There are no vibrations or awkward resonances and the engine’s internals feel remarkably inertia-free – there are certainly harsher and less refined petrol engines on the market. The Accord’s also makes a unique sound. Instead of a typical diesel chunter there’s a surprisingly loud belt ‘zizz’. It’s not intrusive, but different enough to make an Accord diesel recongisable by ear alone.
Honda has beefed up the five-speed gearbox to cope with the torque. Although it can’t match the snappy delight of the petrol models, it’s still a remarkably light and accurate shift movement for a high-powered diesel.
Our touring figure of 51.1mpg compares favourably with the 47.3mpg that the 320d achieved during our group test. The Accord unit is at the forefront of modern ‘clean’ diesels, too. A CO2 figure of 143g/km – ahead of the 153g/km of the 320d – puts it into the lowest tax band of 15 per cent tax and, being Euro4 compliant, you’ll avoid the three per cent surcharge normally put on diesels. It will stay in the lowest band until 2006, a year longer than the BMW. It even costs less to insure than most of its rivals, being only group 12.