The new Euro, while unmistakably ‘Honda’, leans a little more to current styling conventions than we’ve come to expect from Honda. However the heavy lines of the front guards - with ‘chewing walnuts’ puffed cheeks - and the similarly heavy lines over the rear arches, are a little clumsy to these eyes and lack a little of the finesse and delicate understatement of the model it replaces.
Of course, it might be part of a cunning plan: being ‘heavier’ to the eye, the strong nose and tail give the new Euro a commanding presence in the car-park. It also looks thoroughly modern. And, as one passenger commented, a rusted-on Honda driver, the Euro doesn’t have ‘the old man look’ of the V6. (Not sure that comment from one of the faithful will have Honda leaping for joy.)
The expanded dimensions provide generous shoulder and leg room, and an air of spaciousness inside. The boot is a cavern: deep and flat and easily able to swallow a family’s holiday luggage.
Ergonomically, and for fit and finish, it’s hard to fault the interior. The seats are deep and supportive, everything nicely at hand, ‘comfortable’ leather-wrapped steering wheel and, in the manual test car, the smoothest shifting six-speed you’ll find this side of a hot knife and a tub of butter.
It’s all a little busy however. The graphite-trimmed curves of the dash, sweeping upwards from the console and around into the curves of the doors will not be to everyone’s taste. It looks modern enough now, but there is perhaps too much going on and it may quickly tire to the eyes. Few would argue that understated no-nonsense lines endure…
There’s another problem. The centrally-placed information screen is totally unreadable in some light; the angle of the scalloping in the dash matches the reverse angle of the sloping clear cover on the screen. Fortunately, the important information is straight ahead of the driver in a clear, nicely-designed instrument binnacle.
But everything, and everything - all those minor nit-picks and trifles - are forgiven the moment you turn the key and poke the Accord Euro’s nose out into the traffic and onto the highway.
You would have seen the Euro TV commercials – the driver soaring then gliding through rolling foothills along a perfect ‘driver’s road’. Whoever dreamed up those images, no risk, they spent some quality time at the wheel of the Euro over a winding road.
On the road the Euro is simply a super drive. It feels ‘right’: it is serenely balanced and quiet, with very little wind and road roar. For a ‘biggish’ car, it is surprisingly agile and thoroughly predictable when driven enthusiastically.
Like the howling Integra and Civic Type R, the Euro has fabulous chassis balance. With double wishbones front and rear – real suspension - it is neither too compliant nor too firm and heavily damped. It ‘talks’ what’s going on below, neither soft nor hard, but elastic and light on its feet like a sprinter.
On dirt, putting it through a few vigorous runs along one of our favourite ‘rally’ gravel roads, we failed to find the bump stops; no banging nor crashing, just a nicely-controlled sporting steer. (The Euro can be readily and easily thrown around on the dirt; slide in, set up for exit and nail it out – it’s sinfully fun for a ‘family chariot’.)
What is also surprisingly is the willing urge under the toe. You could be forgiven for thinking that there’s a bigger bent-six working through that delectable six-speed box than merely a robust, free-spinning ‘four’. Only the higher-pitched zinging from the front, rather than the thrumming beat of a V6, is the give-away. You’d be very hard-pressed to pick it.
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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.