2018 Honda Accord Powertrain Prototype REVIEW
Channel: Premium Cars
Date: 09/01/2018

A highly camouflaged 2018 Honda Accord prototype is circling Honda's high-speed oval at its Tochigi test center, a short Shinkansen ride from Tokyo, and doing its best to replicate the bullet train's impact on spectators. There's no warning. No "I think I hear it approaching." No exhaust trumpet sneaking ahead announcing its pending arrival. Nothing. There is only the lightly rustling of leaves, a particularly annoying crow and then 1.2 seconds of fury as a 10th-generation Honda Accord prototype breaks all of the wind somewhere near 130 mph. There's a sharp gasp and the young woman to my left is wide-eyed and staring at blank space where a car used to be.  This is not the traditional way a carmaker reveals that it's eliminating a beloved naturally-aspirated 3.5-liter V6 and replacing it with a potentially lower-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. But every once in awhile a show of force is required to show the world you can still throw down.  "No. Never in the last five years." Junji Yamano, chief engineer and leader of Accord development, confidently tells us when asked if a V6 was ever really on the table for his new midsize sedan. Through a The engine and transmission are nearing the final stages of completion, but the interior, exterior, and suspension seen here should not be taken as anything like production-ready. Considering that, we'll only talk for a moment about these things and focus on the motor in a minute.  From the outside, this Accord prototype looks longer, wider, and lower than the current car. Through the camouflage tape, the LED headlight assemblies look thin and angry. The hood looks lower than those found on almost any other production car in the post pedestrian-crash era. Finally, while it could be the camo, there's an elegance to the profile here that we think is owed to that low hood and what looks like a pushed-back dash.  Inside was a sea of, yup, you guessed it; camo. The only thing we can definitively say is that there is a ton of room on the inside. You've got excesses of height and width to work with in there that some other midsize sedans have lost as dashes, chunky door panels, and center consoles started sliding into our space.     Finally out on the track, the Accord performs almost exactly as we'd expected it to. Though we were told not to focus on it, we can't help but find the steering to be exceptional for the class. It's light on center yet requires no thought to stay in the lane and has no slop. Honda engineers admitted that behavior was one of their primary goals. The engine itself is less exemplary; it just feels, pulls, sounds and acts like every other modern turbocharged four-banger paired to a many-geared transmission.  From a dead stop with lots of pedal pressure (50-100 percent), the Accord absolutely moves. It puts you back in your seat an inch while staying sewing