2008 Honda Accord

Welcome to the Driving Range with Dave Jordan - Your Auto Guide to the South Shore of Nova Scotia. All you need to know about Nova Scotia's South Shore Auto scene.

This week, Dave Jordan checks the 2008 Honda Accord:

As I stepped outside on the eve of our first fall snowstorm I walked with trepidation toward the 2008 Honda Accord, wondering if I should venture through the slushy roads to pick up my daughter and friends and deliver them to their desired destination. "Oh well," I thought. "It will be a good test of the car's foul-weather capabilities." The all-season tires concerned me, however. Well, folks, I’m happy to say that we made it in one piece. In fact, I was amazed at how well this new Accord handled these appalling road conditions. Thanks to traction control and ABS, there was not a tire misplaced throughout the journey. Hill climbs were a breeze and stopping was uneventful. Technology is a wonderful thing. Just think of what this car would be like with winter rubber underfoot! Thanks to Bridgewater Honda for the opportunity to test drive this great new arrival.

The heated leather front seats were a welcome feature on this cold, blustery evening as was the ability to find a comfortable seating position thanks to ample support in the lumbar, thigh and lateral areas and the multi-function tilt/telescoping steering wheel. Thankfully, usable headrests topped off these fine chairs. My kids commented on the ample back-seat room with three-abreast seating accomplished with no squirming required.

The sweeping dash design is very attractive and available with either faux wood trim or aluminum accents, the latter being the case with my tester (and preferable to my eyes), which complemented the black interior theme nicely. Ergonomics are top-notch as expected with all climate, audio and information centre controls easy to access and decipherable without having to read the manual. On that note, the Accord is equipped with Honda's Maintenance Minder system that monitors your driving to automatically determine when service, such as oil changes and tire rotations, is required. Material quality is first rate with excellent fit and finish apparent. Comfortable best describes the overall ambiance when inside the Accord.

Safety is a mantra at Honda engineering, where they go to great lengths to ensure every vehicle they produce is built with an abundance of active and passive safety measures. Case in point are the six standard airbags including the rear passenger-side impact units and Honda’s Occupant Position Detection System (OPDS – auto manufacturers love acronyms) that will not allow the front-seat passenger bag to deploy if a child or out-of-position occupant is present. Also on tap are stability control to automatically correct any over or under-steering scenarios, a tire-pressure monitoring system, an innovative body structure design and, of course, ABS with Electronic Brake Distribution.   

I immediately liked the styling of the '08 Accord the moment I saw it, even at first glance in magazines and on the internet. The car looks even better in person. The exterior design is a complete departure from the previous generations with no distinguishing characteristics carried over. The front end in particular carries a much more aggressive grill, fascia and air dam treatment with the grill sporting a new chrome-surrounded three-bar design with the trademark stylized Honda "H" prominently displayed in its centre. Sharp-looking wraparound headlights and stylish bumper treatment round off the Accord's new face. A strong distinguishing character line starts aft of the front wheels and wraps around the upper trunk edge of the conservative yet attractive rear end. Overall this is a handsome, and from some angles – front three quarter – very sporty looking vehicle. My Accord’s green metallic paint over black leather was a nice combination. Eight other exterior and three interior colours are available to choose from.

The family sedan market is the most competitive sector of the industry in North America, if not the world, so improved cosmetics are not enough to keep existing customers coming back or to entice potential newcomers to buy. The car has to drive well and the Accord accomplishes this most important of requirements in spades. The independent front and multi-link rear double-wishbone suspension provide the Accord with flat, stable cornering while delivering enhanced control with minimal body roll. Adding to the Accord's athletic behaviour is its Variable Gear Ratio (VGR) steering system. This system provides precise on-centre feel at high speeds with greater vehicle agility in the corners and increased low-speed manoeuvrability, when parking, for example.  The four-wheel disc brakes are very effective, are easy to modulate and exhibited no perceptible fade during my test run. The heart of any vehicle is its drivetrain, of course, and with this newest Honda three possible engine choices and two transmission options are available – yes, you can purchase an Accord four-cylinder with a five-speed stick – depending on which model you purchase. The base engine is a 177HP four (LX), with the same 190HP high-output four of the Civic Si available (EX, EX-L) as well. My car was the top-end EX-L V6 equipped with the refined yet potent 3.5 litre, 24 valve i-VTEC engine. This wonderfully smooth power plant seems docile, almost luxurious when driving around town or cruising on the highway, but when called upon for passing manoeuvres or quick getaways this V6 pulls strongly, generating impressive acceleration numbers. The five-speed automatic has a dual personality as well, shifting almost imperceptibly under normal driving conditions but downshifting quickly when passing and snapping up through the gears when called upon to accelerate aggressively.

If you are considering a new Accord with a four-cylinder engine to try and attain superior gas mileage, and if most of your driving is highway related, then you may want to rethink your strategy. The very efficient V6 will cost you only 2/10ths of a litre more per 100 km (6.5 versus 6.7) and roughly 1 L/100 km during city driving (9.9 versus 11.0). One of the reasons for these exceptionally frugal numbers is Honda’s new Advanced Variable Cylinder Management (Advanced VCM) system. Depending on whether you are accelerating, cruising or idling, this innovative system activates or deactivates the engine’s operating cylinders from six- to four- to three-cylinder mode to deliver maximum fuel efficiency. A little ECO icon displays on the instrument panel when activated. Technology is a wonderful thing.

Options abound, of course, with even the base model fairly well equipped with the likes of AC, power group, keyless entry, cruise, a decent audio system with steering-wheel controls, all of the aforementioned safety features plus more. Leather, a Nav system, fog lights, dual exhaust, power roof, Bluetooth and a multitude of upgrades in many other areas are available or part of the higher-end trim levels. $25 G’s will get you an LX, with the top-line EX-L V6 requesting about 40 grand from your banker.

There are vehicles that do some things well some of the time. A well-designed, well-executed vehicle will impress with its cohesiveness, its feeling of all things working in concert with each other creating that impressive driving experience. The new 2008 Accord is one such car. Well done, Honda.

Dave’s Auto Archive – In 2001 Honda reached another milestone, selling its 2 millionth vehicle in Canada.