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- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 8 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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4.5 stars
"Very nearly perfect car"
Pros: Honda's bulletproof reliability, practicality, and solid fit-and-finish in a sexy, sporty package; quiet and powerful with one of the best stick shifts ever made; Easy-to-use navi; satellite radio; great gas mileage for a V6
Cons: No memory seats, CD changer doesn't shuffle between CDs or play MP3 CDs, no built-in Bluetooth capability, clutch engagement takes a little getting used to, stock tires have no grip
Summary: While I agree with a lot of the review here, I will note this is about the Honda Accord *sedan*, and the reviewer is right, that car is unlikely to get a second look. But my car is a Honda Accord *coupe* with the V6, six-speed manual transmission, navi system and all the leather and power trimmings. The coupe brings everything to the table that the sedan does - all the trimmings, the power, Honda's unmatched reliability record, etc. - but puts it all together in a sleeker, sexier package. The downside of the coupe compared to the sedan is that there's only two doors, so the back is a little tougher to get into (but still quite roomy once you're back there), and the trunk is only *slightly* smaller, but not significantly smaller like some coupe/sedan variants. If you don't really need the additional practicality of a sedan, the coupe is a fun, sexy car that gains a lot of wow factor and gives up very little in the process.
I won't re-state what CNET already covered. The navi is great and easy to use, the leather interior with all the power stuff is excellent. The engine is very quiet and very powerful. The six-speed stick is a pleasure to manage. The heated leather seats make a real difference on cold mornings. The car is very well put together, and so from every angle it looks top-drawer, on a par with much more expensive vehicles.
But it's not absolutely perfect. Only the driver's seat is power, and it lacks memory (i.e., no one-button return to all your settings if you let someone else drive). While there is an in-dash six-CD changer, it doesn't shuffle between CDs and it doesn't play MP3 CDs, which doesn't bother me so much since I prefer the satellite radio, but I could see getting old for CD or MP3 fans. You can get an adapter for iPods, but from what I've read, it only supports true iPods, not MP3 players from other makers. And there's no Bluetooth capability. Oh, and the shift knob is mostly metal (with a leather wrap around the middle) - it can take a long time to warm up on a cold day, and it's barrel-shaped, not ergonomic like in most manual cars I've driven (lacks that little lip on the front to grab onto),
In most of these cases, I can only assume the reason Honda opted to not include them was so that people would still have a reason to buy an Acura TL over a Honda Accord sedan - there'd be stuff available on the more upscale TL that isn't available on the Honda. Because honestly, the quality of the parts, the softness of the leather, the out-standing design and fit-and-finish - this car is on a par with the Acura nameplate in every other way besides those things that are deliberately missing. And it's a shame they are missing, since Acura no longer offers a coupe.
Oh, there's one other drawback to this car - it's very hard to find. Honda didn't build very many of them. But at the same time, it looks like every other Accord coupe out there from the same era - the only thing separating it visually from the cheapest I4 variant with cloth seats is the dual exhaust, the V6 badge on the trunk (red for the six-speed, black for the automatic), and special five-spoke 17-inch alloy wheels that come only on the six-speed (the automatic gets 17-inch alloys as well, but they look considerably different, as they've got closer to 15 spokes). So while it has the rare car disadvantage of being hard to find, it doesn't carry with it that rare car cache that something like a Porsche 911 would.
Oh, I dated a girl for a while who had a nearly identical Accord coupe, but with the I4 engine and an automatic transmission, and got to drive it quite a bit. If you can't afford the V6, that package is no slouch, either. The I4 is very peppy, and can be had with a five-speed manual, though the slushbox performs well in its own right. However, the V6 is absolutely the better engine if you can get it, and it still gets excellent gas mileage (only one mpg less that the I4, according to the EPA) - not a bad trade off considering the boost in power. Plus, there's nothing quite like the six-speed gearbox; it's just the best out there.
