An article in the New Zealand Herald says that since 1997 there have been two different Accords, a larger one for the NA market, and a smaller one for Europe and Japan. To quote:

The full article is at: Affordable Accord

Since our TSX is based on the smaller Accord, I was surprised to read that a smaller Accord has already been around for a while. Anyone know what this smaller 1997-2002 Euro-Japanese Accord looks like? I had previously been aware that the current body style--which the TSX and the Euro Accords share--was introduced in the Fall of 2002 as a 2003 model in Europe or Japan.

Also of interest in the article is mention of the availability of the Mugen Accord V6. I didn't realize that Mugen was a branch of Honda.

 

Here's a post of an old Honda press release...
Reading, Berkshire, June 16, 1998 --- On June 15, the European subsidiary of Honda, Honda Motor Europe Ltd. (HME: Headquarters: Reading, Berkshire, UK; President: Minoru Harada) unveiled an outline of the new European Accord models that will be going on sale throughout Europe from this autumn.

All of the new Europe-only models will be manufactured starting in July at Honda's European manufacturing facility in the UK. This plant, which acquired ISO 14001 certification in March 1998, is owned and managed by Honda of the U.K. Manufacturing Ltd. (HUM: Headquarters: Swindon, Wiltshire, UK; President: Akira Takano).

As well as many of the latest safety features, the new European Accord models also boast an improved environment-friendly profile - with better fuel economy, lower exhaust emission levels, and higher recyclability. A flexible chassis platform design ensures these Accords give both driver and passengers more cabin space than other vehicles in the same class. Combined with upgraded engine performance throughout the series, the new European Accords deliver a more comfortable and enjoyable ride.

The series-connected 4-cylinder engines fitted to the series will vary in size from 1.6 to 2.2 liters. The series includes the Accord Type-R, a 2.2-liter model with specially enhanced engine performance that will also go on sale this autumn. The line-up will be further augmented with the launch next spring of a new 5-door hatchback Accord model, the first time a 5-door version has been included in the European Accord range. Full pricing details will be released at the time of launch this autumn.

The Accord is now on sale in 130 countries around the world. With over 9 million units sold to date, the Accord is Honda's biggest single brand of car. For this particular full model upgrade, the company has developed an entirely new flexible chassis platform. As a result of Honda's regional marketing and product development policy, the Accord models sold around the world are carefully tailored to the needs of local consumers. In terms of size and design, the new European Accord models are very different to their cousins designed to serve the Japanese and North American markets.


Sedan 2.0


Sedan 2.0


Sedan Type R


Coupe

 

I remember when this article came out... it was the first true global car... something Ford escort never could achive. The platform was one of the first of it's kind (same basic platform... that could be configured to multiple sizes for different regions).

 

Thats right, europe and NA got the same accord up untill 1997, when we started getting the bigger version. Now we sorta get both.

 

Ah, Big Thanks for the press release and pictures! I had never seen these Accords before! These European-market Accords look a heck of a LOT nicer than the NA market Accords!!! From the '94 Accord onwards, Honda was losing--literally chasing me away as a long-time Accord owner (3 of them if you exclude the TSX)-- because of awkward bulgy squawky angular styling! Why does Honda feel that North Americans prefer butt ugly cars?

 

Those pictures are of the European Accord. Japan also had their own narrow version 6th gen Accord.

2000 JDM Accord Euro R




I agree with Brad, but its nice that Honda brought the Euro Accord over as the TSX.

 

The new Euro Accord became available about the same time as the TSX - around March of this year. I think most Euro Accords are built in the factory mentioned in the article while the TSX comes from Japan. The coupe you see there is actually the NA Accord coupe. It was imported into Europe (and marketed with such one liners as "Built in America"). I'm assuming that disappointing sales and the not so friendly to the eye new version of the coupe means that no more NA coupe Accords in Europe (well at least it's not listed in the '03 or '04 brochures).
Actually while they keep the name all over the world neither the Accord nor the Civic look the same in all markets.

 

Damn, that R is hot. Why don't we see stuff like that here??? If Honda really wanted a sporty image, they'd have to do stuff like that here. Alas, the car sells enough as it is...they don't need to spend the money to change anything. *sigh*

 

You can say that again! Over the past 20 years, Honda has had various permutations of Civics and Accords. Some of them look the same as what we have in NA, but in overseas markets I've seen Vigor on ordinary 4-door Accords and the Concerto (?) lable on plain 'ol Civic 4-doors.

From what I've read--which means nothing--the current Euro Accords all come from Japan. But then that would beg the question about what's being built in the UK factory...

I would have had major reservations if the TSX came from the UK unless I knew more about their quality ratings. The UK-built Acura Legend-based Sterling (late Eighties car, RIP) had horrible reliability rankings even though it was basically a Legend, save some subtle sheet exterior metal and plastic changes. Why the extreme differences between Legends and Sterlings?

The dear new Mini Cooper, also built in the UK, has very very below average rankings for reliability. Range Rover has often been an "anchor" (much worse than average) in the reliability rankings too. Fortunately, at least Jaguar has seen some improvements in recent years. When you're at the bottom, there's no where to go but up...or out.

 

Well, I guess you could look into message boards of the new Civic Si since those are manufactured in UK plant and imported into the U.S. Ask the owners of those Civics to see if they have any problem with the car.

 

There were 3 versions of the 6th gen Accord actually, as you guys see from the pics above. There're more pics of the 6th gen JDM Accord at Honda's site: http://www.honda.co.jp/HOT/ModelData...9/line_up.html

BTW, the SiR-T comes with a 200HP@7200rpm F20B engine...

 

AFAIC, this answers something we were wondering about on another thread.

It was about reliability. The subject was, whether or not the TSX has a lot more of a track record than other "new" models, because of it being based on the Euro Accord. What that debate came down to was: Was the new Euro Accord a totally new car, or was it quite similar to its own predecessor?

Sounds to me like the new Euro Accord probably is quite similar to its predecessor -- i.e. it's not really a totally new model.

And therefore, probably it's the case that what we might call "the TSX family" does legitimately have a fairly long track record of reliable cars -- and that therefore we have a lot to go on in believing it's very likely that the TSX's reliability will be excellent. We knew we could cite Honda/Acura's track record in general, but it looks like we have even more than that to go on.

 

Actually, that's a heavily Mugen modified Accord. So think Accord + $6K (or more) options.

Stock:




Euro-R:

 

I would think that one of the main things the UK factory turns out is right hand drive version of the Honda models.

 

JDM versions are also RHD