Honda has a brand new flagship in Australia.
Positive, it’s not the most costly Honda you should purchase domestically – that honour belongs to the Civic Kind R sizzling hatch, which is $10,000 pricier than the Accord.
Don’t be fooled although. The Accord is greater than the Civic, and meaningfully extra luxurious. Its identify additionally means one thing a bit totally different.
The place the Civic was historically an economic system automobile, the Accord sits just one step beneath the high-tech Legend on Honda’s product pyramid… or at the least it used to, earlier than the Legend was axed. Now, it’s the highest of the tree.
Only one mannequin is obtainable in Australia – the 2024 Honda Accord e:HEV RS – which mixes an environment friendly hybrid powertrain with a sporty exterior package deal, and an opulent inside loaded to the gills with devices.
Is it a worthy hero for Honda?
How does the Honda Accord examine?
View an in depth breakdown of the Honda Accord towards equally sized automobiles.
Honda
Accord
How a lot does the Honda Accord value?
2024 Honda Accord pricing:
- Honda Accord e:HEV RS: $64,900
Costs are drive-away
To see how the Honda Accord stacks up towards its rivals, use our comparability device.
What’s the Honda Accord like on the within?
There’s a variety of frequent threads linking the Accord to the broader Honda vary, however it’s all a bit… nicer.
From the supple leather-based seats to the larger infotainment display and the flashy ambient lighting system, it’s a pleasant place to spend time.
The driving place is great, with loads of assist for long-legged drivers and sufficient adjustment for awkward physique shapes to get snug, and imaginative and prescient out is surprisingly good given the sloping roofline and lengthy overhangs.
It’s an enormous automobile, however it’s not an imposing one to drive.
Honda has fitted a brand new 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system right here, full with Google built-in.
Meaning correct Google Maps with dwell site visitors, and Google Assistant at your beck-and-call while you’ve an web connection. It additionally means you get over-the-air system updates.
Google Maps is great, and appears correctly high-end within the digital instrument cluster (despite the fact that you’re not in a position to make use of them and have CarPlay working), however I’m but to essentially see the advantages of getting Google Assistant within the automobile.
The brand new display can be not all that rather more helpful than the system within the CR-V and Civic, given it is advisable attain to its far corners to regulate the fan velocity or fiddle along with your particular local weather controls. Though the outsized dial in the midst of the sprint might be programmed to do a number of issues, it might’t function a fan controller or quantity knob.
What is helpful is the brand new head-up show, which is ready to present velocity, car warnings, and dwell navigation instructions. It’s crystal clear, and makes it simpler to maintain your eyes on the highway with out lacking any of the knowledge within the digital binnacle.
Cupboard space is great. There are large cupholders, a wi-fi telephone charger below the sprint, and a deep central bin, together with door bins that may accommodate outsized drink bottles. Two USB-C ports characteristic up entrance.
Rear seat area is a combined bag. At 4975mm lengthy and 1862mm huge, this is a gigantic automobile – knocking on the door of BMW 5 Sequence or Mercedes-Benz E-Class dimensions, for instance.
But it surely presents acceptable legroom reasonably than standout, and the sloping roofline conspires with what looks like a raised rear bench to eat into headroom.
Children and regular adults of common will nonetheless have the ability to get snug again there, however wanting on the exterior you’d fairly anticipate it to be palatial.
At the least you get air vents and USB-C ports again there, together with three prime tether factors and two ISOFIX factors.
Dad and mom shall be happy with the sunshades which might be commonplace on the rear home windows, together with the fold-down central armrest that can be utilized to separate warring rear seat passengers.
Claimed boot area is 570 litres, and the rear bench folds 60/40. The boot opening seems small from the skin, however is suitably broad. Vulnerable to taking part in into Accord proprietor stereotypes, it’ll fortunately take care of a number of units of golf golf equipment.
What’s below the bonnet?
Only one Honda Accord mannequin is on provide in Australia, and it’s a hybrid.
| Mannequin | Honda Accord e:HEV |
|---|---|
| Engine | 2.0-litre 4cyl petrol |
| Engine outputs | 108kW + 182Nm |
| Electrical motor outputs | 135kW + 335Nm |
| Mixed hybrid energy | 152kW |
| Transmission | eCVT |
| Pushed wheels | Entrance-wheel drive |
| Weight | TBC |
| Gas economic system (declare) | TBC |
| Gas economic system (as examined) | 4.5L/100km |
| Gas tank measurement | 48 litres |
| Gas kind | 91 RON |
To see how the Accord traces up towards the competitors, take a look at our comparability device.
How does the Honda Accord drive?
This can be a very snug automobile on the open highway.
From the second you sink into the comfortable driver’s seat and prod the beginning button, which elicits a shrill beep reasonably than the roar of an engine, it’s all simply very good.
With mild steering and a supple experience, it’s the form of automobile you’d fortunately flop into after a tricky day on the workplace with a tricky commute forward of you.
Efficiency from the hybrid system is spectacular. With 335Nm on faucet from its electrical motor alone, it’s uncommon the petrol engine must kick in while you’re shifting with site visitors at metropolis speeds. That makes for clean, silent progress.
When the engine does kick in, it’s not harsh or intrusive. It hums away within the background at a cruise, and while you’re in a rush the transmission does a formidable impersonation of a standard automated, letting the engine run out to redline earlier than grabbing one other “gear” and going once more.
Though there’s no efficiency profit to that strategy, it simply feels proper.
Experience high quality can be wonderful. Pimply metropolis streets float below its wheels with out disturbing the serenity, and it soaks up greater bumps effortlessly. Regardless of its measurement, the Accord doesn’t really feel like a cumbersome barge – it truly feels fairly composed, and lightweight on its ft.
The spectacular refinement isn’t undermined at increased speeds, the place the Accord is an completed cruiser.
Even at 80km/h, the electrical motor feels as if it’s doing a piece of the heavy lifting. The petrol engine cuts in often, however it feels as if it’s serving to the electrical motor reasonably than the opposite manner round beneath round 80km/h.
There’s ample punch below your proper foot if you wish to overtake at freeway speeds, and Honda’s energetic driver assists are wonderful.
The adaptive cruise is assured and clean, the energetic lane centring system doesn’t really feel prefer it’s making an attempt to tear the wheel out of your arms, and the large head-up show flashes orange in an extremely attention-grabbing method if it thinks you’re about to rear-end somebody. There’s no lacking it.
There’s even some enjoyable available in case you’re in a rush. The steering is fluid and direct, and there’s some actual expertise within the chassis while you fling it right into a nook.
The Accord is lauded within the USA for its mix of practicality and enjoyable, and it’s straightforward to see why.
What do you get?
This can be a generously geared up automobile, with some unusual omissions – it doesn’t have heated seats, for instance, which it actually ought to.
Accord e:HEV RS highlights:
- 18-inch machined black alloy wheels
- Energetic shutter grille
- LED headlights (with auto excessive beam)
- LED daytime working lights
- Digital key
- 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster
- 11.5-inch head-up show
- 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen with Google built-in
- Wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- 12-speaker Bose premium sound system
- Rear USB-C ports
- 8 airbags
- Autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
- Pedestrian, Bicycle owner, Motorcyclist detection
- Adaptive cruise management with cease and go
- Blind-spot monitoring
- Driver consideration monitoring
- Lane maintain help (72km/h and above)
- Lane centring help
- Parking sensors
- Rear cross-traffic alert
- Rear seat reminder
- Encompass-view digital camera
- Site visitors jam help (as much as 72km/h)
- Site visitors signal recognition
Is the Honda Accord secure?
The Honda Accord hasn’t been crash examined by ANCAP or Euro NCAP.
It has eight airbags, together with the next energetic driver assists:
- Autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
- Lane departure warning
- Lane protecting help
- Rear cross-traffic alert
- Driver monitoring system
- Site visitors signal monitoring
- Entrance and rear parking sensors
- 360-degree encompass digital camera
How a lot does the Honda Accord value to run?
The Accord is backed by the identical five-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee because the broader Honda vary.
| Guarantee | 5 years/limitless kilometres |
|---|---|
| Service intervals | 12 months/10,000km |
| Capped value servicing | 5 years |
| Common capped-price service value | $199 |
| Whole capped-price service value | $995 |
CarExpert’s Tackle the Honda Accord
The brand new Accord is beautiful, however it’s arduous to see Australian consumers racing to their native Honda Centre to get their arms on one.
For the diehards, its snug inside and spectacular hybrid powertrain shall be interesting. It additionally handles higher than you’d anticipate of an enormous, snug Honda liftback.
There’s no query it’s a particular factor to take a look at as effectively, though the sporty RS is out of protecting with the historically demure Accord vibe.
However… from a purely rational perspective, it doesn’t make a heap of sense. Rear headroom has been compromised on the altar of fashion, which undermines its usefulness as a household hauler, and in case you actually need to stand out from the gang there’s loads of attention-grabbing automobiles on provide across the $60,000 mark.
It’s additionally lacking just a few key options (seat heating, for instance) consistent with its flagship billing. In different phrases, it’s a automobile for the Honda tragics.
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