Honda Siel introduced The Accord 2.3 VTi MT is a long car. Honda is amazingly light on its feet and responds easily to your inputs at the wheel. The chassis doesn’t pitch at all and displays impressive straight line stability. The design is characterised by the typically large front windscreen, wide bonnet and slender pillars, it’s the clear, multi-lamp headlight cluster that gets your attention. The large rear tail-lights look distinctive and stand out of the conservative shape. A deeper airdam with fog lamps and generous skirts would have improved the looks considerably as would alloy wheels which are surprisingly not standard fitment. Instead, the Accord comes with steel wheels with smart wheelcaps.

With the increase in size Honda also found it essential to improve torsional rigidity, which they claim is 25 percent better than the outgoing model. It uses thicker gauge metal and extra cross members in the floor. As a result, the Accord feels pretty solid with virtually none of that typically tinny Japanese feel. And yet, Honda has managed to control the weight of the car which at 1380kg is light for a car of this size, the light engine a contributory factor.

The suspension system of the Accord is also impressively specified. A large-diameter front spring improves ride and the roll centre of the front suspension has been lowered in an effort to reduce understeer. The front suspension also uses a very effective upper wishbone to control wheel movement through its travel. The Accord’s five-link rear suspension is bolted to a highly rigid subframe that helps the suspension arms locate the wheel even better. The Indian version of the Accord uses a raised suspension, with spring and shock settings being carried over from the Thai version. Disc brakes with ABS all round is standard.

The interiors are again typically Honda, extremely functional and logically laid out but devoid of any design flair. It has an eight-way power-adjustable seat and a tiltable steering wheel (which doesn’t telescope). It’s extremely easy to find a driving position you’re comfortable in the large front seats which have all the bolstering in the right places. Unlike in the City, the central console which has two storage bins doesn’t foul with the elbow during gearchanging and the overall ergonomics are superb with the steering wheel and instrumentation well located. A big disappointment however was the feel of the light/wiper stalks which are similar to the City’s. They feel flimsy and out of place in a car of this class.

The climate control system is brilliant and temperature can be controlled with a dial that adjusts temperature in one-degree steps. Though there are no dedicated vents for the rear seats, the air con with its generous vents up front keeps the entire cabin sufficiently cool. It was best to keep the blower speed on ‘auto’ mode as it adjusts the fan speed to suit temperature requirements in the cabin. Sound quality from the Clarion system will satisfy most audio buffs with a wide range of adjustments. The panel display is large and easy to read and a remote, useful for chauffeur-driven passengers, is standard. What’s disappointing is that Honda has opted for a built-in CD unit which only takes one CD.

A neat touch is the power- retractable wing mirrors which fold in at the press of a button. This feature is particularly useful in India where it’s safer to tuck your mirrors in and out of harm’s way from pedestrians and cyclists when the car is parked.

Cubby holes, door pockets and cup holders are found everywhere. The interiors are garnished with fake wood which looks tasteful but leather is surprisingly not an option. Leather would have added richness to the interiors, which the drab-looking beige seats fail to do. Safety features like driver and passenger side airbags and three-way seatbelts for all but the fifth passenger at the rear have been provided as standard. A large amount of insulation material has been used on the floor of the Accord and this effectively keeps suspension and road noise down to very acceptable levels. The boot is huge with massive depth and well proportioned as well to make the most of luggage space.

Honda chose to power the Indian Accord with a 2.3-litre VTEC engine borrowed from the Accord Wagon, instead of the standard 2.2-litre unit that powers the sedan in the other markets. The thinking is that for Indian driving conditions, torque and drivability are of paramount importance. The 2.3-litre engine with its additional cubic capacity and ‘undersquare’ design has been optimised more for torque than outright power.

Originally putting out 160bhp using Japanese fuel, the power of the Indian Accord has been reduced to 141bhp at 5700rpm due to a drop in the compression ratio to 8.9:1. The culprit as ever - our low octane fuel. Amazingly maximum torque of 19.5kgm is attained at a high-ish 4800rpm, just 900rpm shy of where max power is produced. The use of VTEC technology allows Honda engineers to optimise this engine for both bottom end as well as top-end performance. Drive an engine with variable valve timing and you get the best of both worlds, drivability in which to potter around the city all day and bags of power to chew up the expressway.

The Accord gets to 100kph from a standstill in 10.12 seconds, a figure that’s to be expected from a car with a power-to-weight ratio of 102.2bhp/ton. Though the engine note gets a touch harsh above 5000rpm, it’s never loud or obtrusive, especially at the rear.

Because of Honda’s choice of a larger engine meant fuel economy was bound to suffer. It gives 7.9kpl in the city and 11.9kpl on the highway. A tank of 65 litres should give a range of 620 kilometres. The Accord’s chassis and suspension are tuned so well for Indian roads conditions that it takes most of our damaged tarmac in its stride without the passengers needing to pay undue attention to the road below. The controls are light, direct and despite the Accord’s size it’s a pleasure to drive. The 2.3-litre VTEC engine is simply a marvel.

The Accord is well equipped with standard safety features like airbags and ABS. But bring the substantially cheaper and better equipped top-of-the-line Sonata into the picture and you feel shortchanged with no leather interiors and alloy wheels.

Filed under: Honda Cars in India