Hi, I'm Chris Wardlaw for CarGurus, and that car parked behind me is the 2016 Honda Accord.
Now Honda says that more people by Accords than any other car in the
country, and it's easy to understand why. Nevertheless for 2016 Honda has made a
number of changes to the Accord to make sure that it remains popular and on
people's shopping lists. Now the version of the Accord that we're driving today is the
brand-new Touring trim level - it's the top-of-the-line model, it costs over $35,000 - it's got a
few new items on it. It basically makes me wonder why Honda really even bothers with the
Acura brand. Now you don't have to spend that much money to get an Accord sedan -
you can get one for just around $23,000 - that would be the LX trim level - and then
there are a whole bunch of different trim levels in between the LX and the Touring.
Now the Touring model comes with a standard 3.5-liter V6 engine. It's making 278
horsepower. Most Accords have a 4-cylinder engine, and I think that
consumers are probably overlooking the V6 to too great an extent, and the reason is
because this engine's actually fairly fuel-efficient. It's got something called
variable cylinder management that shuts off a couple of the cylinders when they're
not needed, such as when cruising on the highway. That improves fuel economy. So
with the V6 you get 278 horsepower, you get fantastic acceleration, you get great
passing power,
and yesterday I drove 90 miles straight on the freeway doing about 70 -
80 miles an hour, and this thing was getting 33 and a half miles
per gallon. I think that's pretty impressive.
Now the Accord ends up on the Car and Driver 10 Best list every year - it has for over
two and a half decades - and you might scratch your head and wonder why that is.
You might think is Honda you know kicking back some money, advertising, or
something?
Are they paying for that accolade? You have to drive an Accord understand why
this car
ends up an enthusiast magazine's 10 Best list every single year, especially
with the V6 engine, and especially with the 19-inch wheels that come on the
Sport and Touring models for 2016. This car is fantastic to drive pretty much all
the time. Now the 19s do two things that you might not like.
Number one, this car's got a slightly stiffer ride quality with these wheels
and tires, something that some people might not like very much. Worse than
that, though, and the only thing that really bothers me about how this car
drives, is that it increases the turning radius, so that when you're pulling a U
turn or you're maneuvering in a parking space or a parking lot,
it takes a lot more wheel work to get yourself either around that U turn or
into that space or around those other vehicles. That's probably the worst thing
about going with the Sport or the Touring model with the 19 inch wheels.
Well, then of course there's also the replacement tire cost, which is not
cheap, but in terms of the driving dynamics - the steering, the brakes, the handling,
the ride quality - all very well done. As far as comfort is concerned, the driver's seat is
exceptionally comfortable, but Honda is missing one important ingredient for a
car that's priced at $35,000, and that is ventilated front seats. Fortunately,
lately the weather here in southern California has been fairly cool, but man
I love me some cooled seats, especially when it's hot muggy outside, and you
can't get 'em in an Accord. Now as far as the front passenger seat is concerned, it's
comfortable, too, but here's a deal breaker in my own household: My wife
can't stand cars that don't have front passenger seat height adjusters. You
can't get one in an Accord. I don't know why that would be. Honda probably needs to fix that.
Now as far as the back-seat comfort is concerned, there's lots of space back there,
big rear doors, easy to get in and out, lots of thigh support - adults are going
to be very comfortable back there.
The trunk is roomy, too, but again a couple of little flaws with the trunk. Number one:
You can't put two full-size suitcases side by side, sliding all the way to the
seat back. That's because the wheel wells kind of intrude on the space. That seems
like a pretty big oversight to me,
Number two: When you're done loading things in the trunk and you go to close
the trunk, there's no handle on the inside. There's no slot to put your fingers, so you have
to put your fingers on the outside of the lid, which more often than not it's
probably dirty, and slam the trunk down.
Now as far as little problems with the Accord, it's those kinds of things that
after you live with the vehicle for a while
really start to make you a little crazy. Also the infotainment system is
dramatically improved this year, but there are still a few little things here
and there that are missing. So for example, a reversing camera with three
different types of views that you can program comes standard, but there's no
rear cross-traffic alert, and I happen to find that exceptionally useful,
especially if you're reversing from a parking space and got two big SUVs on
either side of you or even if you just coming out of your driveway in the
suburbs. It's really important to have that rear cross-traffic alert system, and
I can't find it on this car. Another thing that makes me a little crazy is Honda's
insistence on using its LaneWatch
technology. So LaneWatch basically uses a camera on the right-side mirror, and it
shows you what's in your right side blind spot. For your left side blind spot, you
have to rely on this parabolic mirror over here. Now the issue that I have with LaneWatch
is that it projects that right-side image on the infotainment screen, and now
you've got three different reference points. So when you're changing lanes,
you're checking your mirror, you have to look at the screen, and then you've also got to
pay attention to what's going on ahead of you, right, in case somebody slams on the
brakes. I would much prefer a blind-spot information system like what Honda puts
on the Elite version of the Pilot and like what it puts on all of its
Acura products. That's a superior solution to the issue of helping the
driver understand what's in the blind spots, because it provides the warning either on
the mirror or near the mirror, which is where the driver's already looking. Now if it
sounds like I've been kind of tough on the Accord, you're right, I have. Take it
with a grain of salt.
No car's perfect, including this updated 2016 Accord. What you've detected in this
video is my frustration with some of the obvious oversights on Honda's part. They
just spent all kinds of money
updating this car, but then they overlook really simple things like making
ventilated front seats available on the top-end trim, putting a front seat
height adjuster in for the front-seat passenger or adding a little grab handle
to shut the trunk with... I mean if Honda had just spent a little bit more time
benchmarking the competition, and maybe not worrying about making an Accord
Touring sedan a direct competitor to an Acura TLX, then they'd have a perfect
4-door family sedan.
Now you can read my full review on CarGurus.com to get all my opinions
and all the details on the new Accord, and if you enjoyed this video, please be
sure to share it. Every week we're publishing new video, so be sure to
subscribe to our CarGurus YouTube channel, and for all of us at CarGurus, thank you
for watching.
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