The name Accord has been with me for most of life. It was the Honda you aspired to. If someone’s mum or dad had an Accord, they had made it. It was always special, although by today’s standards the first Accords were little more than cattle drays, but at the time Accord shone like the northern star.
11 generations later, the passenger car market is in the propinquity of its demise but the all-new Accord is no less magnificent. Like those early Honda Accords, the 2024 version transported me not just in space, but in time.
Accord carries Civic handsome visage tastefully tweaked for a bigger bosom, and with similar lines defining sedan-like proportions within a fastback silhouette. Despite the coupé sense of style, Accord is a 4-door gentleman’s tourer. A tourer needs a large boot for sir’s matching luggage, and Accord’s 570L boot’s regular shape will do its best to accommodate the poshest of cases. The back seat folds, but an awkward bulkhead lacks the ability of a hatchback to fold seats flat.
Accord’s low front end is flanked by a set of thin “intelligent” LED lights. The effect is unassuming, and although there are daytime running lights, they are restrained and discrete. They don’t wander all over the bonnet in search of a home, yet cut a distinct shape from a distance.
Tail lights have a familiar look too, echoing Passats of the past. Honda won’t like me saying that, but there is nothing wrong with having a vague resemblance to a similarly scrumptious sedan.
ABOVE: 2024 Honda Accord RS Hybrid
Inside is a story of Zen-like harmony.
I slipped into the cabin, and as if donning a fine Italian shoe, it was a perfect fit.
Theme lighting changes to orange on doors that are ajar, otherwise the lighting changes colour at will, as if sensing the mood of the occupants.
The design is like a traditional Japanese house with only what is needed, and all in the best of taste. Everything has a purpose, is in the right place, and is easy to use.
The capacious rear seats have plenty of legroom, but as will all slinky sedans, a low roof, made lower by a sunroof, will be challenging to 6-footers.
Front seats having a couple of powered adjustments but none of that overdone massaging frippery, for although the Japanese love their gadgets, they shall not sully this tasty interior with tat. No, actually, I’d love massage seats and not having them is a bit mean in a 65-grand car.
Then we get to the meat-and-2-veg, the dash and console. Honda has form for hitting and missing. The side-view operated only on the left side was a miss. The early HDMI-linked CarPlay was a miss. The kiddy-gamer dashboards were a miss. All of that is true, but Accord is a beautifully proportioned case study in ergonomic excellence.
The simple yet complex dash is adorned with an analogue clock that is actually a small climate control shortcut dial and display screen. Giving it a twiddle brings up a series of handy options on the 12.3” touchscreen above. You can be warmer, or cooler, or choose from the defrost menu.
The touchscreen has a Google operating system that is good, but not as simple to use as Volvo/Polestar’s version. You still have a reasonably comprehensive array of settings and features, which are accompanied by a 10.2” driver LCD display and a Head-Up Display of around 10”.
The hexagonal lattice that separates control from display areas also conceals the air vents.
Check the full specifications sheet HERE:2024 Honda Accord Specification Sheet
The Drive:
Accord comes only as an RS hybrid, and it is very clever indeed. A 2.0L i-VTEC engine is coupled to a electric motors and an e-CVT automatic to power the front wheels. One electric motor acts as a generator and is only used to charge the battery which is found under the back seats. The other works with the petrol engine and the flow of power can be followed on the graphic in the driver dials.
Starting Accord is usually a silent affair. If there is enough power in the battery, the system stays in EV mode at low speeds, creeping through carparks as if stalking its prey. Like hybrids wearing other bdges, this one will switch between charging, regenerating, or power the front wheels with the electric motor and/or the petrol engine. It requires no plugging in, yet spends quite a great deal of time in EV mode. No one is kidding themselves about Accord being any kind of EV, but it is a great step for folk frightened of finding themselves foiled by faulty chargers.
Double pinion electric steering is incredibly light, and 335Nm of torque makes accelerating beefy without being thuggish. It is difficult to engineer the right amount of light-n-airiness into car without it feeling like a blancmange with a personality bypass. Accords road manners are perfect.
If pressed, the e-CVT has the engine sounding like it is changing through gears, but as we all know CVT automatics don’t have actual gears. Instead, Accord simulates ratios and has a lock-up-style function that eliminates the mindless tedium of the rubber band feeling that most CVTs inflict on hapless drivers.
Apart from all the usual driver and safety aids, wrapped within the cloak of the mysterious “Honda Sensing” is “Straight Driving Assist. “ At first, I thought this would not help a hopelessly bent gay man, but no, it is brilliant. When driving on a cambered road for example, the big Honda will help the driver with a hint of correction to keep things tidy.
There is a bit of clumping and bumping over some of the nastier Sydney goat tracks masquerading as suburban streets. It remains composed sans the over-price chi-chi setups foisted on us all by allegedly posh brands north of the Med.
Even though there is MacPherson Strut/ Multi Link suspension, Accord is not intended to corner at warp 9.99. Yes, corners are dispatched with alacrity, but Accord is better as a sober city slicker sipping 2.4L/100k, or a lovely long-legged cruiser at home on highways doing a smidge over 5L/100k. The 48L tank is good for 900km around town, so the onboard computer says, and I tend to believe it.
The Bose sound system streams digital music, or wirelessly connects to CarPlay/Android Auto for something more intimate.
The weather has been horrific so the usual longer rural drives were delayed by storms. Dreary road-damping mists made the rest of the week rather miserable, but Accord was like a capsule of calm.
In fact, the city drives were an unexpected pleasure, and since that is where cars spend most of their lives, letting Accord deal with low speed traffic took all of the stress from an otherwise unpleasant commute.
Download a specifications sheet HERE:2024 Honda Accord Specification Sheet
Conclusion:
Accord is on the pricier side of mid-to-large sedans. Camry is the only real alternative, and although Camry is cheaper, it lacks any the panache and class of Accord. Honda has positioned itself as a premium purveyor akin to Euro-snobs, and that is a risky proposition for a brand whose sales have been in years of steady decline. Having said that, the Honda will be far more reliable than anything made in Europe. Accord doesn’t have the zip of a Type-R or the sex appeal of the unloved and forgotten NSX, but you’ll never ever have to apologise for being late. Accord will never let you down.
I am a shameless Accord tragic for which I make no apology.
2024 Honda Accord RS Hybrid
- Price: $64,990
- Engine: 2.0L petrol hybrid, Euro 6b
- Power:152kw/335Nm
- Trans: e-CVT
- Econ: 2.4l/100k urban
- CO2: 98g/k combined cycle
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