Well, as some of you know, I have finally got a..... daily. It's 5/7
Here she is 2021 Honda Accord Sport with the de-tuned Hype R motor (smaller turbo) and couple other components, but otherwise 85% is a hype r engine.
I bought it given the circumstances of the current situation in the market, my driving situation for work and not rush to get a fun car down the road (which when the crazy market will end). Who knows what will happen when the time comes.
Notable features:
- It is essentially the following trim from the base model, weirdly the 1.5 sport does not come with a sunroof, while the 2.0t does. Also 2.0t comes with the 10 speed auto.
- Heated seats
- Auto AC
- Wireless phone charger (or should I say warmer)
- typical honda safety features that I typically
of cause I can damn sure drive the okinova cruise chip, so I don’t really need it.
I bought the car last Friday and went to NYC the following day, so far I have done 900 miles already.
Here are my impressions so far:
Exterior:
- I’d say it looks just right, the LED lights are 5/7.
- No need to say anything else since these things are pretty much everywhere.
- Got the factory lip spoiler, which is
Interior:
- I’ve been in a few previous gen accords before, and needless to say, it does look and feel pretty damn upscale (basically anything you usually touch).
- I feel like the cockpit is proportioned nicely.
- Did I mention, plenty of room for activities? precisely. Those who saw me know how tall I am, I can sit behind myself with 5 inches of legroom to spare.
- Strokeable materials on front (except for the lower part of door panels where your knees touch) and hard on the rear door trims. Not like brittle plastic like older hon-duh’s.
- Huge cup holder, perfect for big gulps (it is made in Ohio after all).
- Lots of center console storage
- Small glove compartment
- Seats are quite comfortable, barely got any fatique on the roadtrip
- Seats are part leather and vinyl, leather is on the bolster parts whereas vinyls is kind of like a thick racing stripe. Overall good quality.
Cockpit/Dash
- Starting with the cluster, the speedo is analog (pre-historic) while the tach is digital (but looks analog). It has the center part where you can check your speed, mpg, etc. (atleast with the VW’s). But it only shows speed in digital reading, speed limits, cruise and so on, but not anything else.
- In order to see mpg’s, audio, driving assist features, etc. etc. (again in VW, they’re typically in the middle screen), you pretty much press home and don’t see the tach and it can stay that way to monitor the range/mpg if you like.
- I also had the HRV as a rental when I bought this, the infotainment head unit is perfectly designed, super simple to use. I have no complaints.
- Also carplay can be used via bluetooth, therefore I don’t have to plug in my phone every time.
- Like with some of the Honda’s, it has buttons for transmission. As johnny wasteful says, it is a gimmick, but I gotten used to it faster than I thought. Although with the shifter lever I’m typically used to it without looking down on the center console, but that’s obviously not the case. Also I found myself leaving my parking space a little slower due to it.
- The only part that creaks in the interior is the center storage cover right below the HU, where the wireless charger and the usb/cig lighter is. I feel like Honda could’ve made that better, but I never close that thing anyway.
Drivability
- In a sense, this feels a lot like my 04 TSX.
- Steering feel is nicely weighted, more natural. On higher highway speeds it does load up nicely, also when it corners.
- She handles pretty flat (has 235 tires), although you do feel the weight. Very easy to drive too.
- Suspension is a little floaty when you hit little bumps, bounces a little then settles. I would say not far off from GTI.
- Brakes are so-so, definitely not wax-able calipers and it doesn’t give me enough confidence to drive like
with others on the road. Fair bit of travel on the engagement point on the brake pedal, kinda spongy.
- Drive modes are eco, normal, sport. I believe the normal starts at 2nd gear from the stop. Eco, self explanatory, just delays the throttle response. Sport feels exactly like my DSG GTI. Unlike BMW and VW, Honda has nailed the Sport mode gearing and shifting down. Instantaneous downshifts the second you touch the gas. Sometimes even gradually slowing down, it downshifts where it sits at 2.5k RPM, essentially preparing for me to drive like
- It is an excellent roadtrip cruiser. Because of the 10 speed, I can cruise 80 mph at 2,000 RPM’s.
- Speaking of RPM’s I can definitely concede the gearings are shorter compared to the GTI. This feels slightly faster than a stock GTI. Small story time: I was on the highway, the people in front of me going around 35-40, but the left lanes were open, at that point I was too tired to be stuck behind those slowpokes that I pressed sport mode, gave a moderate throttle, within 3 seconds she flies to 80 mph. I have never gotten past 4.5k because of break in, so I can’t speak about hammering down or a 0-60, etc. But the whole powerband is very torquey, pulls like a freight train.
- Ride quality is pretty good, no where near as jarring as the GTI. However, the car does have 19’s, but has more tire compared to the hype r. A little softer than the GTI
Things I love:
- In contrast vs. with the GTI. In terms of comfort, space, and using piss donkey 87, while retaining the power, handling (in some extent) the Accord 2.0t is an upgrade.
- I would say this is the perfect blend of performance, comfort, for a pretty good price for what you get.
- Gobs of torque.
- It’s an accord, so unlike in the GTI, I won’t have fuckboys in their shitboxes to race me off the lights.
- It is quite a sleeper.
- Great highway cruiser
Nitpicky things I disliked:
- wireless charger is pretty much useless, it only charges my phone for good 20-30 seconds, then stops
- That cheap storage cover right below the AC controls, it’s creaky when you open and close, almost feels like you can break it. I barely touched the thing anyway.
- With the carplay, whenever I skip/pause music, it takes about 1.5 seconds to comply.
- Some of the driving aids can be a little jinxy (I turned them off anyway)
I am happy with what I have currently, I can say it’s a very good accord, but it’s not exactly what I would call sporty, it has a few characteristics in driving, but those don't cover enough. Yes, the car can take some spirited driving and capable of bombing on ramps. In between sit right in the middle of a boring midsize sedan vs .GTI.