Cross-border raids into Wales and Scotland with the long-term Honda have demonstrated the good-looking Accord estate’s virtue as an accomplished long-range tourer.
Over the past 2000 miles, much of them spent on motorways, the 2.2-litre diesel engine, six-speed manual gearbox and good aerodynamics have combined to ease up to 47mpg and raise the accumulated 6400 miles average to 43mpg.
This improvement involved harnessing an intuitively operated cruise control system on less cluttered motorways, although even twitching a right foot towards the brake seemed to cancel the speed setting.
The Accord’s spacious cabin is not the quietest driving environment compared to Ford‘s Mondeo or the Citroen C5, with high levels of tyre noise and a raucous clattery exhaust note under hard acceleration.
It is compensated for by a genuinely ‘premium’ sound system and ample, comfortable seats, which shampoo up rather nicely after an accidental dousing with hot chocolate. Oops.
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