REALITY CHECK

A MORE RATIONAL 2023 HONDA ACCORD EMBRACES HYBRIDIZATION TO IMPROVE WHERE IT COUNTS.

- MIKE SUTTON

TO SAY WE'RE SAD that Honda dropped the Accord’s previously optional turbo 2.0-liter four from the new 1ith-generation model—only a few short years after it axed the nameplate’s manual transmissions—is an understatement. One of our favorite models is in danger of losing its mojo. While low take rates are largely to blame for those calls, history offers additional context: Satisfying sensibleness, not heady acceleration, has been the driver of the Accord’s success over the past 47 years, 37 of which have seen an Accord on our 10Best list. Fast-forward to today’s dwindling sedan market and looming emissions regulations, and the Accord’s survival depends on electrification playing a much greater role.

You can still get a standard gas powertrain—a 192-hp turbo 1.5-liter four mated to a CVT—in the lowest Accord trims, which open at 28,390. But all mid and upper-range models, from the 32,990 Sport to our 38,985 Touring test car, now feature Honda’s updated hybrid system, which is much like the one found in the latest CR-V. A novel design with essentially no transmission, this setup combines a 146-hp Atkinson-cycle 2.0-liter four-cylinder, a 1.1-kWh battery pack, and two clutched electric motors, one spun by the engine as a generator and the other providing power to the ground. Combined output is 204 horsepower, a gain of two horses over the outgoing hybrid.