2013 Accord

[ExplodingCake]

['93CB7Ex]

That white one looks like a jetta......

[JoshM]

Here are some "in the flesh" photos of the new Accord.

Yeah, okay.... that's pretty damn sexy.

[deevergote]

really hoping this grows on me like most new hondas do... right now its not visually appealing to me.

I'm just now starting to like the 7th gen...



I prefer the 8th gen coupe to the sedan, but I think I feel the opposite about the 9th gen. I like the sedan better. Even if it does look like a Sonata (and Hyundai did it first... so for once it looks as if Honda is ripping off Hyundai!)


I think keyless pushbutton start is a stupid gimmick. Not a fan.
The Accord really does need to go upscale, though. I think the Civic should grow into the Accord's place, and the Accord should push into Maxima/Avalon/Azera territory, instead of being stuck in the Camry/Altima/Galant/Sonata category. Honda has always lacked that one "better" model that all the other brands seem to have... and they certainly have what it takes to make it happen!

[PakaloloHonda]

I'm just now starting to like the 7th gen...

I so wish they made a wagon that year ..

[deevergote]

Agreed.
Though with the big, high-fendered designs they have now, I think any newer wagons will probably look more like minivans. The days of sexy wagons are long gone
Fortunately, the CB9 is a sexy beast!

[owequitit]

I want to get a 2013 6-6 coupe. Sweet features it has over the 8th gen?

-Keyless go w/ push button start
-LED headlights and running lights and tail lights
-Pandora integration into the stereo
-Stronger V6 engine, should be more efficient too
-A lot cleaner lines, especially in the front

Plus the interior is a lot more luxurious than the previous gen. But I'll probably hold out until Nov 12' when the Motor Trend car show comes to Phoenix and check out all the possible other coupes at that point all in one place.

Here's a vid of the production line I found

It is unlikely the V6 coupled with 6mt will be stronger than the current one. It may even be the VCM engine from the sedan.

Also, it looks like the car is going to lose its wishbone front suspension.

[ThatOneAccord]

Here are some "in the flesh" photos of the new Accord. Speculation is that this is the LX trim level.

2013 Lexus GS and Hyundai Genesis sedan got together and the VW painted it with its jizz....that's what it looks like to me

[owequitit]

Got a chance to drive an EX-L V6 the other day, in the same basic color combo as our 2009 (Pearl white with tan leather).

1) The interior quality is pretty marginally improved over the last gen. None of the materials are strikingly better, but Honda did a much better job of styling everything and putting the soft touch stuff where it makes the car SEEM more high quality.

I was unsure about the interior styling at first, but I actually really like it now. Perhaps not as sporty as I would like, but it definitely works well, and does a good job of cleaning up the center stack design.

If I had a complaint, it would be that there is quite a bit going on visually in terms of textures and treatments. There is chrome littered throughout the cabin (door handles, gear surround, shift knob, and a ring around the cup holders), then you have the silver plastic, plus the dash colors, and then finally the tiger-stripe looking stuff that breaks up the two halves of the dash. I like all of the textures, but there might be just a bit too much. It didn't bother me really, just seemed slightly odd. Some of the piano black surrounds actually have glitter in them, which was odd also, but not a deal breaker. I did like that they made the whole bottom part of the interior black (carpet, footwell plastic, seat bottom trim plastic, etc). The largest complaint I had about our previous tan leather (and gray for that matter) was that the carpet started looking shitty pretty quick because it was so light. That will be gone now. The carpet is also not as cheap feeling now. The perforated leather is of high quality, and seems pretty good for the price point.

For the most part, the switchgear, fit and finish, materials selection is slightly better than the old car. I specifically noticed that the Navigation knob felt much superior to the one in the last gen. Less plasticky and more substantial. However, the wiper/turn signal stalks felt noticeably cheaper. Other than those two components though, I didn't notice anything that felt like a step down at all. I did notice a slight decrease in storage space (the center console compartment and door bins are smaller). Also, the locking glove box only comes on Sport models and above.

The back seat actually does have slightly more leg room, which IMO was bordering on slightly unnecessary. The 09 has a good 5-6" more knee room than the CB7, and this seems to add about an inch to that (which confirmed Honda's claim). With the front seat set slightly back from where I like it, there is still a good 4+" between my knee and the front seatback, and the front seat doesn't even sit behind the B-pillar.

I didn't notice the trunk to be much larger, but the shape is a lot better as the 09 does not have a flat floor caused by Honda's choice to bring the framerails up above the bottom of the car. They must have worked that out somehow, as this car has a flatter bottom than before.

2) Exterior wise I feel like Honda really pulled it off. I didn't think I would like it (the last two gens disappointed me in many detail areas), but the 9th gen really flows as a whole. The front is nice and short (overhang is HUGELY better), the lines flow together and the whole car works in harmony (the front doesn't look like it came from a seperate studio from the back). Overall, I thought the car looked very crisp, tailored and modern. It keep the formal proportions of the old car, but it LOOKS much less massive and much smaller when compared to the outgoing car. Looks like it lost a few pounds, had some nip/tuck and some cosmetic surgery all in one. Also, IMO, the fears of the Genesis styling simply don't exist in person IMO. The car just looks to be 3 sizes smaller than the Genesis, and the car as a whole does not have the proportions of a Genesis.

The 18's on the Accord Sport are among my favorite Honda wheels ever, and they look truely stunning in combination with the rest of the kit on that trim. I wish those wheels were on the V6's to be honest (they may be on the Touring model).

The paint quality was simply excellent. Both our EX-L V6, and the Hematite Metallic (great color BTW) had virtually no orange peel, very smooth finish, and it looked a lot thicker than any paint on any 6th or 7th gen Accord. The Diamond White Pearl on our 2009 was more Acura quality than Honda, so for me to be impressed shows that they actually did make a notable improvement here. Frankly, I though our 09 had the best Honda factory finish I had seen.

I also liked the detail that Honda put into the exterior. There are little flourishes of chrome here and there that just make it look very upscale and very much of higher quality than the competitors. There is a strip of chrome in the lower grill splitter, then the grill surround, and in a couple of other places. Nothing flashy, just enough to give it some understated bling. It is sort of understated compared to cars like the Fusion and Sonata, but IMO, it will be much like the CB7 and still look stunning in 10 years or more. It also has the more formal proportions of much more expensive cars which help. As per Honda's usual standards, fit and finish of body panels, gaps, and alignments was outstanding. It is also amazing how the projector headlamps streamline the front end. Still halogen bulbs, but nothing a $100 quality HID kit couldn't fix.

The other thing I noticed immediately where Honda improved on their traditional weaknesses styling wise were that A) the wheels hunkered out to the edge of the car (not unlike some German makes) and that B) there is not an excessive amount of wheel gap (also not unlike some German makes).

3) The connectivity of this car was awesome, but it definitely has a learning curve. I think I would take navigation just for the additional controlability (to be fair the last two gens of navi have done the same stuff, but with the rest of the package, it just seems like a more complete system). You can voice command basically anything in the car you want (there were 4 pages of verbal commands just for the climate control, and I think it has like 1500 functions that can be controlled via voice). When coupled with Bluetooth, Pandora, aha, Honda-link and all of the other stuff, it would be really nice. To be clear, all cars EX and above have that stuff (with the center console touch screen), and ALL of them have dual zone CC, Bluetooth and many of the connectivity features (yes, even the LX). What I liked most though was that we were able to get most everything working within a few minutes of tinkering with each feature, so Honda has done an absolutely incredible job of making the interface easy. Compare that to Sync on a new Focus rental I had a few months ago, and I could barely even get the radio to do what I wanted in a few hours. It was truly ridiculous. If I had to muster a complaint, it would be that in most cases there were 2 or 3 ways to do the same thing, so that added slightly to the confusion. The navigation also has a 16GB hard drive for you to rip your music to, as well as the normal Aux input, the USB input, and then the Bluetooth link.

4) So how does it drive?

The ride is firm, but not harsh. It reminds me of the 2003-2005 Accord V6 in that regard. It is definitely buttoned down, but it still rides great. The 06-07 V6 was a bit firmer, but also rougher. The road noise was a LOT less. It is still there, but it is much further in the distance. This is one area where our 06 and our 09 were a bit of a disappointment. They ruined the ambiance of what otherwise was a very luxurious car. From what I got to experience, this seems like a step up from the 09 in tuning, because the rear end on that car just doesn't seem to be on the same page as the front much of the time. It sort of bounces and bounds around when the front is reassuringly planted. The 09 didn't have that from what I felt. Unfortunately, I didn't drive the car hard enough on any corners to discern any differences with the front struts, but if I had to guess, I would say that total grip will be slightly better, but it won't be as confidence inspiring as their old DWB setups. I notice this with the Civic as well. It WILL handle as well as my modified CB7, but it doesn't feel like it swallowing the corner as much as the CB7, which makes the CB7 a little more comfortable to take to the limit. However, from what I did feel, the car will probably do its job OK in this regard.

EPS. I was really unsure about the switch to EPS, especially since the EPS in the Civic doesn't have really any feel at all. You learn to derive grip information from other sources, but it doesn't come through the wheel. However, the Accord was a revelation in this regard. I would say feel and feedback were about as good (if not slightly better than) the 09. However, the effort is less, which makes it not as sporty feeling, but easier to manage. I think a portion of this improvement may be the fact that Honda moved the EPS assist down to the rack, a la S2K and NSX (yes, I checked LOL) versus mounting it at the junction between the rack and the column (a la Civic).

The only dynamic chassis complaint I could find were the brakes. Perhaps it was because it was new, but there seemed to be a lot of dead travel prior to brake engagement. I will test that further in the future. Twice though I found myself having a near "oh shit" moment when the car was NOT stopping like I expected it to.

5) Powertrain. This is the area I was most hopeful in since I had heard that Honda was going back to a 2 mode VCM system. Essentially, that means that they have enough space left on the cam to have a hi/lo VTEC in addition to the VCM function. Think of it as the 7th gen V6 low/midrange torque, with the additional MPG savings promise of the 09. Only with the added torque and 6AT, I think this car will actually deliver the economy, whereas the 09 has always been disappointingly short (when from 33-34MPG highway in the 06 to ~26 MPG highway in the 09 with not really much of a performance advantage.

Which brings me to the second part of the equation. This fucker MOVES. It is quite a bit faster than either the 06 was or the 09 (the 06 was a bit faster than the 04). Not only does the engine have a MUCH improved powerband and responsiveness, but it has the added benefit of the tight gear spacing of the 6AT, which rips of velvety smooth up and down shifts that are also immediate in nature. Whereas the tranny response of the 09 was sort of lazy, and the 06 was pretty much telepathic, this tranny is much closer to the 06. Maybe just a touch less aggressive. Then again, with the added power it doesn't need to be quite as aggressive. It also thankfully avoids the tremendous hole between 2nd and third gears that happened between 50-~60 or 65MPH. I have heard some bitching about it not having paddle shifters outside of the coupe, but frankly torque converter paddle shifters are for lame ass poseurs, and they are completely unnecessary. I tested the passing power as well, and it was also fantastic. I can definitely see the low 14 second claims being true for this car, with trap speeds just shy of 100MPH. To put that in perspective, this auto, 4 door Accord is only a couple of ticks shy of the outgoing 6MT coupe, which was severely traction limited. I also goosed it pretty good coming out of a corner, and while I wasn't fully floored, there was no untoward wandering at the nose when I took off, and then when I went full throttle. And like I said, at full throttle this thing hustles. It is definitely not performance people are going to expect from an Accord. I was talking to one guy who said he was able to hold an S4 at bay, and given the already measured trap speeds and times, I believe that. Obviously, in an open contest, the S4 will win (well at least the new ones, which clock a mid-high 13 at about 104), but in situations with a limited passing window, it would have enough to defend adequate spacing.

The engine also has a very nice tone to it when wound out (as all J series have). This one is quieter in normal running, but gets more aggressive sounding at high RPM's than the current car. Again, a bit of a return to the 7th gen MMC character, while still improving the "normal" driving experience. I couldn't tell if it was just a little more muffled, or more fabricated, but the intake noise was different than past large plenum J series. A little more pure sounding with less background noise. Interestingly, I checked and this new J series switched to composite valve covers, but retained the magnesium intake manifold. I am assuming that was done for sound quality purposes, as most competitors use plastic for both. This car also has an engine cover, which may have had something to do with the sound change.

Overall, I felt a lot of older Honda mojo that I thought has been decreasing. I am not real happy about the change in front suspension, but the styling benefits, feature benefits, powertrain benefits, and the perceived improvement in quality in most areas offsets that in my opinion. To me this car shows me that Honda is getting serious about building Hondas again.

[owequitit]

I also forgot to mention that the MPG driving coach on this car is pretty cool. I t works with two bars on the outside perimeter of the speedo. The more efficiently you drive, they more green they glow. If you aren't being efficient, then they are just white.

There is also the ECO mode, which reduces throttle responsiveness and changes shift mapping, AC duty cycle etc, to help save gas. I think this is the first car I have driven it on where I didn't hate it. Probably because the car has enough excess power that it doesn't completely turn it into a driving roadblock.

[marcusv8thunder]

Just seems a bit fat in styling, and as mentioned above the Hondaness is barely in this one, its could be a German car, personally i dont it, as did i not like the 8th gen. I liked the 7th gen.

UK Honda have seen a shift in buying habits towards smaller cars, in terms of car models, less MPVs people carriers, estates wagons and big saloons etc. So as a result the sales in UK and most likely Europe for the 9th gen could be low, as was the case for the 8th gen last year.

Maybe it will work in the US, cars and buying habits are bigger over there.

Looks slightly like a Vauxhall Insignia, which are everywhere here. A Honda shouldnt be even 50% similar in styling to this.

http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vehicles/v...olume-insignia

[owequitit]

Just seems a bit fat in styling, and as mentioned above the Hondaness is barely in this one, its could be a German car, personally i dont it, as did i not like the 8th gen. I liked the 7th gen.

UK Honda have seen a shift in buying habits towards smaller cars, in terms of car models, less MPVs people carriers, estates wagons and big saloons etc. So as a result the sales in UK and most likely Europe for the 9th gen could be low, as was the case for the 8th gen last year.

Maybe it will work in the US, cars and buying habits are bigger over there.

Looks slightly like a Vauxhall Insignia, which are everywhere here. A Honda shouldnt be even 50% similar in styling to this.

http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vehicles/v...olume-insignia

This car is over 3" smaller than the one it replaces, which makes it the same size as the 7th gen. Also, having owned pretty much every generation, I can say that this car has a lot more "Hondaness" than the 8th gen for sure, and even more than the 7th gen in some ways.

For instance, the styling isn't "weird" like the 7th gen was, and this car has incredible visibility, especially when compared to the competition. Obviously, government rules have mandated a loss of some of the "Hondaness" but this car does a lot to get it back. Frankly, I didn't think it looked fat at all. It is well sculpted and actually looks to be pulled tight over the skeleton, unlike the 8th, which was definitely bloated.

As for the Euro market, I think Honda is moving away from that, because you guys weren't buying Accords in any significant volume. To be honest, I am not even sure you guys will get this car, as Honda is regionalizing product development.

[deevergote]

The American Accord and the rest of the world's Accord are often different anyway (and it gives us a TSX that isn't simply a rebadged "Accord" as we know it in the US!)

It's cool to see that it's getting a bit smaller. It seems to me that the slot occupied by the Accord, Altima, Camry, etc... is just getting larger and larger, to the point where the cars are just too large to be anything but people-haulers. Honda has always made an effort to create vehicles that are fun to drive. I hope they truly are remembering that, and making an effort to stick to it.

I'm actually surprised Honda doesn't have one more car above the Accord... Toyota has the Avalon, Nissan has the Maxima...

[Honda_Lady]

I got to see one of these when i went to visit my friend at the Honda dealership this past week. I didn't know what it was at first but I like it more then the 8th gen. i never really cared for the 8th gen though it did sorta grow on me and i atleast got used to it.

[Ravens_CB7]

I'm actually surprised Honda doesn't have one more car above the Accord... Toyota has the Avalon, Nissan has the Maxima...

You're right on that deev and I have always ask that myself, why after so long they've never think of making a model on the Avalon, maximal level........ seeing the other brands do so well