![]() 07/24/2017 at 10:56 • Filed to: Honda Accord | ![]() | ![]() |
2018 Accord 2.0T Sport 6MT via Motor Trend. This is pretty much my dream interior. I really hope they keep the price from going too crazy. The current Sport is right around $25k, and the V6 starts at around $31k on the EX-L, so I expect the 1.5T Sport around $26k and the 2.0T a bit under $30k. If this thing hits $27-28k with the 2.0T, it’ll be very hard to not trade in my car.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:01 |
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Die, tablet glued to the dash BS! Die a horrible death!
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:03 |
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That looks pretty good!
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:04 |
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Right, because this interior layout looks so much better.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:06 |
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I’d rather have that.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:07 |
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That interior does look like a nice place to be. I love that nice meaty steering wheel. And the fact that Honda finally realized that perhaps an infotainment system without any physical buttons/knobs is a bad idea.
If I HAVE to nitpick, I don’t care for the shape of the shifter ball. It doesn’t look too comfortable. Also, where’s the gas pedal? I count, from the left:
1: Dead Pedal
2: Clutch pedal
3: Brake pedal
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:07 |
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I know taste is subjective, but the older interior looked like a mess. The new one is much better.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:07 |
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First they kill the V6. Then they kill the coupe. Now they made the interior awful. Next thing you know they’re going to kill the manual transmission.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:08 |
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If its at 27-28k, I’m buying one come 2019
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:11 |
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volume knobs!
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:12 |
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Seriously....if they insist on doing this, then at least make it something universal like an iPad that could be upgraded every few years, as needed. That’s basically what the aviation industry does now.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:13 |
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![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:23 |
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It’s a Honda, you can swap in a shift knob from any of their products made in the last 20-30 years.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:24 |
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Nah, this one is okay. Docked ones are fine, it’s the Garmin stick on that’s worse:
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:24 |
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Honda is killing it lately. Also, look at the cutout on the armrest for the cupholder. They’ve solved one of the biggest problems of the modern era!
Or, that’s common and I’ve just driven lots of cars with shitty cupholders.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:25 |
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Agreed, there isn’t a bad line on the interior. Honda’s back on its game. Plus, they finally, FINALLY got rid of the hideous red Stop/Start button.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:27 |
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Those lower corner knobs make it look suspiciously like an Etch-A-Sketch.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:30 |
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Praise the lord!
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:34 |
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The chrome window trim still makes me itch though.
This was my attempt to make it a little less itchy.
I think the rear 3/4 view is just particularly bad for the chrome trim, and also it looks bad on that light colored car.
This seems less itchy.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:36 |
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I know it’s a little thing, but my FIL has a CR-V with the touch slider thing and it is so terrible. Watching him fuss with it at red lights is painful. I don’t think that the losing the volume knob is as big of a deal as that the system they replaced it with just sucked. There needs to be a way to do a quick swipe to get make a big volume change akin to grabbing and turning a knob and it just can’t.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:38 |
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You know, I’ve driven a few cars that have these dash-topping tablet things now (Mazdas and BMW’s mainly), and I’ve stopped minding them. It looks silly from a distance, but in the driver’s seat it makes the dash seem less bulky.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:41 |
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The auto industry will never allow that, because they want you to trade the whole car in for a new one. What it does seem to allow, though, is easier mid-lifecycle changes. It’s easier to upgrade to a bigger/higher-dpi/brighter/whatever screen for the next model year without retooling the dash this way.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:45 |
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It’s just the perspective of the shot - the gas pedal is hidden by the center stack, but it should be in the normal place. I like the shift knob, and think it looks pretty good for a stock one, but I get where you’re coming from. Should be pretty easy to swap in a ball-shaped one if that’s your preference.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:46 |
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Yeah, it actually does...
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:46 |
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Interestingly, the cup holders are totally relocated vs. the automatic, requiring a different armrest:
That’s a lot of dedication to the manual from Honda!
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:47 |
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I just don’t like it. I think it looks decidedly tacky. And yes, the inability to change anything about it bothers me a lot. I’d be willing to admit that as the primary issue I have.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:48 |
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They’re all bad, and all annoying.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:49 |
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Oh god, what has been seen can never be unseen.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:51 |
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They always just look like the entire “infotainment system” (a term I despise) was tacked on as an afterthought to me, though.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:51 |
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That said, this is the first Accord I’ve ever thought looked pretty good from the outside.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:51 |
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I’d argue that the current Civic coupe is more in the spirit of the CB/CD/CG Accord coupes that the one that got axed was, but point taken. I think this interior is a huge improvement and getting back to the great simple yet high-quality Honda interiors of the 90's - mid 00's. And they will kill the manual if we don’t buy any. They seem pretty dedicated to it now - heck they manual here requires a totally different armrest even - but people need to buy them.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:52 |
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Oddly enough I think the button is still red in some trims, but not the Sport.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:53 |
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I’m really trying to temper my expectations, but it is going to be hard to not buy one. The Accord Sport was at the top of my want list last car purchase in 2014, but my budget topped out at $20k. Next time around I should have a little more money and if they can keep it under $30k oh man it’ll be tempting.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 11:54 |
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Test drive it somewhere where there are bumpy roads. I had a 2011 Sport for a while and the spring/shock combo always felt mismatched to me. It was fine on smooth roads, but anything rougher would upset the car. It felt oversprung and underdamped - like a bad coil job.
And hopefully the stereo in the 2018 Sport has been upgraded. The 2011 had the absolutely worst stereo of any modern car I’ve even been in. Terrible speakers, tinny sound, poor implementation of their ANC noise cancelling system, no satellite radio, no sub or tweeters. And it really, really, just sounded awful.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 12:00 |
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I was kinda hoping they would black it out like they do on the Civic Sport hatchback, but no dice. It doesn’t bother me as much, though. I think it finally gives Honda a unique styling cue that isn’t too over-the-top. It seems like it should have the lower part you added, though - or maybe some text below it like old Subaru’s. That being said, at least they kept an actual rear quarter-window instead of just making it black plastic over sheet metal on the door. I’ll take that trade for a questionable chrome piece.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 12:00 |
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OTOH, I’ve also theorized that manufacturers could do a lot more to push high-margin upgrades by focusing on modularity. So people who want to keep their current car can refresh their own vehicle, while people who want the new car experience can choose that route. It would be cost prohibitive to “fully upgrade” an older car to the status of a modern one, but they could serve both markets at once.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 12:06 |
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I think the luxury marques could kill it with that kind of plan. Some of the MB and Lexus owners I know would have no problem paying $3k for a $250 part just to integrate it into the vehicle. There would need to be some way to upgrade more than just infotainment to really be lucrative - like planning the active safety systems to be upgraded down the line.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 12:25 |
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Exactly my thinking. People who are accustomed to dealership service prices and view a few hundred dollars here or there as just a cost of ownership, but they’re otherwise happy with the car itself and don’t want a massive change. You’re right — it’s beyond infotainment, I was thinking along the lines of what Tesla already does to future-proof their cars by adding modules or spaces for extra cameras, etc. It would take a bit more planning up front, but a lot of this modularity is already being engineered into the cars for production purposes. The dealers would probably love it.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 12:39 |
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Volvo’s current take, which I actually like (if you want to go “futuristic”). Going to see it in person tomorrow.
![]() 07/24/2017 at 13:02 |
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See? No need to glue a tablet to the dash!