- Sedans may be dying
but Honda doesn't think they're dead quite yet.
And that's why we're here in Southern California to
drive the all new 11th generation 2023 Accord
with new styling that brings it in line
with the rest of Honda's lineup
and an increased emphasis on the hybrid powertrain.
The new Accord is ready to take on
not necessarily the world, but at least the sedan segment.
We've gone more in depth on the styling updates
but this is my first chance seeing it
in person and I gotta be honest, I like it.
Overall, the aesthetic to me is big Civic
which is actually a good thing.
It's handsome, looks very buttoned up.
It's weird to think of the Camry from Toyota as
an aggressive car, but the Camry has a more aggressive look.
This is more businesslike
maybe even a little more premium in its appearance.
But overall, big fan of the look, my one complaint
would probably be the tiny Honda badge in back.
It just looks a little undersized and I can't
quite figure out why.
So we are currently driving the Sport
with the leather interior in Honda shorthand
that's the Sport L Honda is making a greater commitment
to hybrids throughout its extensive lineup.
Not every new Honda is going to be a hybrid
or have a hybrid option, but a lot of them do.
And here in the Accord Sport also means hybrid
but so do EXL and Touring.
Touring being the highest trim level.
But as I mentioned, this is the Sport
so theoretically it should be a little sportier
not really feeling that so far, even with these twisties.
So power for the Accord hybrid comes from a two liter,
four cylinder engine and two electric motors.
Total output according to Honda is 204 horsepower
and 247 pounds speed of torque
and power delivery is something of a mixed bag.
In sport mode, the car will stay out of EV mode and in turn
what that means is when you step on it
there's a bit of a delay before the power starts to kick in.
Whereas when you're in EV mode
it's a more seamless transition
and it comes on a little bit earlier.
I think that's just the sort of instant torque
from the electric motor helping you out
versus here where everything's trying to work in concert.
So we are in sport mode right now.
And as you can tell
Honda says the powertrain has more refinement.
I don't know how inclined I am to agree with that.
There's still a lot of noise from the powertrain
especially under harder acceleration, but it's not terrible,
it's not offensive to me, it's just,
it's gonna be present when you're really,
getting on the accelerator pedal, at least in the hybrid.
Another nice thing
about the hybrid is these paddles here are not shift paddles
because this does not have a traditional transmission.
Instead these control the regenerative braking
and so you can increase the regen
with this paddle or decrease it with this one,
I'm currently in the lowest regen setting.
At the highest regen setting,
it comes close to one pedal driving
you get down under 10 miles an hour
and you're gonna start needing to use the brake.
It won't hold at all on its own, but the regen
doesn't really mess with the braking experience.
It still feels fairly linear.
These aren't the mushy brakes of hybrids of old
so at no regen just feels
like totally normal brakes, at higher regen.
You're actually getting close
to sort of an EV driving experience
and overall I really like it.
The regen braking has also been useful
in these hilly sections, acting as sort of a take
on engine braking to keep the speeds controlled
as we descend rather
than having to work the brakes occasionally.
Sports specific interior touches not really visible
not really sure
if you just showed me a Honda Accord interior
if I could point out what is and isn't a Sport.
What's interesting about this is this is
the larger 12.3 inch center touch screen display.
It has wireless CarPlay and wireless Android Auto
but unless you get a Touring model
you don't get wireless charging.
So my phone is just down there losing battery
being connected to CarPlay
because I'm an idiot and didn't bring a USB cord.
But if you have wireless CarPlay
why would you want to plug it in?
Just give me wireless charging
and wireless CarPlay or give me wired CarPlay
and I'll remember to bring a USB cord.
It's not that hard, so far.
I'm really enjoying this large screen.
Very responsive, very quick to go through the menus.
Graphics look nice.
The larger size is great for navigation.
Also nice is the standard 10.2 inch digital gauge cluster.
Nice and clear, easy graphics.
It's interesting to me that the Accord is
the model that gets the standard digital gauge cluster
across the lineup, whereas in other models
like the CRV or the Pilot, you need to be in sort
of higher trim levels to get that full digital experience.
Interior room, at least up
in the front seat right now is fairly acceptable.
It's a little bit roomier than the previous generation.
I've actually been driving a 2018 Accord
around a bit lately.
That model has the engine start stop button right down
by where my knee rests and that always terrified me.
I always expected that to come through
and take off my kneecap in the event of a collision
but here I have a little bit more space
at the top of the knee.
I still don't have a lot of space to the sides.
If I want a man spread, I'm resting
against the center console, but it's not uncomfortable
and there's nothing weird sort of poking into me.
There's just, you know, not a lot of room.
Another complaint
this window sill here is just really narrow.
I like to put my arm up here when I can
and it just isn't comfortable in the Accord
so I've been resting it
on the actual armrest, which is nicely padded.
Sticker price here is about $33,000.
Everything feels like a $33,000 car.
I would not be upset spending my own money
on something of this quality.
Switching now from the Sport to the Touring
mostly that just means added comfort
and convenience features both ride
on 19 inch wheels, the wheels look different
but dynamics don't really change from trim to trim.
What you do get here are some additional leather bits
wireless device charging finally, and
in the Touring you also get a head up display.
Fuel economy is also important, especially
with Honda's emphasis on the hybrid power trains.
And the good news is
that the hybrids are slightly more fuel efficient.
According to the EPA, the Sport
and Touring hybrid are both rated
at 44 miles per gallon combined.
That's up from 43 and other lower trims
with the hybrid powertrain are rated
at 48 miles per gallon up from 47.
The bad news is that in the new gas only Accord
which uses a carryover, 1.5, turbocharged four cylinder
and a CVT combined fuel economy actually drops by one MPG
to 32 from 33.
Steering feedback was also a strong suit
of the previous generation Accord and that continues here.
It's nice and direct, fairly light, but not over boosted.
It tightens up a little when you put it into Sport mode.
Sort of feels a little bit weightier, not too much
very pleasant.
Overall, very easy to drive.
This is an easy to drive car and that's exactly
what you want in a mid-size family sedan
but the driving experience to sum it up, is competent.
I would say maybe even bordering on confident
that may also just be because I'm finally driving a sedan
after what seems like an eternity of SUVs.
But there's still some body roll in corners
and this is essentially a front wheel drive family sedan
so not unexpected, but the fun that we were promised
from Honda with this new generation of Accord just
really isn't there.
Next on my list of Accords to drive is the gas only EX.
Honda promised that the Accord EXs 1.5 liter turbocharge
four cylinder would be more refined
than the previous generations, and I don't really agree.
It's not terrible, but it's still just
as noisy and the CVT still gives you a good bit
of drone as you drive along.
Ride and handling were also sloppier and less composed
than the Sport and Touring that I drove earlier.
Not surprising, but a little disappointing.
Also, I felt like I was feeling just
as many bumps and road imperfections
despite the EXs smaller 17 inch wheels.
Overall, the EX still drives decently well
especially for a $30,000 sedan.
A complaint I have about the EX is one I have for all
of the Accords I've driven so far, which is
that there's no front passenger seat height adjustment
which can leave your front passengers
in somewhat of an uncomfortable seating position.
And it's just very unfortunate
that even on higher trims, this wasn't available.
The best thing the EX has going for it is
that it has a physical tooting knob to go
along with its physical volume control
but that seven inch screen compared
to the 12.3 inch screen is a bit disappointing.
Here we are in the top trim of the Accord, the Touring
which like most trims gets the two liter hybrid powertrain.
But we're here to talk about the interior
which we quite like.
Again, we've broken this down in depth
but this is my first time seeing it.
So some impression, I love this vent design.
We first saw it on the Civic, but the hidden vents
and just the flowing lattice work here looks great.
Gives it a nice sort of upscale feeling.
Good physical controls for most of the climate here.
A gear lever, love it,
better than the push button nonsense that Honda has done
in a lot of other vehicles in its lineup.
We have a drive mode selector.
Easy to use.
The all electric button, it's very nicely laid out.
The new 12.3 inch screen also comes with Google Built-in
which gives you things like built-in maps
the Play Store, Google Assistant.
We're wary of it.
A lot of these features will require an active
data connection to effectively use, which means
if you're somewhere with poor reception, you might be SOL.
Also, interestingly, with my phone connected to CarPlay
asking Google Assistant to make a call tells me
I have to do it through Apple CarPlay, which makes sense
but having to choose between one or the other
and just wanting to hit a button
and do the task can be a little bit frustrating.
There's also a physical volume knob.
It's kind of small but works fairly well.
No physical tuning controls this time other
Honda systems have buttons for tuning
but here you're just left with the touchscreen.
Overall though, the layout is very nice
it's very responsive.
The graphics are clear and crisp
and I really like the upgrade.
I wish it had trickled
down to say the Pilot that I just drove two weeks ago
but we'll probably see it in other Hondas in the future.
An interesting thing to note
this is the second Accord I've driven today.
I drove a Sport with the leather interior first
and now I'm in this Touring
and so we get some extra little leather accents right
by the center console here, things like that.
And in the Sport, I was actually pleased
with some of the knee room and the knee comfort
even though my knee was hitting the center console,
here actually a little bit uncomfortable.
I don't know if that's just my knee getting tired
or a slight change in design
or actually less padding under this leather.
But interesting that the more premium vehicle
this one is just a hair under $39,000 might have
these slightly less comfortable interior.
Other things worth noting, there are USB C ports up front.
One is for data, one is for charging
and you get one small little center console storage bin
but nothing too out of the ordinary or revolutionary.
Just a nice comfortable interior.
This being the Touring, you do also get ventilated seats
which I am currently enjoying.
The Sport only went up to heated seats.
The backseat of the Accord is fairly unremarkable.
There was a slight increase in leg room
over the prior generation, which wasn't really
a problem to begin with, but any little extra bit is nice.
Would like a little bit lower knee position
but I'll take it.
I can live with this.
Headroom is really the problem area for me at six foot one.
The fast back roof design just sort of really
eats into headroom.
It's not terrible, but I am touching the headliner
with my scalp, not just my unusually tall hair.
Other quirks, there's only one seat pocket.
It's on the back of the front passenger seat.
There are two USB C charging ports
and there are climate vents down here
but there's no control to set the temperature.
That's all taken care of up front, unfortunately.
Comfort-wise though, pretty good.
I would be happy if I got one of these as an Uber.
Speaking of comfort, one more nice thing
about the backseat of this Accord Touring
or the outboard heated seats with controls on the door.
There wasn't much that needed improving
in the Accords interior
but it's nice to see Honda bring the new Accord
into line with the rest
of its design language and keep it fresh and modern.
The new Accord is on sale now, and if you're
in the market for a fairly business-like mid-size sedan
I think you'd do well to check it out.
The improvements aren't significant
but they are improvements over the previous generation
and the Accord remains a great choice among a dying breed.
For more on the Accord, check out cars.com.