We have three of the best medium 5-seater sedans on the market, Passat, Accord, and Sonata. Three bigger hitters from brands who are known for quality. The segment is shrinking faster than a wool jumper in a washing machine.

So, what do you get when you take their best sedans and pit them head-to-head? I’ll tell you what you get, you get class and style without nonsense and frippery.

We took the range topper in each of the brands, with two around the same price, and one, 13 grand more. Is that enough to get it over the line?

If the outside is about attitude, then surely the interior is about mood and ambience.

Above: This Week – Accord VS Sonata VS Passat 

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Honda Accord

ABOVE: Sonata N-Line VS Accord Hybrid VS Passat 206 AWD Wagon

Looks:

Hubba hubba!

Volkswagen is quiet and reserved, yet strong and forceful. The Passat Wagon is the only wagon in the group, and costs a princely $13,000 more than the other two. For those extra shekels, you get a car stuffed full of techy goodness. Passat is chic, with fancy matrix LED headlights, and tail lights that put on a little dance when the brakes come on.

Doors offer a capacious portal to a cabin that drips with every comfort and luxury.

The 19” wheels, coated in matte grey, look mean, and give the exterior a decidedly evil and menacing look. Passat is long, low, and slender, with just the merest hint of retro.

Unlike the others, Passat keeps the lines strongly horizontal, and it somehow makes the big wagon, look fast.

Read the Volkswagen Passat Full Review HERE

Sonata is Hyundai’s big passenger sedan. It has had, a rather frantic, magic wand waved over it. The rear is stunning with a full width light cluster cupped gently by big bold U-shape taillights. Once a terribly frumpy old broiler in an Osti frock and slippers, Sonata is now a motor car Phrynie Fisher would love to own.

The big fastback follows the current obsession with wasting the chance of a rear hatch, but hey ho. 19” wheels make the exterior look utterly nasty, and mean as hell. It begs you to run a hand over it, with its sexy curves crafted by the wind.

Access to the boot is via a button hidden in the top of the “H” in the Hyundai logo.

Read the Hyundai Sonata N Line review HERE

Honda Accord Hybrid

Accord Hybrid is another fastback, eschewing the booted saloons of the past. Like Passat, Accord has a very long history in Australia, being one of the first Honda models to grace our roads.

18” wheels look bijou, but aid in the superb ride, so I’m ok with that.

The face features sleek rows of LEDS that light the night with the brightness of a sun. The rear doors are ridiculously long, promising a ballroom-like cabin. Of the 3 cars, Accord is the most conservative, as befitting a genteel, elegant lady of the open road.

Read the Honda Accord VTi-LX Review HERE

The Cabin:

We have come far, and all three cabins were chic and refined. Accord made the most of fake wood, whereas Passat used aluminium. Sonata had a different, sportier feel.

Passat is again, the most restrained. Strong horizontal lines are a trademark Volkswagen trick to emphasize space. Seats are delicious, and so comfortable, regardless of the length of the trip.

Leather is used with gay abandon, and the overall effect is modern-deco, meets gentlemen’s club. It has been updated over the years as VW brings new technology online but it has never lost sight of the gracious and elegant atmosphere Passat has a reputation for..

Like the outside, the cabin makes use of long straight sweeps, quality fittings, and clever design.

Accord

Honda has a very particular style, with gentle curves, large vents, and big bold buttons.

There is plenty of leather, in black. The design will age well, with plenty well-made fittings. If the front is the place that is all business, the rear has enough room to really relax. If you want to stretch out further, you can power the front passenger seat forward. The VIP effect cannot be denied.

The sunroof is small compared to the others, but it leaves those in the back feeling cosy.

Sonata

The big Hyundai has been lavished with sweeps and curves. There is leather, and a sporty-looking fabric, but all that nasty plastic Hyundai was famous for, has been banished.

That cabin carries the same deeply moody atmosphere of the other two, but N-Line badging mixes a younger feel, ready for a weekend on the tiles. Sonata feels the youngest of the group.

Red stitching in a big saloon feels slightly risqué. It can’t match KIA’s sensational Stinger, but perhaps it appeals to a different crowd.

The drive:

Rather inexpediently, driving these three cars showed us something very important, never judge a book by its cover.

Accord

The Honda is the only hybrid in the test.

Slinking along in complete silence feels so wrong in something so big. Accord is a full hybrid, unlike the brand’s failed hybrids of the past. EV-only puts the 158kw system into stealth mode.

Unlike the other two, Accord has no blind spot monitor, and a partial digital dash. There is a camera over on the passenger’s side to project a picture onto the centre LCD screen, but this lacks the finesse one expects from a 2021 model car.

Steering is light and ethereal, and the ride is sumptuous. Handling is surprisingly sporty, which serves it well when outside city limits, but the Honda absolutely kills it around town. Fuel consumption drops to 3.8L/100k, whereas the others head north of 9, with the Passat crossing the 11L/100k boarder.

Passat

What an absolutely triumph. There are 206 glorious kilowatts, and an AWD system that peels your face off as you corner. Drive modes tailor the experience to your mood. You can dial up your level of discomfort, as the dampers stiffen to aid frisky cornering.

Once the frolics are over, the atmosphere becomes calm and caring.

Passat has a unique ability to be whatever you need it to be. It can carry your troubles, sooth your brow, or simply be your faithful retainer, catering to your personal wants.

Passat is quiet, only raising its skirts when required, but make no mistake, lift its skirts it will. A stab of the peddle and off you go, even in the filthiest of weather. Our drive took in storms and greasy roads, and Passat simply hunkered down and got on with it.

There is a 6spreed DSG, far too few options for such a silky engine.

Sonata

Well, strike me pink!

The Sonata is 100% tuned for pleasure. Toss the old girl into a corner, plant your foot, and rocket out the other side faster than OAP at a buffet. Unlike the buffet scene, there are no wayward elbows. The Hyundai is frisky, yet serious, and always well mannered

I rather suspect it would be fun on a track. Sure, there’d be a bit of a hullabaloo on the really serious corners, but everything else would be an absolute hoot.

The goat tracks masquerading as roads in Sydney, do horrible things to your wobbly bits. Sonata’s ride is firm to cope with cornering, but as fab as that is, it gets old fast, when coping with cobbles.

Sonata is young at heart, and I love her for it.

Conclusion:

Accord was a very clear winner. I know, we were surprised too. It highlighted the subtle elegance that clever engineering can bring.

I had already decided I’d take the Honda home, but David preferred the Sonata. We both agreed the Passat was the best allrounder, and was by far, the best drive, but those numbers speak for themselves.

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