Performance Review

Cars, like houses, are never fully known until they're inhabited. Er, driven. But you get my drift. Only after repeated and extensive interactions are the strengths and weaknesses of a car (or house) ever known.

So after six months, I feel fairly qualified to comment on my Accord Sport sedan.

The good:

The 2.4 liter, four-cylinder engine is a joy. At 189 horsepower, it's not going to challenge an Alfa-Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. But unlike the troublesome Alfa, it works. Which is kind of nice. What good is 503 horsepower when it's sitting in a service bay at your local A-R dealer?

And while the Accord's torque peaks at a typically Honda-ish 3,900 RPM and horsepower at 6,400, its ample horses are easily accessed. Throttle tip-in is very smooth, with no hot or cold spots in pedal travel versus acceleration.

In a mix of highway and urban driving, the Accord reliably returns 34 MPG. That's dropped off a bit with the onset of winter temps here in the Land of Lincoln, but still laudable given the Accord's robust sense of git.

Continuously variable transmissions (or CVTs), don't enjoy sparkling reviews in car magazines. They are called uninvolving, vague and mushy—none of which imparts a feeling of precision and connection. And I was skittish until I drove one.

But I have to admit the unit in the Accord is surprising. It shifts smoothly and responsively, without the hunting the transmission in my sixth-generation Accord was prone to at low speeds.

The CVT equivalent of passing gear comes quickly and decisively, moving the 3,342-pound car with authority. I have yet to encounter a situation the Accord's drivetrain couldn't handle. Which, when you think about it, is a kind of safety feature.

Ditto a good suspension. The assembly responsible for keeping each of the four tires squarely and firmly pressed against pavement plays an enormous role in your car's driveability. The Accord features MacPherson struts in the front and a multi-link set-up in the rear.

I haven't had an opportunity to push my current Accord the way I did my '99 LX coupe, which is how it goes when you move from a sparsely-populated state to the nation's third most-populous metropolitan area.

I feel the additional three-hundred pounds the newer Accord has put on and miss the four-wheel double-wishbone set-up employed by the sixth-gen iteration. That car felt light and tossable in a way the new one doesn't quite match.

At the same time, the ninth-gen edition doesn't suffer from the wind and road noise its predecessor did. Pick your poison.

Taken on its own terms, I don't see the ninth-generation's suspension provoking any complaints. The steering is responsive, if not overly communicative. The car feels planted and secure regardless of road conditions and speed.

Interior room is excellent, and is made additionally so by the multiple configurations offered by the ten-way power driver's seat and tilt and telescope steering column. The dashboard isn't quite as intuitive and uncluttered as the six-generation's, but is nevertheless ordered very nicely.

I purposely avoided higher trim levels festooned with driver-assist tech, so I can't comment on the Honda's navigation system. But the functions contained within the Sport's infotainment unit are easily understood and accessed.

And if someone as tech-weary as I can sync his phone to the Bluetooth function without exasperated sighs, think of the stress-free fun you'll have. 

Furthermore, with eight cupholders, two power outlets and a USB port, it's unlikely you'll go unentertained—or thirsty.

The bad:

With a wife suffering from reduced mobility, the wide door sills in the Accord make ingress and egress more difficult than it should be. On the glass-is-half-full side, I'd like to think the thicker doors offer more in the way of side-impact protection.

The wiper stalk is largely hidden behind the steering wheel's cross-member and a paddle shifter. But even if it weren't, choosing an appropriate setting is far from the no-brainer it should be.

Instead of rotating a piece mounted on the stalk to the desired setting, the current lay-out asks that the driver move the stalk downward through multiple wiper speeds. Beyond the fact that they are not visible, the indents that should inform the driver of each setting are vague.

In a word, using the wipers is a pain. And when conditions turn suddenly, this is not a good thing.

Speaking of indents, the one separating normal window-down function from 'express' is discernible only to surgeons and classical pianists. No matter how lightly my fingers tread upon the driver's-side window switch, I too often end up with a portal to the outdoors when all I wanted was a sliver.

Finally, the switches for the door locks and power windows are only illuminated on the driver's door. Granted, this is a trifling complaint. But the entry-level '06 Nissan Altima I drove previously paid its passengers this nicety. Why couldn't the class-leading Accord?

So there you have it: the good, the bad and the not-so-ugly.

I would enthusiastically recommend the 2015 Accord Sport Sedan to just about anyone. Its mix of performance, reliability, utility, comfort, economy and value is hard to beat.

It's ironic that just as sedans have become so incredibly useful and multi-talented they're being crowded out of the marketplace by crossovers and SUVs which don't carry people and their stuff as efficiently as a van nor drive as well as a car.

Makes perfect sense.

But they're fashionable. Sexy. And like women and high heels, the motoring public will slavishly endure their shortcomings to remain in lockstep with the prevailing style.

At the risk of dropping off Mr. Blackwell's best-dressed list, I'll take the sedan. And more-specifically, the Accord. That's my sport utility vehicle.