few are likely to believe Honda’s pitch of the latest Accord. Yes, it is a bigger and better built car than its predecessor. It is more physically imposing and the hardware under the bonnets has improved significantly. The same can be said for the Ford Mondeo or the Renault Laguna. Even the Toyota Avensis. With front-wheel drive, the Accord will never gain parity with BMW, Mercedes, Audi or Lexus. On a wholly subjective basis, it’s preferable to an equivalently priced Saab, not as emotionally engaging as an Alfa Romeo 159, but more satisfying than a Volvo S60. In this respect, not a whole lot has changed. The Accord has inched incrementally upmarket, but at this rate it’ll be a very long time before it’s trading punches with BMW. So what remains? A very good, very technologically dense vehicle that perhaps needs to drop the naked ambition and concentrate on developing its own niche.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Honda Accord range PRICES: £19,300-£26,250 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 10-14 CO2 EMISSIONS: [i-DTEC] 148g/km PERFORMANCE: [i-DTEC] Max Speed 131mph / 0-60mph 9.3s FUEL CONSUMPTION: [2.0 petrol] (urban) 30.1mpg / (extra urban) 47.9mpg / (combined) 39.2mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front, side and curtain airbags / ABS with EBD WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: [saloon] Length/Width/Height mm 4930/1847/1476 WHO TO SEE: