Woo hoo! OMG! We’ve got a 6-speed here folks! While I have in the past gotten really excited about vehicles that come with steering mounted paddle shifters, it’s always nice to see a media car with a good old manual stick shift. Yes, while I was also going giddy over the manual transmission, I was busy grumbling about how the Accord came in Orchard White Pearl. It was a fun week driving the Accord and no so fun trying to keep the car clean as the spring roads in Winnipeg can turn a newly washed car dirty again in a matter of minutes.
I have always had a strong affinity towards two-door sports coupes. My first coupe was a Toyota Solara and upgraded to an Acura 3.2 CL shortly thereafter. Sitting in the Accord Coupe EX-L brought back the joys of driving a manual stick shift. Even with all the advancements in vehicles that offer electronic manual shifting, nothing beats the feel of hitting the clutch and up/down shifting. The shifting in the Accord Coupe was quick and responsive. I was definitely in heaven. Under the hood, the Accord Coupe comes with a 3.5L 24-valve SOHC i-VTEC engine and cranks out 278hp at 6200rpm and 252lb.-ft. of torque.
Just like my Acura CL, there’s not much space in the rear which serves more as storage space for big bulky winter parkas and gym bags. My hockey back barely fit in the rear trunk and my hockey sticks were relegated to resting in the front passenger cabin. While not entirely practical, the Accord Coupe is a one-person hockey vehicle. The leather interior is comfortable and touch controls are within easy reach. The large knob and touch screen displays make changing navigation and audio controls easy and painless, even with large bulky winter gloves.
One of the neat features in the Honda Accord, which caught me by surprise was Honda’s new blind-spot camera. The camera is activated automatically when you engage your right turn signal or it can be toggled by pressing the end of the left steering column lever. The camera displays the blind spot on the centre dashboard screen. For a good stretch as I drove along Bishop Gradin Blvd, I kept my right turn signal on just to watch vehicles come in and out of view in my blindspot camera. I only wish they had a blind spot camera for the driver’s side and I’m sure that will come in due time.
Unfortunately, Acura doesn’t make a 2-door sports coupe anymore and the Accord Coupe would be the closes thing to replacing my old Acura 3.2 CL. As far as other mid-size coupes, I could look at the competition which include the Mercedes C250, BMW 128i, Infiniti G37 and the Cadillac CTS. The Honda Accord Coupe, as tested, was priced at $35,390 and far less expensive than some of the luxury models I listed. It’s just too bad that I only have the Honda Accord Coupe for a week.
Photos by Ron Cantiveros | Filipino Journal
