Road Test

Your say

Honda Accord 2.2 i-DTEC EX GT

Test date Wednesday, May 14, 2008 Price as tested £26,765

For Outstanding refinement, excellent ride quality, construction quality

AgainstPoor room in the rear and boot, messy ergonomics, limited performance

The Accord has been a Honda staple for more than three decades. Launched in 1976 and arriving in the UK a year later, it is now in its eighth generation and remains as much a stalwart of the Honda line-up as the Civic. In that time it has been seen with two, three, four and five doors (not to mention a much-missed Type R). Honda hopes to sell around 10,000 new Accords a year once the estate version comes on stream in September.

The outgoing car might be five years old, but even by modern standards that’s a short model cycle, and the car has aged so well that not even the market has shown any sign of losing patience with it. Indeed, 2007 was one of its best sales years ever.

But replaced it has been – not with the subtly facelifted model its maker could so easily have got away with, but, with typical Honda thoroughness, an entirely new car.

As seems the way of all flesh these days, it’s bigger in almost every significant dimension (although the old car was an inconsequential 5mm taller). It’s heavier too, though model for model the weight gain has been restricted to a few dozen kilos.

As before, there are 2.0-litre and 2.4-litre petrol engines which have been mildly modified, but most sales will head in the direction of the 2.2-litre diesel. It’s superficially similar to the outgoing oil-burner but, Honda’s engineers assure us, has received such comprehensive attention that it deserves to be thought of as new.