the Honda Accord has been redesigned for the 2018 model year it is now in its
10th generation and if you're not excited by that it's because you haven't
driven the Civic or CRV recently they were redesigned and they're both really
really good which makes us even more interested in what's been done with the
new Accord overall the car is less than an inch shorter from bumper to bumper
than the previous generation but it's almost a half inch wider and the
wheelbase is greater by more than two inches now if you look at the front and
rear you're going to see some things that recall the new Civic and you'll
also probably notice here in the c-pillar this kink which recalls the
Civic and maybe the Nissan Maxima to an extent overall you've got a much more
coupe like profile or fastback profile which might matter to some people
because the coupe body style has been discontinued finally for 2018 there are
more big changes to the Accord in the form of the drivetrain the v6 engine is
gone and the old four-cylinder is gone now you have your choice of two
turbocharged four cylinders either a turbo 1.5 liter with 192 horsepower or
in turbocharged 2-litre which we have here good for 252 horsepower it is going
to be a hybrid version with a non turbocharged 2-litre
and an electric motor battery pack it's not allowed details on the specs there
but they do say that drivetrain will make no difference on the space in the
cabin or in the trunk or for the folding backseat now the interior has grown by
2.5 cubic feet so roomier than ever and this is the Touring trim level which is
the top one lots of nice padded surfaces in here high-quality materials but one
of the things that catches our eye is look at this not only does it have a
volume knob it has a tuning knob so they've finally heard all the complaints
about not having volume knob and added one to the CRV now we have the tuning
knob as well but beyond that note that instead of touch sensitive panels here
these are actual buttons and that also is an improvement if you want to make
sure you're hitting what you're trying to hit this happens to be the 8-inch
upgrade system if you get the base accord you get a seven inch touchscreen
instead now this kind of calls attention to itself this conspicuous N or is it
the Zorro Z on the side that is for near-field communication it's a system
we've seen only on a couple of luxury cars like BMWs where you can hold a
compatible smartphone up to it right now that's Android it'll be iPhones in the
future and it will pair your phone immediately with no menus or extra
nonsense and though Honda giveth Honda also taketh away in the form of the gear
selector strange pull knob and push button we don't understand why they do
it this way we get electronic but this doesn't really save any space we could
have still had a shifter here so you get your tuning knob but unfortunately you
get these two as for what these buttons connect to there are two different
choices depending on the engine if you get the 1.5 liter turbo you get a
continuously variable transmission if you get the 2-liter turbo then you get a
10 speed automatic transmission here's the thing Honda is going to offer the
six-speed manual transmission with either engine thanks in part of that
longer wheelbase you get more leg room in the backseat about two inches more
than before it's nice and roomy quite comfortable also good materials quality
back here but not quite as much soft touch surfaces as you have in the front
seat the trunk has also grown one cubic foot it's nice and roomy
now the hinges are kind of old-school they do encroach a bit into the cargo
area but not for worse we've seen it comes loaded with technology like apple
carplay Android auto and a lot of advanced safety features as standard
equipment like forward collision warning and stuff like that
so there's a lot to be excited about we cannot wait to drive it
you