Team-BHP - Seventh Generation Honda Accord

Honda Accord 10k Report

Hello team, our Honda Accord will soon be completing 10,000 KM. So On this occasion I thought I would write a small report.

Background

Before Honda Accord our family car was Opel Astra, which did its job perfectly for 8 years. There was nothing wrong with car (which is now mien) but we needed new family car.

Requirements from car

As this was going to be a family car, the basic requirements were that of good comfort, brand image, safety, reliability, handling & performance. As this was family car & was mainly going to be used occasionally FE was never considered as criteria.

Options available

We needed higher segment car than Opel Astra. Recently D segment has been full of choices unlike previous. Following were options apart from Honda Accord
• Mercedes C class : It was thought at first, however we all felt that it will be a big jump from Astra, so would rather take one step at a time, so C class was ruled out.
• Toyota Camry: Not a real fan of this cars looks.
• Hyundai Sonata: Again brand image issues. (No offence to existing/soon to be Sonata owners)
• Opel Vectra : I like this car very much (apart from its performance) however at time of choice GM customer support in Pune was horrible with only one showroom & that too was very bad. I get Astra serviced from mechanic who was previously Service Manager at GM service centre. He is very good at his job, however as Vectra comes with lots of tech goodies if any fault would have occurred our mechanic would have been unable to sort it. And also there were rumors of GM discontinuing Vectra. As we did not wanted to have 3 cars out of production (Matiz, Astra & Vectra)
• Ford Mondeo: It was never considered to be honest.
• Skoda Octavia RS : Its name had came up however it was ruled out as it isn’t exactly D segment car and also due to rear seat comfort.

So off we went to get test ride of Honda Accord. There is only one showroom of Honda in Pune (Deccan Honda). After test drive were all impressed by the car. And choice was done there & then. It was going to be 4 cylinder model. Manual transmission was decided as it was to be mainly used by me or by driver when on long journeys. (I have been into automatic version as passenger & I did not felt any lag in gear change)
Color option was never an issue as we all wanted to go for black color.
As car was to be bought on company name it was not booked then & there. After couple of day car was booked. Amazingly at the time of booking there was 45 days of wait period, however sales person told us that they had a car in transit at that time & if we were to book it same day he would deliver it within 8 days. I guess being corporate customer came in handy. (Booking date 2nd November, delivery date 10th November)

Exteriors

Everyone knows about how it looks so no need to talk about it.

Interiors & Comfort

Interiors of the car are of very high quality and fit & finish is also very good. This is requirement in this segment of cars. However interiors has fake wood, and there is no alternative either. At the time of booking I was not very keen on fake wood however now getting used to it I can’t think that anything else would make it look any better.
The music system has in-dash 6 CD changer. And it only plays Audio CD’s & there is no option of either changing music system or upgrading its software to support MP3/WMA format either. However for a person like me who doesn’t have much knowledge about music the sound quality is very good.
All the controls are very nicely laid out and are easily accessible to both drivers & passenger. Central armrest is sufficient only for one person. AC controls are bit different & they took some getting used to from Astra. It also comes with climate control which does its job perfectly. However it does not have outside temperature display.
The car has nicely illuminated dials, which illuminate once you unlock, there is a complete sequence for it (for more information click on http://www.whatahonda.com/accord/sty..._ledpanel.asp). However at night time driving on dark roads, dials tend to be little bit distracting, so I have them always set at 25% intensity.
Leather quality is good, and seats are comfortable in front, however at rear seats lack under thigh support, which may be uncomfortable for tall people. Rear seats also have central arm rest which is wide enough for two people, has cup holder. Also with rear arm rest down you have access to boot. Front passengers have map reading lamp, similar is for rear seats. Also both the front sun visors have mirror & light which is covered with a flap. Open the flap & light gets illuminated.
Steering is adjustable, and is very comfortable over long journeys. It also has integrated stereo controls. V6 model gets cruise control too but not the 4 cylinder model. Seats are fully adjustable and also have lumber support. All pedals are well placed & there is dead pedal too.
From drivers seat visibility is good however you really can not see front & rear end. This might create at times, especially when parking & I recommend parking sensors for this car.
Ride quality is all around good. But at low speed ride is a bit bumpy however once the speed is increased ride quality is very good.

This car comes with very few but essential tech goodies. And this is good thing because then when driving you there is nothing to distract you from the joy of driving and you can concentrate fully on driving part.

Engine

It has 4 cylinder iVTEC engine. It is very refined engine. At around 4000 RPM you can feel sudden burst of torque which throws you back into your seats. However car red lines at 6500 RPM which is little earlier than OHC VTEC. I usually shift up at around 3000 RPM & drive between 2000 – 3000 RPM. Which is good for city driving as well as for highway cruising.

Handling & Performance

Car handles well in city condition, steering is light and there is lots of grip. However as you increase speed steering get harder. There is no issue of torque steer. At high speed you can feel little bit of under steer. There is no issue of body roll. And grip is also very good.
Performance is also very good. I have managed top speed of 170kmph on complete empty road. Car could have easily gone more however I wasn’t very comfortable at those speeds so did not tried it.
Car feels solid as those speeds. Some people might complain about “feel” but that isn’t case. It has good safety rating & comes with ABS & Airbags which gives me “secure feel” Just because car is light weight does not mean it is unsafe at high speeds.
This car is big in size however at speeds above 60kmph it doesn’t feel that big, it feels nimble.

Fuel Efficiency

Have not tested Fuel Efficiency yet, so can not comment.

Accessories

Car comes fully loaded, however recently we got parking sensor fitted which I would recommend to all current/future Accord owners. This is a must have for this car.
As all of you might know that maintaining black car spotless is a big job, so I have also purchased car cover to keep it dust free.

All in all a very good car, and is definitely recommended to anyone who is seriously thinking about C++ or D segment car.