First Drive Review
My, how you've grown, Accord! You were just a cute little three-door when you were born. Now you're 32 and crowding the ends of the garage.
This eighth-generation Accord four-door is big, just 2.5 inches shy of the lunker Chrysler 300's length, almost five inches longer than a Camry. It's wide, too, one more inch than the Camry, and the front buckets are spread 1.5 inches farther apart than in the previous Accord, so the '08 feels wide as well. Officially, its 120 cubic feet of interior and cargo volume push it, barely, over the bar into the EPA Large Car class.
The Accord has been feeling a draft in the past few years, caught between the Camry's blue-chip credibility and the Altima's sporty swagger. While those two flourish, Accord sales have sagged. So, for this new model, Honda has been reaching to the top shelves of its Good Stuff locker. The Accord is the company's rice bowl; if this new one draws tepid responses from middle-market America, there will be hunger pangs from Ohio (about 80 percent of Accords sold in the U.S. are built in Marysville) all the way to Honda's Tokyo headquarters.
Imagine a new Accord that's actually a half-inch longer than Acura's big RL sedan, on an identical wheelbase, equal in beam, too. That's how much car Honda has loaded into this gotta-win model, offered in four-door-sedan and two-door-coupe versions [see 2008 Honda Accord Coupe].
Everywhere you look, more car: Under the hood, the SOHC V-6 has been enlarged to 3.5 liters and 268 horsepower, from 3.0 liters and 244 horses. Fuel economy is improved over last year's when tested by the same method (EPA 19 city, 29 highway for 2008), thanks to a new system allowing operation on three, four, or six cylinders. The DOHC fours remain at 2.4 liters, with the base engine rated at 177 horsepower, up from 166. Step up from the entry Accord LX to the EX, and you get a 190-hp four redlined at 7100 rpm.
For now, the only automatic is a five-speed. In the sedans, only four cylinders are available with a stick, and it's a five-speed.
No excuses, however, are offered on the topic of safety. Japan and Europe, but not the U.S., have pedestrian-protection requirements, and the Accord's nose makes plain that priority. From the side, the hoodline is unfashionably high, allowing a cushioning space over the engine. From above, the front corners are deeply beveled, this to produce glancing blows whenever possible. For passenger safety, all the right boxes have been checked: front occupants have dual-state, dual-threshold front airbags, dual-chamber side bags, and adaptive head restraints. All rear positions get passive head restraints, and both rows have curtain airbags. Anti-lock brakes, stability control, traction control, and tire-pressure monitoring are standard equipment on all Accord models.
