Euro style strikes Accord

The Euro is the car you get when the only person you want to impress is yourself. First, it has a hint of racing car in its design. Second, it drives with a sense of solid quality. Third, it is wow powerful. I could go on ...

Satnav Steve knew it was a man's car, too. He has such a lovely voice, so calm. He tells one where and when to turn. But he is not talking to a woman driver. If he knew the first thing about women, he would know that we never, never, ever use the Britannia roundabout if we can help it. And yet he was hell-bent on directing one to that piece of rotary hell. I just had to defy him. Repeatedly, because he just kept on suggesting alternative routes to the roundabout. He was decidedly stubborn. But I loved him, anyway.

He provided the easiest satnav system I've yet encountered and I used it constantly, even to go to the corner deli. Anywhere but the Britannia roundabout.

As for the Euro, it will go anywhere. It hums in the city and purrs on the open road. It loves the open road as much as I do. But, unlike me, it loves climbing hills. Would you believe I had to tell it to slow down on Willunga Hill?

The acceleration is divine. And so is the way in which, when one brakes on a down slope, the engine moves into the appropriate gear and keeps the car from speeding downwards. How thoughtful is that?

There are other pleasures – such as being able to click the boot open as one approaches the car with the shopping, and the dual airconditioning, and the radio controls on the steering wheel, and the six-stacker CD, the rain-sensitive wipers, the night-bright new-tech HID (High Intensity gas Discharge) headlights and the uber-comfy leather seats. They even have their own heating, which I was disinclined to test when the dashboard thermometer showed the outside temp as 34C.

It is easy to get used to the power and comfort of this vehicle – however, it is not so easy to find the cup holders. They are not the car's best feature, tucked in the console and requiring some ingenuity to liberate. And there is something of a shortage of storage cubbies.

But these are girlie fripperies – and the Euro is a serious car for discerning grownups. Which, I guess, is why I loved it.

LOVE IT LEAVE IT

Honda Accord Euro

Price: $45,500

LOVE IT

The power

The comfort

The road holding

The aircon

Steve the satnav voice

LEAVE IT

Crumby cup holders

Shortage of storage nooks and crannies

Head-bump front doorways