Honda Accord

The Accord is an important car for Honda, which has been getting stressed over the Toyota Camry. However, the latest Honda might just change this scenario. In India, the Honda will be locally assembled so the company can enjoy a price advantage that Toyota won’t have as the Camry is imported. To make sure that the newest Honda passed every test of perfection, engineers at Honda’s R&D centre in Tochigi, Japan, have put in a lot of effort to come up with this all-new car. In fact, this facility is the birth place of all Hondas so it wasn’t surprising that we weren’t even allowed to take a photographer with us. Though Honda believes in staying ahead and keeps it models’ lifecycles short, lets see just how well-suited is the new Accord for India? As mentioned earlier, the new Accord shares nothing in common with its predecessor, at least in the looks department. The new Honda’s design is more edgy and chiselled. The thick nose and larger dimensions that are on the new car lend it an air of maturity and the new Honda’s grille, sharply cut and raked headlights and the flared fenders with the wheels puffing out of them make the older car seem quite scrawny. Additionally, wing-like rear lamps set into a wedge-like rear, finally make the Accord’s rear look good as well. We weren’t particularly crazy about the earlier car’s rear.

Redone interiors


The interiors of the new Accord have also been redone even though the older car’s interiors left very little to complain about. The new Accord’s multi-layered dashboard flows into the door-pads in one seamless sweep. The layout of the centre console is also different from the older car though it has the same V shape. In addition, as on the older model, the new car has several cubby holes as well, so storage isn’t a problem. Another convenient touch is the relocation of the door locks, which have moved from the rear edge of the front door, by the window, to inside the recess of the door handles. The best feature of the new Accord’s interiors though is the amount of space and the seats. As the wheelbase of this Honda is longer, it means more space for passengers. Five adults can easily fit into this car and enjoy the seats which have the most supreme levels of comfort to be found on a car seat. Not only are there masses of head and legroom but the seating position is superb.

A pair of new petrol engines will power the eighth-generation Accord; a 2.4-litre 4-cylinder and a 3.5-litre V6. Though the 2.4 is similar to the older Accord’s motor, adjustments have been made to it so that it now produces 177bhp, which is 35bhp more than before. This engine will use Honda’s proven i-VTEC technology. Honda’s four-cylinder motors are renowned for their smoothness and ability to rev but this motor was so smooth, I found it hard to believe this is a four-cylinder. And, if this is smooth the 268bhp V6 is velvet and, coupled with the thumping 22.3kgm of torque, the 3.5 Accord glides forward effortlessly. And, there’s more good news; the new V6 comes with cylinder de-activation or Variable Cylinder Management (VCM), which means effective fuel consumption. Depending on the load, the engine can run on all six, four or even just three cylinders. The idea is to cut off the supply to those cylinders when they don’t need it. The tricky part here is to counter the vibrations when the engine switches to either of the fewer-cylinder modes.

Silent ride

Active engine mounts and an active noise control system come into play to make it as smooth as running on all six. The VCM system is so smooth; it’s hard to tell the number of cylinders you’re running on. Honda claims this is the first time such a system has been introduced in the Asian market. The Indian-made Accords should be in showrooms by mid-2008 and we can’t wait to test it on our roads.