Beneath the English Gentlemen Facade, There Beats the Heart of an Athlete

A recent visit to CarDirect.com reveals an interesting phenemenon. Bimmers and Benzes, for some reason, are selling at huge discounts. I've been a car nut for close to 20 years, and I have never seen anything like this. In the heyday of the tech bubble, yuppies paid thousands above MSRP for these German ponies. Now, one can be had for $3000 below invoice. What the hell is going on?

I am sure a lot of BMW fans will want to hang me on a stick for what I am about to say, but here it goes: It is my belief that the reason why German luxury cars are having difficulty moving off the dealer's lot is because the average family sedans have gotten so good, there is little value in paying a premium for the expensive Germans.

There. I've said it. Somebody needs to say it.

To support my bold statement, I offer the 2005 Honda Accord as evidence. A car so good, paying more for a sedan would be considered a fallacy.

I took delivery of my brand-new Accord Absolute in January of this year. The "Absolute" trim moniker is exclusive to Taiwan. Essentially, the "Absolute" is a US spec'ed LX with a few minor additions. Chief among them are chrome grille inserts, AVL anti-theft system, and front parking radar. There is, however, a minor difference between the engine offered in Taiwan and the one offered in North America. Here, we get a 2.0 litre unit, where as people get a 2.4 litre State-side. There is only a ten horse power difference between the two, although I suspect the 2.4 litre might have torquier response at low-revs.

Over all, the interior of the '05 Accord is a comfortable place to be. The seating is leather clad. It's good leather for sure, although it's not Jaguar calibre stuff. The driver's seat is firm, with enough power adjustment options to ensure that every driver can find a comfortable driving position. The lumbar support feature sure is nice thing to have for those long trips. The center console does the neat trick of sliding forward to give the driver a good armrest, and it doubles as a storage compartment. Also included is a wire to attach your cell phone to the car's audio system to enable handfree operation.

Drivability has always been Accord's trademark, and the '05 model continues the tradition. For the record, I owned a third generation Accord from '89 to '01, during which time I logged 200,000 miles on it. As I drove the new car off the lot, I must confess I was a little disappointed. For starters, the '05 car has grown quite a bit in size, and the "big glass" feel of yore has diminished by a great deal. The view out is still fantastic, but there is no longer feeling of sitting in the cockpit of an F-16. The interior, although comfortable, feels less intimate. At first glance, the link between the car and the driver's cerebellum is not as tight as the old car used to be.

Due to the increase in heft and size, the car simply feels bigger. Compared to the old car, steering effort has increased markedly at parking lot speeds, which is not a compliment. For a moment there, I thought I was driving a Toyota Camry off the lot (I wrote a review of the '98 Camry on Epinions).

The feeling gradually diminishes as the car is put to its pace on the streets. Fighting Tapei's rush hour traffic doens't tax this car, as the driver has a good view out to all angles, so the driver doesn't feel blind as he squeezes in and out of crowded lanes. The steering is quick and direct, with no discernable dead zone or numb spot. The steering gain is linear and progressive, so making minute manuevering adjustments to slip in and out of gridlocked city streets is a cinch.

The watershed event that totally changed my initial impression happened a few weeks later, when I drove the car on some mountain twisties. As I drove faster and faster through the winding road, it finally dawned on me what a wonderfully fun car this is. When you take this car into a turn, it complies in a way that can only be described as composed. The pitch and roll is controlled and minimized, and through the subtle feedback through the steering wheel, the driver is always aware of how the tires are doing. This kind of road behaviour inspires confidence, as if the car is saying to you "I can take this. Give me more!". A few years ago, I drove a Bimmer 740i through Santa Cruz's mountain twisties, and I can tell you that the big expensive Bimmer didn't do a better job cutting through a winding road.

Is there understeer? Yes. But I say it's "good" understeer. What's so good about it? Well, all front wheel driver understeers; that's just the nature of the design. The kicker with the Accord is that the understeer comes in progressively, so it's perfectly predictable. Underless you overcook things very badly, it's unlikely that the understeering nature of this car will sour your driving experience.

The transmission definitely deserves a mention. The five speed automatic is a huge improvement over the 4 speed from the past. The old 4-speed has a nasty habit of not knowing when's the proper time to downshift. That's no longer the case with the new one. Aside from obvious benefit of having one extra gear ratio to channel the engine's power, this new gearbox has some neat trcks in its bag. For one thing, grade control logic is employed here, so if the car is running uphill, it will select a lower gear. If you are rolling downhill, get this, it will also select a lower gear for engine braking. Will it select the right gear after you exit a nasty turn? You bet.

The highway behaviour is equally impressive. Cabin quietness has never been Honda's strong suit, but with this iteration, Honda has finally exorcised the demon that is wind noise. Road noise is still there, but just enough so that you know what's going on with the tire. Thanks to the five speed tranny, the engine spins at 2200rpm at 100kph. In short, this car can cruise just as quickly and quietly as any other car short of a Lexus LS430.

Car & Driver tested this car, and the conclusion was "Sedan perfection, unclouded by emotion". There is something to that line of thinking. But I would contend that beneath the English gentlemen facade, there beats the heart of of an athlete. Sure, the Accord LX won't burn rubber (although if you opt for the V6 Coupe with standard, it could), and it won't pull an obcene amount of Gs at the skidpad, but once you let it loose, you will be rewarded with a driving experience that is both reponsive and satisfying. BMW once termed their products "The Ultimate Driving Machine". Maybe they are that. However, at this point, it seems that The Power of Dreams has matched The Ultimate Driving Machine.

And it's a lot cheaper, too.