Inside & Out: 
Buttons. Lots of buttons. And surfaces, there are lots of those too. You've got to hand it to Honda, though, because it's managed to make an art out of this fussiness. Maybe because there's an air of technicality about it all, of deliberate complexity, but the Accord's cabin is actually rather cool. Learning what all the buttons and switches do forms a unique sort of bond between the Honda Accord and its driver, and it quite quickly becomes intuitive. The way the low-set driving position seems to enclose you could teach a few sports cars a thing or too, as well.
The Accord's exterior has a similar sort of multi-faceted busyness to the cabin's, but one that, again, finds harmony. This is a butch, knowingly manly sort of saloon - a low and wide chunky looking thing. We like it, even though there's really nothing to make it stand out in the company car park. For a £28,000 saloon, that could be a problem.
Ride & Handling:
The Honda Accord does everything right, but does so in a rather anodyne fashion. In making it comfortable, the engineers have stripped away a level of driver involvement. It's frustrating because the car is so obviously capable. The suspension absorbs the worst potholes (and does so in a noise-free fashion) and the car has crisp steering and taut body control around corners. It's a lovely combination, and one the majority will appreciate, but it's just not dynamic in the typical Honda way.
The expectation of the car as a sporty saloon is raised because of its sunken driving position, perfectly placed metal pedals and raised gear stick, when in actual fact the motorway is its natural home.
Engine & Transmission
The Type S model is something of an idiosyncrasy: it's the most expensive Honda Accord yet not the most powerful - that honour goes to the 198bhp i-VTEC model, which you can't get in Type S trim. However, for the Type S, Honda has squeezed an extra 30bhp and 22lb.ft from the 2.2-litre i-DTEC engine found across the range. This one has 178bhp and 280lb.ft.
It's clearly Honda's go at bridging the gap between your average diesel rep-mobile and the BMW 320d M Sport
et al. This diesel engine is effortlessly powerful, and the gear linkage beautifully smooth through the gate, but there's so little drivetrain drama that the car doesn't quite feel as quick as it should do.
Whereas BMW's four-cylinder diesel engine encourages revs and fizzes you to the limiter in quite a smooth, non-diesel sort of way, the Accord feels like it has a whopping great old-school oil burner chugging away under the bonnet. It's all muffled and damped as though encased in cotton wool, so it's not loud, but it runs out of puff in the mid-range. There's no benefit in pushing it hard, so you'll be working through the gears at quite some rate.
Equipment, Economy & Value for Money:
As is the Japanese norm, everything bar the bells and whistles is thrown in as standard. It gets leather upholstery with electronically adjustable chairs, 18-inch alloys, a body kit, dual-zone climate control, Bluetooth, auto wipers and lights, a top-end stereo and cruise control.
However, its 48.7mpg falls short of the economy on offer by a good few rivals now, and 154g/km means £155 per year in tax. Compare that to the £30 per year of the
178bhp Saab 9-3 1.9 TTiD.
And at £28,000 it's a mere £1,000 or so cheaper than the BMW 320d M Sport, or the same as a 318d M Sport. Of course, spec those cars like-for-like and it'll widen the gap significantly, but for us that is still too close.
