BUCKING THE TREND

Honda's Accord Tourer is unashamedly sleek and stylish. If you need a boxy utility vehicle, best look elsewhere. Andy Enright reports

Main Article

Honda benchmarked the BMW 3 Series Touring in the development of this Accord, but then most manufacturers benchmark BMW. It's how close they come that matters. The centre of gravity of the latest Accord is lower, the track across the axles is wider, body rigidity is improved and variable rate damping and revised multilink rear suspension also assist agility. A quicker ratio steering rack also features. These are all solid improvements but none are ground breaking. The Accord differentiates itself from the opposition in other ways.

If you were expecting a state of the art loading system at the back of the Accord Tourer, you may well come away disappointed. Load space is actually reduced by some 14 per cent compared to the outgoing car and the rear suspension also intrudes at the sides of the floor, robbing the Tourer of a clean, square bay. The tumblehome - the amount the side windows angle inwards - is also quite marked. The exterior isn't going to shock too many customers. The latest generation is lower and far wider, has a more aggressive, hunkered down stance, and more pugnacious wheel arches. The V-shaped front grille and sculpted headlamps give the Accord some serious rear-view mirror presence and the Tourer's rising window line gives it an edgier, more dynamic look.

The cabin has been improved, ridding the Accord of the rather reedy, lightweight feel of older versions. The dashboard extends from the centre console to sweep around the front seats, giving the Accord's interior some character. The dash features floating backlit instruments with an LCD information screen housed in the middle of the speedometer dial. The dash could use a central controller to rid it of all the buttons though. Honda has spent a big proportion of the budget on the front seats, being at the same time more supportive and better able to dampen vibration.

The Honda Accord Tourer range is priced from around £20,000 and kicks off with the entry-level ES model. The version that most customers will buy, the ES GT, comes after that - which includes 17-inch alloy wheels, half-leather seats, cruise control, aero kit, sports suspension and climate control. Meanwhile, EX grades come as standard with DVD sat nav, Bluetooth hands free telephone, full leather seats, electric/heated front seats, rear parking camera and a premium 6CD stereo. Continuing Honda's quest to bring E-sector advanced technology to lower segments, Honda's hi-tech ADAS Pack is available as an option, adding Collision Mitigation Braking (a first for this D-sector), as well as Lane Keep Assist, Advanced Cruise Control and HID lights. Comparing prices? Well, model for model, you're looking at a saving of around £2,000 on a comparable Audi A4.

Honda's ace in the hole with the last Accord was its high-tech equipment and myriad of options that sounded as if they'd just rolled straight off the floor at the Consumer Electronics Show. This version is no different. The Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) and Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) are just a couple of acronyms to get you started. Then there's that optional ADAS system, at its best when combined with the Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS).

While British car buyers have become accustomed to hearing manufacturer assertions that their latest generation engines are more powerful but at the same time more economical and cleaner, Honda's can't claim a clean sweep on that score. A combined economy figure of 50.4mpg for the i-DTEC Accord means it's a couple of miles per gallon thirstier than its predecessor, but it is more powerful and the car it's propelling is a good deal larger. Besides, 50mpg is a very decent return, the benchmark car in this sector, the BMW 320d Touring, not quite managing this despite its EfficientDynamics measures.

The i-DTEC diesel engine is claimed to be so clean it meets the US's stringent 'EPA Tier II Bin 5' emissions standards with out requiring special (and expensive) modifications such as the NoX-reducing urea injection system that Mercedes needed to fit to its US-bound Bluetec diesel engines. This, however, translates to carbon dioxide figures of 148g/km which are relatively mediocre. By contrast, an Audi A4 Avant 2.0 TDI SE, a car Honda likes to benchmark, emits a markedly superior 128g/km and the BMW 320d Touring the same 128g/km. Honda is clearly off the pace in this one key area.

The overriding question with this car is that if you're buying an estate car for style purposes, do you buy one with a Honda Accord badge on the back? I would expect that most style-conscious buyers would prefer something with a premium German badge on it and be prepared to pay more for the privilege. That's not to denigrate Honda's technical achievement with the latest Accord in any way, merely to ponder for a moment their understanding of buyer dynamics. The Accord Tourer is smaller but better to drive than its predecessor, helped by a great diesel engine. Its styling will do it no harm either.

In the final assessment, Honda is campaigning in a market sector that some others have abandoned. It sits midway between mainstream cars like 407s and Mondeos and the premium compact executive models like the Audi A4 Avant and the BMW 3 Series Touring. It's a car built around compromise. A worthy and interesting car, but one that's not perhaps as focused as it could have been.