pttl

^
Why do they keep showing those ugly wheels on their promo pics?

The wheels in the the pic above, from an actual owned car, are far better.

The Optima does look great in black. Then again...I'm partial.

Shift_Acura

Enough of this Hyundai crap. Kia has much better/more original designs. Overall the entire Kia lineup is so much better than Hyundai (excluding the Genesis). I'd say the current Kia line-up (excluding the Rio and Borrego) is better than Honda,Nissan and Toyota.

Anyways, this is looking like the top candidate to replace my Maxima ...panaramic sunroof, heated rear seats, cooled front seats

Myxomatosis

Whether this is looks very good for Kia or very bad for Honda, it's very big news.

Main points; Optima wins on power, price, handling and fit and finish.

http://news.consumerreports.org/cars...da-accord.html

biker

Why? According to CR, the Accord is already way down on their recommended list - this just drops it another spot. Move along, nothing to see here.

pttl

So the top 4 cyl sedans are:
1. Altima
2. Sonata
3. Camry
4. Kazashi
5. Optima
6. Accord

Recently drove an Accord LX for a day...Very uncomfortable seats, and I would not say that the 4 cyl provided "strong performance". I can see why the accord is falling farther behind.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

not suprised....

biker

While no one has heard of it, the Kazashi does very well everytime it is tested - a poor man's TSX.

I hope Honda improves the next gen Accord a bit more than what they did with the Civic.

Myxomatosis

Wells there's nothing like selling kias right next to a honda dealership. Right now they have no new inventory, prices are jacked from limited stock and now the Optima is better than the accord. Makes my job easier.

I honestly do like the Optima too, especially the 2.0T Optima SX, 274hp, 6-speed with flappy paddles, 18" wheels, panoramic SR, navi, heated and cooled front seats with heated rear seats. They are nice.

cburnscrx

No surprise really. Honda isn't what they once were and when the wife needed a new car, we went with the Altima. If we were buying a car right now, it would be a turbo Sonata, or the 40mpg Elantra.

myron

iTrader: (4)

wow all that? I didn't even know, that's pretty crazy

chill_dog

Hyundai, and now Kia (since Hyundai acquired it), have come a long way while Honda and Toyota have been resting on their laurels. My best friend just got his wife a new Sonata...awesome car, inside and out.

NJ SHAWD

It won for me. My Optima SX has more features than any other car in its class, plus 34mpg with plenty of power from the turbo

but wait...there's more!

360 watt infinty sound system.
Voice activated everything
Back up camera
Eco and sport modes
Dual sunroofs

and more..

Moog-Type-S

Accord is compared to the Optima.

I think the Optima is the best looking sedan in its class, and the Accord among the worst looking.

Accord has a low-rent cheap interior quality.
The available features in the Accord are bottom of the barrel compared to other makes.

Honda is way behind the curve.

oonowindoo

Recently had a 11' accord LX rental... it felt 99% the same as my 06 accord LX, which is not something i am pround of...

so where is the progress for the past 5 years?? it is bascially the same car as my 06 accord without the LED taillight

aznboi2424

iTrader: (10)

+1 on the Kazashi as doing surprisingly well when tested against other midsize sedans.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

wtf is Kazashi

silver3.5

The last Accord body that I like was the 95-96 years. Everything after that is just plain yuck! No surprise here!

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Not too surprising here as the Accord is near the end of its life cycle. We will probably see a new one in about 1 year (MY 2013 should come out in 2012).

The Optima, especially the SX Turbo, is one of the best, if not the best driver's car within this segment. It's like an alternative to the Mazda6.

It's unfortunate that its real-world mpg isn't that stellar and I'm somewhat surprised that it's actually a tad slower than a stock 2002 TL-S according to Car and Driver.

Costco

Haven't had any seat time with the new Optima but they do look nice in person. The interior looks good from pictures as well.

My time behind the wheel of a 2009 Accord 4-cyl (IIRC it was an LX, cloth) was quite boring. It feels as big as the 7G, but softer around the edges. Interior seemed lower quality as well. The "sea of buttons" doesn't bother me at all but the interior vibe was not good. The trunk was pretty spacious

I'm curious to see where Honda takes the Accord.... apparently the 2012 Civic was initially so bad that they had to delay it an extra year and start over, yet people still don't like it - the interior looks cheap and uninspired, same as the exterior.

I think Honda is going to ride the wave of their good reputation as long as they can and hope that the name, EPA-rated fuel economy and unoffensive styling can carry them for as long as possible. I can only see them doing something somewhat radical if sales start slouching behind most of their competitors.

NJ SHAWD

Real world mpg has been pretty good for me. My last two (first two) tanks averaging 25+ mpg with 90% around town. Stock on 87 octane producing 274 hp is pretty good, IMO. I'll be curious to see if there will be any plug ins available to give her a little boost although psi is pretty high already.

oonowindoo

so 274 is out of 87 and 91 is not required? wow.. so you are gonna get 290+ with 91 or 92 then...

And i don't see how 275hp car with similar weight and better gearing can be slower than 02 TL-S... and not mention the torque

BluLabelCL9

iTrader: (1)

Saw a white SX around my way and it looks really good in person. Didn't know they packed so much power.

Hapa DC5

When our Fit was in for a recall we had an '11 Accord LX loaner. What a boring car with no soul. Felt even more like an appliance than a Camry.....

The Kia is a looker. Ten years ago the only thing Kia and Hyundai had going for them was a warranty....

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

First, all of the high-end luxury models seem to be passing the Acura. Now Kia is outdoing Honda. What is the world coming to????




.

speedemon90

I havent drive the others, but I would bet the accord still drives the best

my mom has the accord v6, while it doesnt have great feedback through the steering it does handle pretty damn well for how big it is. And I would guess the accord still does drive better than all the cars listed.

speedemon90

if 91 is not recommended for the engine you wont get more hp, would you? At least thats what i've thought for some weird reason, no clue if its true. Anyone know?

biker

+1

biker

Suzuki's entry into the mid size (at the low end) sedan market.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

I believe the Civic got delayed because the original design was too big.

It's true though, Honda won't do anything radical unless their cars don't sell well. On the other hand, I don't know how much they care about EPA. I'm pretty sure they focus on real world mpg more than EPA. At least that's what the Civic project leader said. You might be interested in reading the following link:
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...plate=printart

Here are some main quotes:

".....we felt we could take the good stuff from the 2006 Civic but increase its fuel efficiency competitiveness. And not EPA fuel economy, but real, everyday fuel economy. We kept the car the same size as the 2006 model."

"About 80 percent of the car is new parts......If we had only installed countermeasures, the vehicle would have become heavier"

"Our real concern is when the customer actually drives the car, we don't want him to see a gap between the EPA number and his own mpg figures. We want the customer to see the improvements for himself.......The EPA mode requires a specific throttle opening. Doing the EPA test in econ mode wouldn't affect things much. But for people who have more variations in speed and acceleration, if you flatten that out, you don't have that rough throttle occurring, and you get much better mileage. If an automaker is hung up on the EPA test cycle, they can make a manual transmission with wide gear ratios. But it's difficult to drive that kind of car in everyday conditions."

The last point sounds like it's calling out the Cruze ECO 6MT.

I think 25+mpg with 90% around town is pretty good too. I guess my point is, is that good enough? I always hear people saying how turbocharged engines will get you excellent fuel economy and excellent performance at the same time. However, from what I've seen so far, yes, you can get a lot of power and torque from a small engine (2L engine with 270hp/tq), but 25mpg isn't exactly excellent IMO. It's not much, if any, better than a typical V6 family sedan.

may be, may be not. I know that for the Accord wth the J30, if you put premium fuel in, you get an extra 10hp or something.

Yes, you'd expect a 275hp car with similar weight and better gearing to do better, but it does not. Another example is the Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8L 6MT. It has 305hp and around 3400 to 3500lb. However, it can only do 14.5@98mph. IS350 6AT, G35, and 335i are all significantly faster as they are in the 13's at well over 100mph. From what I've read, the Genesis has this power cut when shifting. It's unpredictable also.

Forget about the 02 TL-S, IS350, G35, or 335i. The Camry V6 is also faster as it can do 14.3@99mph (vs 15@96mph for the Optima Turbo, or 14.6@98mph according to insideline).

Here is another example:
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...est/specs.html

"our well broken in front-wheel-drive test car's 13.3 lb/hp rating and shorter gearing should have it running away from its turbo rivals, the VW Tiguan (17.8 lb/hp), Mazda CX-7 (16.1), and Acura RDX (16.6). Instead, its 7.3-second 0-60 time just eeks ahead of a Tiguan (7.5) and an AWD CX-7 (7.7), while trailing the AWD 5-speed automatic RDX (6.5). This has us questioning the calibration of Kia's dynamometers."


It depends. Some cars get more hp if you use 91, while some don't.

HBaJ

I have a 95 myself (the tealdragon), but come on..no love for the 99-02's? and then the 06 6sp sedans were nice as well.

NJ SHAWD

i drove them both. I REALLY wanted to buy the Accord V6 with Nav until I drove the Optima. I have the TL and a new civic. I've driven Honda vehicles whenever possible for years. A good friend is the GSM at a major Honda dealership.

The Optima won hands down for me.

oonowindoo

Generally speaking, it wont make that much of a difference but fuel makes a big difference with FI cars.

oonowindoo

Yah it handled well when you compare to the cars from 2001. While other cars are "advancing", Accord pretty much stay the same and feels the same. Yes it is supposed to have more power but i dont feel it..

Current Camry SE V6, Optima, Altima, Sonata, all look and feel better than the 2011 Accord Sedan V6 or not... Accord was the king for the past decades until about 4 or 5 years ago.

Moog-Type-S

Interesting...all the reviews I've come across say that the big "flaw" in the Optima is the suspension.....being that it is not sporty at all whatsoever.
Lot's of body roll.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

The Optima SX Turbo is one of the best handling FWD family sedans, alongside the Mazda6. Accord, Altima and Sonata are right behind. Then there are the others like the Camry. The Optima is like a sporty Sonata.

Moog-Type-S

^^ Not from the reviews I've read/watched.

charliemike

Did Grumpy McDipstick that usually ruins these threads finally get bounced?

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

I heard Optima is very floaty especially when it's traveling up on highway speed.

speedemon90

IIRC the things i read said the accord is the best drivers car out of all of them. I'll have to check up on it again to be sure.

edit: found one article
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...mparison_tests

sonata beat out the accord, but theres no comparison with the new optima with C&D

didnt get a chance to read it yet but i'll check it out later to see what they said.

oonowindoo

Best Driver's car? yah if the driver is Stevie Wonder