Honda Accord 2001 Review

Times are tough at Honda. After seven boom years, when it added a string of impressive new models, led by the rampaging CR-V, and banked the sales increases, 2001 has been a bust for the Japanese carmaker.

Sales are down and Honda has just had one of the most turbulent staff shake-ups in its Australian history.  The new Civic has resisted the trend, but still hasn't clicked completely with small-car buyers. The the Accord is also standing firm, following a minor facelift in March.

But life is only going to get tougher for the Accord, which is sliding into $50,000 on-road territory and some predatory new rivals, including the all-new Audi A4 and updated VW Passat.  Even its closest direct competitor, the Nissan Maxima, is tougher today than in the past. The only bright spot is the failure of the locally made Toyota Avalon to snaffle space in the prestige scene -- or ace any Accord sales.

Honda says an all-new Accord is still a long way down the road, which means today's car is going to have to work hard to maintain its place and sales rate.  That's why Honda rolled-out an updated model this year, making leather trim standard on all three versions -- a four and two V6s -- and putting a new nose and alloy wheels on the cars.

The biggest changes were actually hidden, as Honda engineers went all-out on a noise-reduction campaign by including everything from liquid-filled engine mounts and additional sound-deadening in the tail end to a rubber mount for the fuel line and a wire clamp for the automatic gearbox.

Honda also fitted its latest airbag system, which has an "intelligent'' control that responds to the severity of a crash.  The car looks a little fresher, but it is still only a minor upgrade at a time when Honda's rivals are rushing out all-new models almost weekly. Renault will soon have an all-new Laguna II, Alfa has big plans and BMW keeps tweaking its 3-Series family to put extra value into the cars.

Accord prices open at $38,900, an essential price point it meets with a four-cylinder motor and manual gearbox. The fully-loaded V6L is now $52,900.  It's a long way from the original position of the Accord, which has been a building-block of Honda business since 1977, when it first appeared as a three-door hatchback.

Today's car is so much bigger and so much more refined that only the badge is the same. The 2001 Accord probably has more in common with the original Legend luxury flagship.

Driving

THERE'S nothing not to like about the Accord.  It is comfy, roomy, gets along pretty well and is one of the best-built cars on the road today.  The test car, a V6L, proved the point by giving fault-free service for a week. Not a single squeak.

It had been a while since I'd driven an Accord, and that car was a four-pot, so it was interesting to see how it had developed.  The '01 car definitely looks fresher, but the basics are the same as they've been since December 1997 and it would be easy to walk past it.

The cabin is roomier than I remembered, and the now-standard leather is good, but it's splashed over seats that don't provide much support. They're big enough, and the V6L has electric adjustment, but they aren't particularly comfy and they're set so high it's tough to get a comfortable driving position.

The car gets along fairly smartly, as you'd expect with 147kW on tap, but that's still 10 down from the slightly sportier Maxima. The best thing about the Honda's engine is its seamless surge of power, right from idle to the redline.  The automatic gearbox is nothing special, but does the job well. There's no touch-change ``manual'' control, but that's not what you'd expect in an Accord.

The ride is smooth and well damped, even loaded, and cornering grip is fine. It's no sports car, but it's usually the seats that give up before the Michelins in a turn.

Living with the Accord is easy, helped by a six-stack CD player set in the dash and impressive auto air-con, but plenty of other cars come with similar equipment for the same money -- or not much more.  And that's what's going to eventually hurt the Accord.

It's a vanilla car in a country where more and more exotic flavours, from Audi and VW and BMW and even Mercedes-Benz, are being waved under the noses of new-car shoppers.  The Accord is still a very nice, superbly built car. But nice cars don't finish first these days.

The bottom line

3/5

Good points: Beautifully built; swish V6
Bad points: Costly; uninspired
* A drink-of-water car. It quenches your thirst, but isn't very tasty

Honda Accord V6L

Price as tested: $52,900
Engine: 3.0-litre V6 with overhead camshafts and fuel injection
Power: 147kW at 5600 revs
Torque: 265Nm at 4700 revs
Transmission: Four-speed automatic, front-wheel-drive
Body: Four-door sedan
Dimensions: Length: 4795mm, width: 1785mm, height: 1455mm, wheelbase: 2715mm, tracks: 1555mm/1535mm front/rear
Weight:1454kg
Fuel tank: 65 litres
Fuel consumption: 10.7 litres/100km
Steering: Power-assistedrack-and-pinion
Suspension: Fully-independent front and rear double wishbones with stabiliser bars
Brakes: Four-wheel anti-skid discs
Wheels: 6.5x15 alloys
Tyres: 205/65 R15
Warranty: Three years/80,000km

Rivals

Nissan Maxima*** (from $36,990)
Audi A4 ****(form $47,400)
Volkswagon Passat*** (from $45,900)
Mercedes C-Class*****(from $51,800)