There’s a danger that one of Honda‘s best cars is about to be overshadowed by its most significant.
While everyone is focussing on the new Insight hybrid, the Japanese brand is in the process of launching the impressive Accord Type-S.
As with the Civic Type-S, the Accord features sports styling on the outside, stiffer suspension and a high level of equipment. But unlike the Civic, the Accord Type-S also gains an increase in power. The 2.2 diesel powering the Type-S produces 180PS, up 30PS on the standard car.
This power hike gives Honda a true rival to the higher-powered diesels in this sector.
Fleet managers and business drivers will also appreciate the tiny change in fuel consumption and no change in emissions at 157g/km, which comes into the 22% benefit-in-kind tax bracket. The fuel figure drops to 47.0mpg from 47.9 for the standard 150PS version.
Driving the Type-S instantly reveals the increase in power, even though the 0-62mph time on the estate only drops from 9.6 seconds to 9.2 seconds. It is just what the Accord needed to enhance its prestige feel, and the extra power and shove available from very low in the rev range means you need to change gear less often to maintain progress.
The stiffer suspension does alter the car’s ride in a negative way, but the Accord was so good to start with that the now fractionally hard ride is easily acceptable for the improvement in the car’s steering.
It’s not just on twisty roads that the steering feel is improved, and the Type-S suffers none of the motorway vagueness we’ve experienced with our long-term Honda Accord sitting on standard suspension.
The overall result is that Honda has quietly produced its best user-chooser car yet.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
