New ACCORD now launched!!!!

Honda Siel Cars India has finally launched the 8th Generation Honda Accord in India, eight months after the global launch of the car. The new Accord comes with 80 mm more length and 25 mm more width, with 8% improvement in fuel efficiency. The Honda Accord is the only car in its segment to be equipped with a five-speed automatic transmission and manual transmission with a unique 'paddle shift' option which could be operated using F1-racing inspired paddle switches.

The heart of the Honda Accord is the advanced 2.4l i-VTEC engine that delivers a power of 180 PS which is more than the outgoing Accord. For safety, the car has 6 air bags with Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) body.

Apart from these, its interiors include eight-way power seat adjustments with lumbar support, tilt and telescopic steering wheels, an advanced audio system, with a central multi selector USB port.

The auto maker has sold 16,000 units of the model, since the introduction of Accord in India in 2001, and is rated the number one premium car & SUV manufacturer in the country.

The new Honda Accord will be available in three types - Accord 2.4, Accord 2.4 Elegance and Accord 2.4 Inspire. The price of the vehicles starts from Rs 16.49 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and go up to Rs 18.14 lakh.

Separately, the company said that it will review its sales target of 90,000 units in the country for the fiscal 2008-09 in view of the "unpredictable market conditions”. The automaker had said earlier that it would sell around 90,000 cars in 2008-09 in the country.

FIRST DRIVE REPORT OF NEW ACCORD!

The eighth-generation Accord, like with every successive generation, has grown in size and is now reaching E-class proportions. But it’s not the Merc that the Accord wants to outdo, but the Toyota Camry. In India, where the locally-assembled Accord has a huge price advantage over the imported Camry, the fight is pretty much one-sided. But in other parts of the world, especially the United States, these two Japanese saloons have been trading punches for years and the game of one-upmanship continues with every new model.

Of late, the Camry has been giving the Accord a hard time, but Honda hopes that its 2008 model, which is substantially bigger and better in every respect than the previous one, will leapfrog its arch rival. It’s important to understand that in the United States, the Accord is to Honda what the Alto is to Maruti. Besides, America is Honda’s most lucrative market. This makes the Accord Honda’s most important model and hence the might of the company’s R&D is well behind it.

Thousands of engineers sprawled over the huge Tochigi facility have worked tirelessly to develop an-all new model in an astonishingly short four-and-something years. And if you think about it, Indians too have benefited from Honda’s manic efforts to shorten lifecycles to keep the Accord as fresh and uptodate as possible. The new model will mark three generations since Honda launched its flagship in India in 2001. In a market where cars refuse to die, such rapid model changes seem unnecessary, especially since the current Accord is already the top dog in its class. But that’s not how Honda thinks. This is a company that wants to stay ahead of the game and deliver a pre-emptive strike, which is exactly what the new Accord will do. To drive home the point that the new Accord shares nothing with its predecessor, it looks completely different. And it’s all the better for it. When I first saw pictures of the new car, I dismissed the shape as too Sonata-like. However, up close and in the metal, the new chiseled look is a huge improvement over the soft contours and generic lines of the model we know so well. The thick nose and larger dimensions make it look more grown up, but it’s the edginess in the styling that really characterises the new Accord. The trapezoidal grille, the sharply-cut and raked headlights and the flared fenders with the wheels puffing out of them make the older Accord look puny in comparison. A prominent crease that extends across the sides adds to the new Accord’s muscular stance and taut looks but it’s the rear that Honda, after years of trying, has finally got right. The older Accord had a frumpy-looking rear end with its rectangular

tail lights. this was followed by triangular lenses as part of the face-lift, lookspretty co

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the new Accord is significantly wider, longer and taller than before and looks a class bigger. The wheelbase is longer too and this bodes well for passengers inside who are treated to substantially more interior space.

Like with the exteriors, the interiors are a considerable step up from the old Accord and that’s saying something, as the earlier car’s interiors were pretty impressive to start with. But you can instantly see how much forward Honda has taken the game. All the materials feel far better to touch and the interior design too is far more attractive.

The multi-layered dashboard flows into the door-pads in one seamless sweep. The steering wheel, with its metal spokes, looks quite techie and the shifter is a sleeker unit as well. The centre console has the same V-shape of the older car but the layout is completely different. The display in the new Accord has been shifted higher up, the idea being to reduce eye movement. However, the sea of buttons that surround the big solitary knob can be quite daunting. I preferred the less cluttered stack of the earlier car with its rotary controls for the air-con. There are lots of cubbyholes like before, so storing odds and ends is never a problem. Another convenient touch is the relocation of the door locks, which have moved from the rear edge of the front door, by the window, to inside the recess of the door handles.

However, the big news is the masses of space which makes you feel like you’re seated in an auditorium. Five large-sized adults can sit comfortable in a way no other car in this class can match. The front seats are huge and wide, with generous support, but in some places there is too much of it. Lumbar support, irrespective of the setting, is a touch too firm and the seats would have been perfect if this was softer. the rear seats are quite comfyand outdo even the E class. not only there are masses of headroom and legroom but the seating position is superb, we critisised the older Accord for coruched and slightly knees up seating position but its lot better in this one!

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Powering the new Accord is a pair of new petrol engines — a 2.4-litre 4-cylinder and a 3.5-litre V6. The base 2.4 is similar to the older Accord’s motor, but it’s been tweaked to produce 177bhp, which is 35bhp more than before. This engine continues to use Honda’s proven i-VTEC technology, but the performance gains have essentially been achieved by improving gas flow in both the inlet and exhaust manifolds and using a variable-valve silencer. Honda’s four-cylinder motors are known for their smoothness and ability to rev, and most of my laps around the oval at Tochigi were spent in the upper regions of this engine’s rev band. The responsiveness of this engine is superb, even when it’s mated to a five-speed auto ‘box. It’s so smooth that it’s hard to believe it’s a four-cylinder.

On this vast track it was difficult to put the new 2.4 Accord’s performance in perspective but in the real world (read Indian roads), this lively motor has ample power to make the V6 pretty much pointless. But not if you want a silky-smooth and effortless driving experience which only this creamy engine offers. If the four-cylinder is smooth, the 268bhp V6 is velvet and, coupled with the thumping 22.3kgm of torque, the 3.5 Accord glides forward effortlessly.
Even better news is that the horrific fuel consumption, the key reason why the current V6 bombed, could be a thing of the past. The new V6 comes with cylinder de-activation or Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) in Honda parlance.

What this does is that depending on the load, the engine can run on all six, four or even just three cylinders. The idea is to cut off the supply to those cylinders when they don’t need it. The tricky part here is to counter the vibrations when the engine switches to either of the fewer-cylinder modes.

Active engine mounts and an active noise control system come into play to make it as smooth as running on all six. The VCM system is so smooth, it’s hard to tell the number of cylinders you’re running on. Honda claims this is the first time such a system has been introduced in the Asian market.

More impressive than the engines is the Accord’s handling which is instantly noticeable, even though are no twists and turns on this track. The steering is incredibly responsive and direct and car enthusiasts can rejoice that it no longer has that light and disconnected feel that makes the current Accord feel a touch vague at high speeds.
An imaginary slalom in the new car showed how much quicker the steering is (20 per cent more than before) and there’s virtually no play around the straight- ahead position. The front and rear suspension has been redesigned, while the engine and fuel tank have been lowered to keep the centre of gravity down. In fact, the floor has been lowered by 15mm to benefit handling but in India, this could pose a ground-clearance problem, much like the Civic faces today. And this is why we can’t wait to get our hands on the new Accord back home for the true test on our roads. But that won’t happen until mid-2008, when the first Indian-made Accords find their way into showrooms.

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This car is E10 (10% ethanol and 90% unleaded petrol) compliant too!! That means on top of all the features & improvements over the previous Accord, this is more eco-friendly too. The photo's are absolutely a delight.

I wonder what would happen when Honda introduces the new Accord with the I-DTEC diesel engine? The likes of Camry, Superb, Passat would have to do a quick rethinking.

 

the Diesel would mean the HONDA will be having more profit , which means the superb will be nowhere near the league and so is the passat! camry doesnot come with a diesel engine! but the syling of the new accord isnt that too good , but ok good! lets hope Honda gets in thier diesel engine for this Wonderful ACCORD and also upcoming city and Jazz!

Cheers,
Sri

Hi Sri, Add to the features you mentioned, I believe this car has electrnic brake force distribution and variable sensor based airbag deployment and a sensor that detects occupant height and position for deploying side impact airbag. The Body seems to have taken some architecture from the current civic and has a real strong layout with lots of parts made of Advanced high strength steels. Also the Apillar is thinner to help visibility.

Most of my comments were read out of the website. I have seen this car in person a few times. However, I am yet to test drive. In person this car doen't look as good as the pictures suggest, but that is what everyone said when the current BMW 5 series was introduced.

so KK planning to go for this eatuy , i bet this is faar better advanced car and at competetive rates , its pricing is still around 16.5 lakhs EX showrroom for te 2.4 base varaint , which means you would get this hot beauty for around 18 lakhs or so ( MT)

SO what are u gonna decide ??

Cheers,

Sri

I agree. There is no equal at that price range.

Hey, what part of Mangalore are you from. I went to Aloysius for PUC a long time ago...

By the way great job on your description of the car.