When the Honda Accord first hit Australian shores in 1976, it was a trail-blazer for the brand. It was Honda’s first crack at the ‘young family’, ‘young professionals’ market. And while it was small – about the size of the previous Integra – it was huge by Honda standards of the time.
Before it, the only Hondas Australians had seen were the S600 and S800 sports, with wailing, jewel-like DOHC engines; the first Honda Civic (which was smaller than a Yaris); and curios like the freakishly small Honda Scamp and toy-like Honda Z – running ‘crash-box’ gears and 360cc and 600cc engines.
Then came the Accord; the first off the ship were hatchbacks, then the four door sedan. Compared to its competition of the time - the Morris Marina (shudder), Cortina (urk), Torana Plus 4 (an abomination) and Renault 12 (nice enough, but slow as) - the Accord was two generations ahead.
Those first Accords were nicely styled, comfortable and kitted to the max. But the real revelation was in how they drove. They were so dynamically sharp that many found the handling too nervous at the wheel - ‘twitchy’ even - on the first drive. Australian drivers then were more used to vague steering, floppy suspension and channel-gouging understeer.
For style and dynamics, the only thing that bettered that first Accord in its market segment was the VW Golf. And the Golf was then, quite simply, a world-beater.
The Accord won lots of friends, was in part responsible for killing stone dead most on that list above, and put the Honda brand on the map in this country.
Now the Accord, in both its iterations, the Accord Euro and V6, has grown up. It is now as big as a Commodore. Whoever would have thunk it?
For some years now, Honda has managed to set itself a little apart from the ‘common rung’ of Japanese manufacturers. Thanks to its precision engineering and free-revving engines it has built a special cache around the bold ‘H’ logo – a bit more sporting, a bit more involving at the wheel, something of the ‘racer’s edge’ to the handling and dynamics. As though it’s the Japanese BMW.
But does it still hold that edge? In a market where nothing is still, and technology is king, is it still a cut above in engineering and dynamics? Let’s have a look and find out.
For the week of this test drive, we had the Accord Euro: six-speed manual, 2.4 litre DOHC i-VTEC engine, producing 148kW at 7000rpm and 234Nm at 4400rpm (230Nm for the five-speed auto).
Having earlier this year spent a week in the superb, limousine-like V6, expectations were high for the seemly and stylish Euro. To be sure, the Euro has always been the Accord of choice for those who like a willing steer - the V6 more for pampered executive-types.
At 4740mm long and 1840mm wide, it has closed the gap on its bigger brother, the V6, now matching it in width but just on 20cm shorter (the V6 Accord is 4945mm in overall length). It is, in fact, all-but Commodore-size, inside and out. The VE Commodore, at 4894mm long and width of 1899mm, is just 5.4cm longer and 5.9cm wider than the Euro.
But its lines disguise it. There is an athletic elan to its stance on the road and from behind the wheel. Few would feel they were in a large mid-size car.
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Um, why is this thing called the Euro, when it is basically an Acura TL which is only sold in the US?
It’s not a TL. It’s a TSX.
Oh, and it’s called a Euro because in Europe (and Japan) it’s the only Accord they get. The bigger one is called Inspire in Japan.
It’s confusing. Blame the marketers.
Here’s one for the TMR folks - how does the new Euro compare to the new Mazda6? They have become something like arch-rivals in my mind (my wife and I chose the last-generation 6 over the last-generation Euro, but it was a close call). And both are excellent.
Lee Please take your ugly picture off
I reckon it’s quite cool actually - he looks a bit like Darren Lockyer with glasses…
I was going to ask how the automatic rates - you tested the manual? (though the interior shots show the automatic, no doubt from the press kit collection).
After driving the previous Euro in auto form and finding it a slug (with only four ratios which exacerbated the torque deficit), and the figures for the new motor aren’t a quantum leap forward, I’ve got doubts over the new model’s performance as an Auto..?
Lee’s pic looks A-OK.
Hi Godspeed,
TI will probably drop in and answer your question as well, as he tested the Euro but I did have a drive. We only had the manual on test, so I can’t comment on the auto. Easily one of the best sedans that I’ve driven for a while - just felt very ‘together’.
Yo Godspeed, can’t fill you in on the auto, have driven only manual versions in this series and in the former.
You’d expect the five-speed to be a lot better than the four in keeping things on the nail. The extra ratio should help fill the ‘hole’ and keep the revs in the sweet spot for the torque (not a lot of it) to do its thing, but it’s conjecture… still wouldn’t have the verve of the manual.
The six-speed, because it’s such a sweet-shifting unit, disguises the weight it’s dragging around (at 1.5 tonne, the Euro is no lightweight) and is a delight when you get the revs singing the soprano lines.
Honda has a diesel on the horizon, that’d be the one for the auto (if we get it here).
(RE interior shots, I forgot to polish my glass eye before whipping out the camera… didn’t realise my clever and arty shots of the swoopy dash were all out of whack.)
The Insider
Yup, you’re right there Mookers on ‘close call’… and on Honda Euro and Mazda6 being natural enemies (like the ferret and the chainsaw).
My view is that previous Euro was a step clear of the previous Mazda 6: there was little between them in driving dynamics but I found the 6 a tad coarser than the Euro - ‘drummed’ a little inside and the road-roar could get a bit wearing.
All that has changed. Though I only had it for a couple of days, the new 6 is a ripper - zesty, refined and feels great at the wheel. But, and we’ll probably need to line them up side by side to make a fair call, my entirely subjective view is that the Euro is perhaps a poofteenth, or half-a-poofteenth, ahead of the 6.
Others will disagree, it’s just “a call”… they are both fine cars and will hold their values well. (I was going to include Mazda in ‘The Big Statement’ because they also seem to be doing everything right.)
We’ll see what we do about putting them head to head.
The Insider
PS: The howling 6 AWD MPS was nearly impossible to fault except for its ability to shred a licence.
im amazed that you were able to achieve those fuel consumption figures, i mean how can a car with 200 kilos more than the old model achieve better fuel consumption. We have the older model and i have been in the new model i can tell you one thing size inside is small and the extra kgs dont help either.
apart from looks and quality i would choose the new mazda6 anytime…
dont think they sell it in japan, are they made in Thailand?
http://www.honda.co.jp/INSPIRE/
Interesting though, the honda japan site only has the previous-gen Euro listed.
No worries. Thanks for the responses guys, it makes an interesting case. I would of course choose the manual, but sounds like something to look out for if you’re an auto buyer
And no probs about the auto tranny photo, I realise motoring publications do it all the time but it’s for illustration purposes only, it’s not as if you were trying to pass off the car in the photo as the exact same car you actually drove, so it’s cool.
It’s not like Aussie Top Gear where they appeared to substitute in-car footage of the R35 GT-R with the E92 M3, in their first episode…
Matt
Just to clarify, the previous generation Accord Euro (CL9) auto was a 5-speed. And all Accord Euros are made in Japan. The bigger V6 Accord is made in Thailand.
Well I took the challenge and have an auto 09 Euro. It’s very nice and I think is better than the previous model. I was a fan since 2003 of the Euro so when I could afford to buy I did. I have left the previous model behind at the lights on the occassion the other driver was trying to flex there muscle and it can beat the Mazda 6 if driven correctly (Must keep high revs, in sports mode using the paddles), like all Honda engines it loves the higher rev range for performance. Though it is close with the Mazda 6 and I don’t know if the 6 was auto or not. I have the standard model as it’s lighter than the other models and has the same engine, gear box setup. I would think though that the manual version would perform even better. I would say that the new version does look like an evolution of the previous and from what I have read on many of the forums about the car, the most criticism comes from owners of the previous model (which may lean towards that fact that their car is outdated) and of course the arch rival Mazda 6. When it comes down to it the new and old Euro are great cars and so is the Mazda 6. Except that the new Mazda 6 has the enormous mufflers that stick out like the proverbial.