Cons: No sporting reflexes, isolated control interfaces, overwhelming blandness.
The Bottom Line: The Accord asks fewer compromises than most coupes, but also fails to deliver a payoff in fun factor. A missed opportunity to fill a conspicuous hole in Honda's lineup.
I test-drove a Honda Accord EX Coupe at a local dealership. My test-drive lasted about half an hour and covered city streets, a winding frontage road, and the freeway.
Performance
One of my favorite things about Hondas is that they always seem to do more with less, and that was certainly the case with the four-cylinder engine in the Accord coupe I test-drove. This engine puts out just 160 horsepower, which didn't sound like much considering the Accord's substantial exterior dimensions, but I found its acceleration quite sufficient--even impressive, at times.
Around town, the engine felt gentle and flexible, with decent torque at the low end and willing midrange response. But when I gave the Accord full throttle on a freeway on-ramp, I was surprised by the swift, linear build-up of momentum. Merging at the end of the ramp was no problem, even though the midday freeway traffic was doing about 80mph. The numbers back up my subjective impression: in a recent Car and Driver comparison test, a similar Accord EX 5-speed sedan clocked 7.5 seconds from 0 to 60mph.
But while the Accord gets up to speed quickly and records impressive acceleration times, it doesn't feel very exciting in the process. The engine is near-silent, even when revved, and the power delivery is so smooth that very little sensation of speed reaches the driver's seat. On the freeway, I glanced down at the speedometer and was surprised to see the needle nearing 90mph--the engine was so smooth and quiet I couldn't even tell how fast I was going.
Whether that's a good thing or not is up to you--depending on your tastes, it's likely to come off as ultra-refined or ultra-bland. Personally, I prefer cars with a greater sense of involvement, which helps make the speed limit "fast enough" and speeding an indulgence.
Transmission/Clutch
The Accord's transmission and clutch were as smooth and slick as I expected from a Honda, but I found its shift action a bit less precise than I had hoped. The lever moved easily from gear to gear, with well-defined gates and effortless engagements, but it didn't have that precise "click-click" feel that you'll find in the Acura TSX, or even the solid "clunks" of a Civic's shifter. Instead, there was a slight rubberiness to the linkage--just a little, but more than most Honda products--that made it feel less sporty than I would have liked. The clutch was much better, with light weighting and a gentle, intuitive take-up that made it second nature to operate smoothly.
Steering/Handling
The Accord's handling was also a bit below my expectations. It would have been very good for a family car, but it was less sporting than I expected from a coupe. The Accord was at its best around town, with light but well-weighted steering that felt very accurate in the gentle pace of city traffic. On-center feel was solid and reassuring on straight roads, and the Accord's short turning radius made it feel surprisingly maneuverable in tight spots.
But when I took the Accord out on a winding frontage road, it lost some of the light, agile poise that it displayed in gentler driving. Its handling still felt competent and composed, but brisk cornering brought out a slightly disjointed, artificial feeling in the steering at turn-in. There wasn't much communication through the wheel rim, either, which took my confidence down a notch in the corners. The chassis felt reassuringly stable, but tire grip wasn't spectacular, and there was a bit more body lean than I expected. There just wasn't much to get excited about in the twisties: the Accord did everything I asked of it, but didn't feel like it wanted to be pushed.
When I got out on the highway, the Accord was much happier. It felt relaxed and securely planted in its lane, with an excellent sense of straight ahead--except in gusty crosswinds, where it required quite a bit of correction to stay on course. Again, all of this would have been fine in a four-door Accord, but in a coupe with sporting pretensions, it was a bit disappointing.
Ride
The Accord's ride was very comfortable, but a bit stiffer than the un-sporting handling led me to believe. Passing over uneven sections of frontage road, the Accord coupe jittered and fidgeted somewhat more than I expected. When there were actual imperfections in the road, the Accord's suspension swallowed them up with no fuss at all. But on surfaces that appeared fairly smooth, the ride was firmer than I expected. This wasn't a problem for me--I prefer cars that ride firmly--but given the family-car handling, I thought the Accord might have a softer ride to position itself as a luxury coupe like Toyota's Solara. Nope.
One thing that deserves unreserved praise, however, is the Accord's solid body structure. This is one of those cars that feels like it's carved out of one piece of steel, and that goes a long way towards making it feel like a substantial, expensive car.
Interior
When the interior is my favorite part of the whole driving experience, it usually means the car in question is a pretty bland one--and admittedly, that's the case here. But the Accord's interior really is a first-class effort.
Just about everything that you touch while driving feels rich and expensive. The three-spoke steering wheel feels great in the hands, and all of the secondary controls feel buttery-smooth in operation, from the turn-signal stalk to the radio controls to the rotary climate-control knobs. Honda definitely sweats the details when it comes to control feel, and that's a quality I greatly appreciate--it helps give the car a feeling of precision, even though the driving experience isn't all that sharp. The interior looks good, too. It's certainly more interesting than the exterior, with slashes of aluminum-look plastic on the doors, a neat downward-arrow shape to the center stack, and well-bolstered cloth seats. The control layout and markings are excellent as well.
However, the Accord's interior isn't perfect. The door panels and armrests felt lightly constructed, making them seem somewhat insubstantial. The electroluminescent gauges gave a similar impression--the wide spaces between the enormous markings of the speedometer made it look somewhat cheap to my eyes. And although I generally liked the clean styling of the Accord's cabin, it's still not the most visually entertaining cockpit out there. It lacks the stylish, trendy detailing that keeps cars feeling brand-new--compared to the ritzy look of the Mazda3's interior, the Accord's cabin is already looking dated.
On top of this, there are the usual coupe compromises to deal with. Although the Accord coupe is better than most coupes on these counts, you'll still deal with long doors, an abbreviated rear seat, and impeded rear visibility. And since these compromises come with no real payoff in terms of driving fun, they seem like more of an annoyance than most other coupes.
Practicality
How the Accord coupe scores on this point is a matter of perspective. On one hand, the Accord is quite practical as two-door coupes go. There's loads of room up front, and decent space for rear-seat passengers as long as the trip isn't too long. Plus, the rear cushions are more comfortable and supportive than most. The trunk is also quite roomy--its 12.8 cubic feet of cargo space (according to ConsumerGuide) is only 1.2 cubic feet down from that of the sedan version. While many rival coupes have hatchbacks for greater cargo flexibility, the Accord's notchback trunk offers more security, and you can always fold the rear seats down to make more room in a pinch.
So, all other things being equal, the Accord is quite practical for a two-door. The problem is, the Accord coupe fails to live up to other inexpensive coupes in nearly every measure of driving fun. It's not exciting, or edgy, or visceral in the least. This begs the question, why not just get the sedan? And then the coupe's tighter rear seat and smaller trunk start to look like a liability.
Reliability
No prizes for guessing this one. Naturally, the Accord received Consumer Reports' highest reliability rating of Much Better Than Average. But you could have told me that, right?
Overall
My indifference to the Accord coupe may be due to elevated expectations more than anything else. This isn't a bad car, for sure--it's really quite excellent in terms of refinement and efficiency. The issue is this: with base prices around $22,000 for the EX model I tested, it's impossible not to compare this car to sporty coupes like the Toyota Celica GT-S, Acura RSX Type-S, Mitsubishi Eclipse GT, and Hyundai Tiburon GT V6. And it doesn't compare very well, by the standards of that class.
The Celica isn't nearly as rich-feeling, but has a high-strung immediacy about the driving experience that the Accord totally lacks. The RSX is far more potent and precise than the Accord, and has similar levels of refinement. The Eclipse GT lacks the Accord's high-quality interior, but it's just as comfortable, and has a powerful, grand-touring flavor. And the Tiburon GT V6, for all its flaws, at least offers more go for less dough, and feels more special than a family sedan. So where does that leave the mild-mannered Accord coupe? In the dust, as far as this fast company goes.
But as I've mentioned, sport doesn't seem to be part of the Accord's mission statement. It's probably more accurate to compare it to other luxury coupes, like the Toyota Solara, and the Chrysler Sebring and Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The Accord fares better in this setting. It makes the Monte Carlo and Sebring look tacky and outdated, and while it's slightly down on power compared to those domestic offerings, it has far more class. But the Solara is classier still, offering similar levels of refinement, V6 power, and more styling flair--for better or worse--at about the same price. So even when taken as a boulevardier, the Accord doesn't stand out. The EX V6 version, with a six-speed manual transmission and seventeen-inch wheels, is likely to be a more interesting two-door Accord, but then you're looking at a $27,000 price tag, and that opens up a whole other can of rival-car worms.
I guess my issue with the Accord EX coupe was that it struck me as a missed opportunity for Honda. Consider my position: I'm a twenty-something looking for an affordable car that's sporty and exciting yet practical. Mazda offers its 3s wagon, Mitsubishi has its Lancer Ralliart, Nissan has its Sentra SE-R, and then there's the slew of hatchback coupes I've already mentioned. But as much as I love Hondas and would like to own one, there's nothing for me at the Honda store. The Civic EX coupe is too bland and isn't particularly fast. The Accord coupe is even more bland and pretty pricey to boot. The Civic Si is more fun, but only offered in a small and relatively impractical hatchback body--and despite being the sportiest affordable Honda, it's still not all that sporty relative to its competitors. There are Honda Factory Performance packages to liven up all of these cars, but they're prohibitively expensive and come as an all-inclusive one-shot deal, with no room for individual preference.
As I noted in my review of the Element, Honda just seems surprisingly out of touch with buyers looking for driving enjoyment on a budget (which often means Gen-Yers like myself). Quality, reliability, and efficiency are excellent strengths, but could it hurt to add a little fun too?
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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