Excuse us for plucking images off the Honda press website, but we couldn’t shoot any pictures ourselves. Anything with a lens on it was banned at Honda’s Tochigi proving ground and, in the dismal weather on that day, the in-house photographer couldn’t do much better. Honda’s paranoia for secrecy is understandable, especially when it lets loose a posse of journos inside the very heart of its R&D centre. Tochigi is the place where all Hondas are born and that includes its new baby, the 2008 Accord. Except, it isn’t quite a baby.The eighth-generation Accord, like with every successive generation, has grown in size and is now reaching E-class proportions. But it’s not the Merc that the Accord wants to outdo, but the Toyota Camry. In India, where the locally-assembled Accord has a huge price advantage over the imported Camry, the fight is pretty much one-sided. But in other parts of the world, especially the United States, these two Japanese saloons have been trading punches for years and the game of one-upmanship continues with every new model
Of late, the Camry has been giving the Accord a hard time, but Honda hopes that its 2008 model, which is substantially bigger and better in every respect than the previous one, will leapfrog its arch rival. It’s important to understand that in the United States, the Accord is to Honda what the Alto is to Maruti. Besides, America is Honda’s most lucrative market. This makes the Accord Honda’s most important model and hence the might of the company’s R&D is well behind it.
Thousands of engineers sprawled over the huge Tochigi facility have worked tirelessly to develop an-all new model in an astonishingly short four-and-something years. And if you think about it, Indians too have benefited from Honda’s manic efforts to shorten lifecycles to keep the Accord as fresh and uptodate as possible. The new model will mark three generations since Honda launched its flagship in India in 2001. In a market where cars refuse to die, such rapid model changes seem unnecessary, especially since the current Accord is already the top dog in its class. But that’s not how Honda thinks. This is a company that wants to stay ahead of the game and deliver a pre-emptive strike, which is exactly what the new Accord will do. To drive home the point that the new Accord shares nothing with its predecessor, it looks completely different. And it’s all the better for it. When I first saw pictures of the new car, I dismissed the shape as too Sonata-like. However, up close and in the metal, the new chiseled look is a huge improvement over the soft contours and generic lines of the model we know so well. The thick nose and larger dimensions make it look more grown up, but it’s the edginess in the styling that really characterises the new Accord. The trapezoidal grille, the sharply-cut and raked headlights and the flared fenders with the wheels puffing out of them make the older Accord look puny in comparison. A prominent crease that extends across the sides adds to the new Accord’s muscular stance and taut looks but it’s the rear that Honda, after years of trying, has finally got right. The older Accord had a frumpy-looking rear end with its rectangular tail-lights. This was followed by triangular lenses as part of the face-lift, which looked pretty common. Now, the new Accord, with its wing-like rear lamps set into a wedge-like rear, looks closer to the 5-series. Complementing the upscale looks are the larger dimensions; the new Accord is significantly wider, longer and taller than before and looks a class bigger. The wheelbase is longer too and this bodes well for passengers inside who are treated to substantially more interior space.
Like with the exteriors, the interiors are a considerable step up from the old Accord and that’s saying something, as the earlier car’s interiors were pretty impressive to start with. But you can instantly see how much forward Honda has taken the game. All the materials feel far better to touch and the interior design too is far more attractive.
The multi-layered dashboard flows into the door-pads in one seamless sweep. The steering wheel, with its metal spokes, looks quite techie and the shifter is a sleeker unit as well. The centre console has the same V-shape of the older car but the layout is completely different. The display in the new Accord has been shifted higher up, the idea being to reduce eye movement. However, the sea of buttons that surround the big solitary knob can be quite daunting. I preferred the less cluttered stack of the earlier car with its rotary controls for the air-con. There are lots of cubbyholes like before, so storing odds and ends is never 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.
However, the big news is the masses of space which makes you feel like you’re seated in an auditorium. Five large-sized adults can sit comfortable in a way no other car in this class can match. The front seats are huge and wide, with generous support, but in some places there is too much of it. Lumbar support, irrespective of the setting, is a touch too firm and the seats would have been perfect if this was softer. The rear seats are phenomenally comfy and outdo even the E-class. Not only are there masses of head and legroom but the seating position is superb. We criticised the older Accord for its crouched and slightly ‘knees-up’ seating position, but in the new car, a lower floor and a squab which has been tilted up marginally give outstanding underthigh support.
Powering the new Accord is a pair of new petrol engines — a 2.4-litre 4-cylinder and a 3.5-litre V6. The base 2.4 is similar to the older Accord’s motor, but it’s been tweaked to produce 177bhp, which is 35bhp more than before. This engine continues to use Honda’s proven i-VTEC technology, but the performance gains have essentially been achieved by improving gas flow in both the inlet and exhaust manifolds and using a variable-valve silencer. Honda’s four-cylinder motors are known for their smoothness and ability to rev, and most of my laps around the oval at Tochigi were spent in the upper regions of this engine’s rev band. The responsiveness of this engine is superb, even when it’s mated to a five-speed auto ‘box. It’s so smooth that it’s hard to believe it’s a four-cylinder.
On this vast track it was difficult to put the new 2.4 Accord’s performance in perspective but in the real world (read Indian roads), this lively motor has ample power to make the V6 pretty much pointless. But not if you want a silky-smooth and effortless driving experience which only this creamy engine offers. If the four-cylinder is smooth, the 268bhp V6 is velvet and, coupled with the thumping 22.3kgm of torque, the 3.5 Accord glides forward effortlessly
Even better news is that the horrific fuel consumption, the key reason why the current V6 bombed, could be a thing of the past. The new V6 comes with cylinder de-activation or Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) in Honda parlance
What this does is that 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
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
More impressive than the engines is the Accord’s handling which is instantly noticeable, even though are no twists and turns on this track. The steering is incredibly responsive and direct and car enthusiasts can rejoice that it no longer has that light and disconnected feel that makes the current Accord feel a touch vague at high spe
An imaginary slalom in the new car showed how much quicker the steering is (20 per cent more than before) and there’s virtually no play around the straight- ahead position. The front and rear suspension has been redesigned, while the engine and fuel tank have been lowered to keep the centre of gravity down. In fact, the floor has been lowered by 15mm to benefit handling but in India, this could pose a ground-clearance problem, much like the Civic faces today. And this is why we can’t wait to get our hands on the new Accord back home for the true test on our roads. But that won’t happen until mid-2008, when the first Indian-made Accords find their way into showrooms.
According to company sources, the new Accord will be around Rs 2 lakh more expensive than the current one, but will be packed with substantially more equipment. It’s not much extra for a car that will still be cheaper than the Camry and even more superior. Honda has moved the goalposts once again but it doesn’t stop there. As we get into our bus and leave the secluded environs of Tochigi, I can’t help but think that somewhere in one of the buildings Honda engineers have already begun work on conceiving the ninth-generation Accord. It’s a never-ending race
FACTFILE HONDA ACCORD 2.4/3.5 V6
Price - Rs 18-20 lakh (est.)
Length - 4930mmWidth - 1847mm
Height - 1476mmWheelbase - 2799mm
Turn circle dia - 2799mm
Kerb weight - 1468/1633kg
Engine - 4-cyls, in-line, 2354cc/6-cyls in Vee, 3471cc
Installation Front, transverse, front-wheel drive Power - 177bhp/268bhp
Torque - 22.3kgm/34.3kgm
Gearbox - 5-speed autoFront suspension - Double wishbonesRear suspension - Multi-link setupFuel tank - 70 litresBrakes (F/R) Ventilated discs/discsTyre size 215/60 R16/225/50 R17
