2008 Accord is Out!!!

[foamypirate]

The 4 bangers in these are adequate, and pretty damn torquey, but I just couldn't do that KNOWING that the J35 was only a little more.

Still a nice buy though, and that color will look awesome with some better looking wheels. I just can't warm up to the 4 cylinder coupe wheels.

Amen...oddly enough, the car my brother got was a dealer trade, and they tried to trick him into 4 cylinder wheels on his V6 6 Speed...he wasn't very happy about that. The salesman got an earful, heh.

[socal_cb7]

Look at what I found in google. Its a Honda Accord HFS Concept. This is one HAWT Accord






There are more pics here: http://www.dieselstation.com/manufac...allpapers.html

[owequitit]

I like the HFP better.









Nice, subtle, aggressive.

The wheels look good.

And the slight rake to the suspension is JUST what the doctor order to help the front not look so upright. This really give it the wedge shape I am sure the designers wanted.

[benjerman112]

Look at what I found in google. Its a Honda Accord HFS Concept. This is one HAWT Accord






There are more pics here: http://www.dieselstation.com/manufac...allpapers.html

Damn!

[Fake Thug]

2008 Accord is at my House. Thank You God!!!!!!!!!!! or should i say Mom? F-it i'll thank both.

werd

[benjerman112]

werd

LOL Thanks!

[benjerman112]

[QUOTE=socal_cb7]Look at what I found in google. Its a Honda Accord HFS Concept. This is one HAWT Accord





Now that i think about it looks like my car all i need is that bumper, grill,lights and those sick brakes.

[foamypirate]

Don't forget the body kit!

[benjerman112]

Don't forget the body kit!

Oh yeah the kit looks like a lip kit! wouldn't mind having that now?

[benjerman112]

now that i have one i see the 4dr all the time!

[peteypete]

[QUOTE=benjerman112]

Look at what I found in google. Its a Honda Accord HFS Concept. This is one HAWT Accord





Now that i think about it looks like my car all ineed it bumpergtill,lights and those sick brakes.

the accord hfs concept = hotness. the 08 accord coupe looks way better than the sedan. and i heard that honda doesnt make a manual sedan anymore.

[foamypirate]

They make a manual sedan, just not with a V6.

[benjerman112]

i agree i had to go to 3 different dealers to find a 4cyl 5spd.

[benjerman112]

I saw a black coupe the other day. i'm never in my new car when i see other coupes
I got some EX-L rims

[owequitit]

Just spent some time driving an '08 V6 sedan yesterday. That was the first opportunity I had to drive it.

It feels a little stronger than the J30 from the 7th gen in the bottom, although perhaps not as much as 3.5L would suggest. Unfortunately, this is both a side effect of the VCM AND the added curb weight. Still, it WAS stronger, and I was also testing a car with 20 miles on it. From my experience, the J series breaks in quite a bit in the first 500-1000 miles, so I expect it would get noticeably stronger. It pulled really well in the top end though, and had that same lovely snarl. It didn't FEEL like it was pulling much harder, but it was consistently getting an extra 5-10 MPH in the same situations over the '04 J30 equipped car we bought that day, so even though it wasn't real scientific, it is probably reasonable that it would be a few 10ths faster. Consider that the J30 is already very adequate, I don't find fault with that. It was kind of fun to see the "ECO" light switch on and off, which meant it was shutting down cylinders, but around here, where we are at high altitude, hot temps, and in hilly terrain, it didn't spend as much time in "ECO" mode as I would have hoped. Unless, you can routinely keep the "ECO" light on, you probably aren't going to see the advertised MPG gain. Unfortunately, that seems to be somewhat the case with VCM. I am not so sure it is that VCM is a bad technology as much as that the vehicles Honda is putting it in are too heavy to really take advantage of the lower displacements. Down at sea level, or in less hilly country, it probably wouldn't be much of an issue. The "lack" of power in the bottom end may contribute too, because you have to give it a little more stick than you might if say it had the non-VCM engine from the 6speed coupe. I almost wish Honda had put that engine in ALL of the V6 Accords, and instead spent money on a 6 speed transmission, although, the could have theoretically reworked the spread on the 5 speed auto too. Not only would that mostly have provided MPG equality, but it also would have taken care of any accelleration complaints, as I am pretty sure it would have given ANY other car in the segment a run for its money or beat it. And the added low end torque would have been nice for getting quickly off the line and then getting the throttle closed for good MPG.

Other than that though, the car was fabulous. It drove much smaller than it is (it STILL isn't as big as all the villains on the net say it is, as it is barely noticeably larger than a 7th gen, and only slightly larger looking in certain dimensions over the 6th gen). Visibility was excellent, a HUGE step up from the 7th gen which has really huge A and C pillars. The hoffmeister kink in the new rear window helps that quite a bit, and the cowl seems a bit lower, and the trunk not as high. Less wedge shaped I guess would be a good word. The materials are an incremental improvement over the 7th gen, and a LARGE improvement over the 6th gen IMO. Not everything is soft touch (increasingly common at ANY price point these days), but the graining, fitment and sheen are very upscale. It easily gave an E46 Bimmer a run for quality, and IMO was less plasticky. There was also a 1st gen G35 which was showing pretty signs of wear at 24K, and had cheap feeling switches, handles, bins, knobs and cubby covers in comparison. I was actually shocked when I found out the G35 only had 24K, because that was the kind of wear on the seats etc, that I wouldn't expect to see until 60K or later. In fact the 04 Accord we bought had 62,000 on it, and it was WAY better. Honda's reputation for "bad leather" is extremely overexaggerated. The Audi A6 on the lot that I also scoped, was VERY nice in materials quality, but the switches felt cheaper. They also had a last gen Lexus LS430 which I compared it too. The Lexus obviously was nicer, what with its soft touch materials etc, but then again, at the top of Lexus's range, you would expect it to be. The switches etc, felt VERY similar, with the Accords not feeling quite as good, but certainly worth the price difference. All in all, I still maintain my position that Honda's materials quality can hold its own against MUCH more expensive cars.

In terms of comfort, the added width to the cabin is really nice because 2 people can easily use the center console, where previously, it was 1 person only. The added height is good for 2 reasons.

1) It allows greater toe space under the front seats. That is nice because in the 06, my feet don't really go under the seat, which means my stretch space is limted to what I have on the floor between the seats. The 08 provides a good 3-4" of extra stretch space, because I can get most of my foot comfortably under the seat.

2) The added height allows for added cushion height. I have never been uncomfortable in the back seat of the '06, but the 08 gives you more of a natural seating position, where the weight is more evenly distributed along your entire upper leg AND butt, instead of just your butt and part of the upper leg. The cushion is also more padded, which makes it a little more natural to sit on. Same with the front seats. The cushions are a little taller, a little longer, and more padded. It seems trivial, but you notice it after a short while. The center console and padding on the armrests are thicker. The leather is BUTTER soft. It is actually quite an improvement over the 7th gen, now that I have had time to spend with it. And the 7th gen was no slouch, I don't care what anyone says. Honda seems to also have embraced the idea of a lighter interior with darker carpet. For instance, the color combo we want is the darker gray outside, with a very light, almost bleached looking grey inside. But it has charcoal/black carpet, which is nice, because it won't be all dirty and nasty after a few years. I am not a fan of the material headliner though. Nothing wrong from a quailty standpoint, I just favored the old vinyl roofs because they were easy to clean. I am not sure how you would clean that stuff, although it does seem more "high end." In terms of most other current offerings in the category, it puts them to shame. The new Camry seems especially shoddy in comparison, since they typically were so close.

The functionality of the interior is all Honda, and honestly, the bitching about the cluster of buttons is overkill. Within 5 minutes, I was operating everything without an issue. They are grouped logically, and are large with large lettering and feel differentiation molded in. That makes it LOOK really complex, but honestly, it isn't any harder than having to cycle through several options on one button like the 03-07 requires. They both work well with a little bit of adjustment. You will also see more of it as makers struggle to integrate new features, but still keep everything simple.

The steering wheel is small, and the variable ratio steering is completely transparent, but makes the car feel responsive. Cornering is flat, moreso than in the 06-07 (which was easily the best handling stock Accord to that time) and the ride/handling tradeoff seems a little better sorted than the 06-07. They ride well, but sometimes on rough pavement, they could get a little choppy. Most other cars would be riding like crap too, but hey, if you can get away with not, then why not? This might be partly due to the change from 16"-17" tires in 06, because the 04 was just as firm, but not quite as harsh. The 08 basically merries the firmness with the lack of harshness, so that was a step forward. The 2002 V6 was still the smoothest riding Accord we have owned, but it wanted to roll over all the way onto the mirrors at the first indication of a turn, so overall, I wasn't real happy with it either. The Camry excels at being a granny mobile. The Accord does the same mission, but with a much better degree of harmony and involvement. The 2002's problem may have been the smallish tires for the weight, and it could have been the softer suspenders. I couldn't find any super good areas to test the difference in road noise out without driving a ridiculous distance, but from what rough roads we could find, the 08 did a good job of quieting noise. Perhaps that would change, I don't know. That is one area where the 06-07 was not as good as the 03-05, although most Accords have always gotten noisier on rough pavement.

The trunk is roomy, but my biggest complaint is that it is odd shaped. It still has gooseneck hinges, but if I remember, they retract into the trim plastic, so they don't interfere with the loading. The floor though is flat in the middle, and arched sideways and foward on both sides. I am pretty sure this is a result of Honda bringing the frame rails up above the floor pan, to improve noise and aerodynamics, but the tradeoff was in the odd shape of the trunk floor. Other than that though, it is large enough (not class leading) and useable. That I would have to spend more time with to see if it is a huge minus or not.

Stereo seemed about the same in terms of power as the 06, but the clarity was better. Probably because they now include a seperate subwoofer, at least in the EX V6 models, although I think the EX 4 cylinder has it as well.