TeamMidnightinvasion

I donno whats going on here. You'd think Honda, one of the best selling car companies , would have enough money to come up with some very sporty yet luxurious car designs. They should hire me to design this shit.

biker

It supposedly cost $20 mil to fix just the rear end - a great expense for a MMC. We won't know if they got it right until a few months into its sales cycle.

Doom878

I saw the new Civic and it was

Edward'TLS

They are doing that only for the Acura division. Cars in the Honda division are always one step below Acura's.

F23A4

Honestly, the Pilot is closer to the new Pathfinder than the Murano. As far as interiors go with Nissan, it's definitely an aquired taste. My MO's dash cluster (which is Z/Maxima like) was not my preference but it's grown on me.

As far as the Altima vs Accord comparo, I'd get the Accord if I wanted a 4cyl or Coupe. But V6 sedan-wise, the Accord wont perform anywhere near like an Alti SE-R. (Still not certain how C/D only got a 14.8 sec ET w/the 6MT SE-R when my 02 Maxima 4AT pulled a 14.7 stock ) It'd be nice if Honda had a 6MT option for the Hybrid though....that could possibly be a 14-flat car.

Back on topic (and to repeat myself), IMHO Honda fixed the wrong end of the Accord. That rear was just fine before but that frontend looks like something out of a Ford Factory. And I'm not feeling that Caddy CTS center mount brake light.

Doom878

You can get a 6speed sedan this year for the Accord. still ugly.

kansaiwalker1

The rear end is cleaner but more generic.

But I still would take this car over a 500/Montego/Malibu/Impala/Altima anyday.

charliemike

An Altima SE-R and an Accord EX 6MT is going to be about the same price ... I'd definitely look at the SE-R more so than the Accord.

But in the upper-20s the Mazdaspeed6 is very intriguing.

kansaiwalker1

You're right, I had forgotten about the Altima SE-R. I would give both the Accord 6MT and SE-R a close look.

Spazz

IMO, this is the worst looking accord yet.

heyitsme

http://www.canadiandriver.com/news/050920-2.htm

kansaiwalker1

Nice rims

charliemike

The Accord is a mess ... Can't fix it soon enough IMO.

And as good as it is mechanically, this gen's interior materials quality isn't as good as the previous-gen's IMO.

dark inspire

those rims look familiar....i've seen em somewhere

youngTL

The only place it's worse IMO is in the back of the coupe with the hard plastic arm rests. The EX sedans get leather covered armrests. And the new leather is more supple than the 6th gen (I would know, a guy at my work has one I rode in 3 days a week to lunch). The last one seemed more plasticky. The Accord blew me away when I sat in the EX-V6 6MT. I have a 1st gen TL, and the Accord has nicer seats, more equipment, and better leather.

The outside now though...I think the last thing on the list is the front end. They fix that and they have a winner. I'm saying copy the JDM Inspire's front end.

Trance_Tsx

they look similiar to the rims on an older tl/cl i think

phile

Saw an 06 Accord sedan on the road today. The LED rear lights are nice, although they're easily confused with the Mercury Montego's at night. I didn't even recognize until I got real close to the rear.

dallison

i thought is was pretty sweet

AsianRage

I'll bet you anything that they're the same as those on the TL-S

heyitsme

They should have just given us tl-s looks and saved all the trouble of a redesign one year later...

aaronnn

they are the exact rims from the 02-03 TLS models. just with a honda center cap

TSX69

I have noticed that the Accord Hybrid is still being listed as 2005 everywhere. Anyone know why there is no 2006 model?

Perhaps they are trying to put the improved {runs on electricity only} system like in the new Civic or a 4 cylinder-fuel efficient system to compete w/ the new Camry?

Thanks!

Motohip

How many times are we gonna have this convesation!

F23A4

Good question. I wonder if the restyling of the US-built Accord is somehow delaying the manufacturing of the Japanese built Accord Hybrid.

MSZ

The JDM Honda Inspire also got the same styling change. So there should be no delay whatsoever.

http://www.honda.co.jp/INSPIRE/

gocubsgo55

the JDM front looks a million times better. Also kind of resembles an Altima

phile

Honda can't be this complacent with the Accord. Once you lose sales, it's hard to get your customers back. Just ask Ford, the Taurus used to be the best selling sedan in the country over a decade ago. Now even the subcompact models from the Japanese outsell it.

titan

Agreed.

heyitsme

Think the next gen should look pretty decent if it takes similiar design cues from the civic.

Mizouse

i like the look of the back of the JDM model

deandorsey

tis nice... the badge looks HUGE























id much rather have this though!














and THIS

Doom878

gavriil

The front of the Japan-Spec Accord looks a lot better than the US-Spec car IMO.

03TL-S

Isnt that the inspire? Or did they make the USDM accord an accord in japan now? Either way, i agree, the front of the inspire in japan looks way better than the one here. It has more of an acura look

F23A4

IIRC, the JDM Honda Inspire is assembled in Marysville, Ohio. (open for correction)

Mokos23

If it's assembled in Ohio, why doesn't Honda of America use the exact same front end design except putting orange/amber part instead of the clear corners due to USA laws. Doesn't make sense cause it would save Honda money overall I think

F23A4

USDOT regs vs JDM DOT regs??

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

I doubt it. There are a number of operations throughout Asia (Thailand comes to mind) where Honda could easily build the Inspire for less than building it in the US and shipping to Japan. This is, of course, assuming that the cars are not just manufactured in Japan in the first place.

MSZ

Its made in Japan. As CGTSX said Accord is being manuactured in many places as well, such as Thailand and China.

The third gen Inspire(second gen TL) was made in Ohio.

AsianRage

From the picture, I'm starting to think that perhaps it would be possible to swap the the USM Accord interior with that of the TSX?