2013 Honda Accord

Frankly, the current Accord is just plain uncompetitive when put side-by-side to some the newer competition. The good news is that the new Accord in goes on sale on September 19 of this year in sedan form, October 13 in coupe form, early next year in plug-in hybrid form, and the summer of 2013 in conventional hybrid form. I've got a ton of information to cover, so here we go. 

Midsize sedans' fuel economy has just absolutely shot up in the past two years or so. The Accord sedan with the base four-cylinder is rated by the EPA at 27/36 city/highway miles per gallon, and the Accord V-6 is good for 21/34 city/highway miles per gallon. The new four-cylinder Accord betters the current one by 3 miles per gallon in the combined rating, not bad, but not as good as the class-leading Altima's 27/38 city/highway miles per gallon. 

The mechanicals behind the improved fuel economy is the new, direct-injected 2.4-liter mated to a CVT transmission. The powertrain is ridiculously named "Earth Dreams." The four-cylinder comes in 185-horsepower and 189-horsepower flavors, with the extra four horsepower on the Sport trim level coming from a dual-exhaust system. The V-6 puts out 278-horsepower and 252-pounds-feet of torque. It comes with a 6-speed automatic on the sedan and an optional 6-speed manual on the coupe. All the new-engines' output don't stray beyond a few horsepower beyond the outgoing Accord's engines, except that the four-cylinder's torque is increased by 20 pounds-feet of torque to 181. 

The exterior styling on the sedan to me is a relative miss. The headlights recall newer Lexus models, the rear is pure 2009 Hyundai Genesis, and the car overall looks somewhat awkward. At least visibility is improved with bigger windows and slimmer A-pillars, and it certainly is designed better than the current Accord. 

The interior is familiar, yet new. It gives off a more premium aura, which is no surprise since it seems to borrow Acura's interior styling language a bit. There's also less buttons in the center, there's a standard 8-inch touchscreen, and standard automatic climate control. And even though exterior size has shrunk by a small margin, the interior specs are up slightly. Keep in mind that the current Accord has exceptional passenger space. The new Accord's trunk space is bumped up to 15.8 cubic feet in the sedan, and 13.7 cubic feet for the coupe.

The base trim level is is the LX. It comes fairly well-eqipped with aforementioned automatic climate control, an 8-inch touchscreen, cruise control, and power controls. Next up is the Sport, which has the more-powerful four-cylinder, an 8-way power driver's seat, automatic headlights, and some other features. The EX has a blind-spot warning system, a sunroof, and more. Finally, the EX-L and top-level Touring sit at the high end amongst the trim levels those are fully-loaded with either standard or optional leather, more safety electronics, a rear-view camera, LED lights, and more. Those are the trims for the sedan, but the coupe only loses the Sport and Touring trims. 

In other news, the Accord Hybrid is coming back. No other information has been released, but from the pictures you can tell that the trunk is smaller from the lithium-ion battery pack, and that the front end is overly cartoonish. The plug-in Accord hybrid can run on battery power for 10 to 15 miles, and should get over 100 MPGe, about the same as the much-easier-on-the-eye Fusion Energi. 

That's the summary of changes that should put the Acord back in the playing field. Stay tuned for pricing.