Price as tested: €39,465
+ Immensely satisfying in almost every way
– Messy cabin layout, needs better Co2 performance
= Buy one, keep it forever
A warm sense of quiet satisfaction. That’s the best way we can describe the feeling that comes over you as you slip behind the wheel of a Honda Accord, in this case the latest sporty Type-S with its uprated 180bhp 2.2-litre diesel engine. There are very, very few cars in the world that can hold a candle to the Accord in terms of its engineering excellence and its build quality, and you can feel that as soon as you click open the handle, sigh onto the seat and clunk the door behind you. It feels built. To last.
OK, we’re not blind to the Accord’s few shortcomings, and we’ll get to those in a moment, but I can honestly say that, when presented with the chance of an Accord test drive in the past, many supposedly more desirable and certainly more expensive cars have been shunned in favour of time with the Honda.
What makes it so good? It’s a little hard to explain, actually. It’s not the price. At €39,465, the Accord Type-S is slightly more expensive than a BMW 320d SE, albeit somewhat better equipped, but is also only a little cheaper than a BMW 520d SE, which is equipped to a more or less similar level. That’s a very tough middle ground to occupy and that will make it hard, we suspect, for Honda to attract ‘floating voters.’
Still, if you are of the right mindset, there is a major benefit to the Honda over the more vaunted Germans, and it goes something like this. Give an average bloke a couple of grand to spend on a high end watch, and he will almost certainly make a beeline for Weirs and pluck a shiny Rolex, Breitling, TAG Heuer or Omega. Fine watches all, but it won’t be long before said bloke finds out that those glorified brands have issues. Issues of quality, of reliability, of servicing.
Meanwhile, someone given the same amount of money but who has bothered to learn something about what they’re buying will go instead to the Seiko counter, purchase an expensive, but still more affordable, model and live a long and happy life secure in the knowledge that they have bought the, objectively, superior timepiece. That’s what buying an Accord is like.
OK, so the cabin’s a mess. Too many buttons by far and a confusing menu system that must be followed on the sat-nav display. But there are upsides. The main instruments are clear and crisp, the seats wonderfully comfortable and the quality levels simply off the scale. Space in the back is decent, if lacking in under-seat space for taller passengers to stow their feet.
Ahead, much work has been done on the long-lived 2.2 iDTEC diesel engine to raise it from 150bhp (a version that remains on sale in more affordable Accord models) to the 180bhp of the Type-S. It’s still a very fine engine, if one given to bouts of growly, grumbly tickover. Very smooth at speed though, and with the extra power (and 380Nm of torque) you will really notice the extra thrust relative to the 150bhp version. It mates very well with the beautifully weighted six-speed manual gearbox (why bother with an auto when the manual is this good?) although some drivers felt that the gear lever itself was too narrow and delicate in feel.
Claimed economy of 5.6-litres per 100km feels about right to us, although we haven’t yet had a chance to test that over a long timeframe, but Co2 emissions of 147g/km are disappointing when you remember that the larger 5 Series is now well on its way to Band A emissions.
Chassis wise, the setup is a bit of a compromise between sporty and comfortable and not always an entirely ideal one. Certainly, you’ll never feel especially ruffled or have cause to gripe about the Accord’s rolling refinement or its ride quality, but on the big 18” Type-S alloys (gorgeous though they are) and with its too-light speed-sensitive electric power steering the Type-S can occasionally feel both too disconnected from what’s happening below and yet still too firmly sprung for the worst of Irish roads. Stick to reasonably smooth surfaces and you’ll never find this out; the Accord is wonderfully sure footed. But get on to a more corrugated surface and it will sometimes feel out of sorts, oddly enough, something that the cheaper Type S 150bhp Accord, with its 16” wheels simply doesn’t suffer from. In fact, we’d say that the 150bhp actually has the superior chassis balance overall, even if it does lack the 180bhp’s extra oomph.
But these seem like minor flaws indeed when you click, sigh and thunk back behind the wheel again. Here’s the ultimate litmus test of the Accord’s character; if you told us, car critics that we are, that as of 9am tomorrow, we would be driving nothing but the Accord (no more Ferraris, Aston Martins, Porsches etc etc) I don’t think we’d be especially disappointed.
Facts & Figures
Honda Accord 2.2 iDTEC Type S 180bhp
Price as tested: €39,465
Price range: €30,875 to €42,250
Capacity: 2,199cc
Power: 180bhp
Torque: 380Nm
Top speed: 220kmh
0-100kmh: 8.8sec
Economy: 5.6l-100km (50.4mpg)
CO2 emissions: 147g/km
Road Tax Band: C €302
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star adult: 86% adult, 79% child, 54% pedestrian, 86% safety assist
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