Next-gen Honda Accord drops V6, we test its turbocharged future

Honda only just announced that the 10th-generation Accord is dropping the V6 in favor of a small but mighty 2.0-liter turbocharged engine and we've already driven it!

June 9, 2017

It's time to wave goodbye to the Honda Accord V6. The Japanese automaker has announced that the 2018 Accord will feature an all four-cylinder lineup when the 10th generation model launches later this year, powered by a pair of smaller turbocharged engine options. But don't despair; the V6's replacement at the top of the new lineup is a powerful 2.0-liter turbo mill derived from the Civic Type R. I was able to score an early test drive at Honda R&D in Japan.

This is part of a larger trend across the industry. Audi, BMW and Volvo, to name a few, have also moved to small turbos for most of their passenger cars. The smaller engines all make the same promises: They offer the same (or better) power while sipping less fuel. So while Honda's move to smaller, turbocharged engines may not be unique, it is promising.

The replacement for displacement?

Let's start with the most exciting of the three powertrains: the new 2.0-liter turbo. This engine is actually based on the 2.0-liter block from the Civic Type R, but with a different low-inertia turbo and a different tune that will allow the 2018 Accord to run on regular octane fuel (rather than requiring premium). The engine also features a secondary harmonic balancer to help smooth out the four-banger's operation to more V6-like levels.

The new engine will be mated to a new 10-speed automatic transmission -- a first-ever for a front-wheel drive car, according to Honda. A six-speed manual gearbox will also be an option. (Would you look at that, the manual's not dead yet!) Compared with the old V6/6AT setup, the new 2.0T/10AT combo is and more compact and lighter. Actually, the entire car will be lighter overall relative to the current generation, but Honda hasn't specified exactly how much.

Honda is being tight lipped about numbers at this point, promising that we'll learn all we need to know when the next Accord is fully unveiled later this year at one of the international auto shows. What we do know is that its 2.0-liter turbo should be less powerful than the Type R's 306 ponies, but potentially more robust than the 278-horsepower V6 it replaces.

A taste of the new turbo

I was able to get a very early taste of the 10th-generation Accord's new engine behind the wheel of a camoed prototype on the high-speed testing loop at Honda's R&D facility in Tochigi, Japan.

My first lap was with the powertrain control system set to its Normal mode where I noted its confident acceleration and very smooth and quiet operation at high speeds. It did feel as smooth as a V6 at first blush. During my second (and final) lap, I toggled the drive mode into Sport and noted that not only did the throttle get more responsive, but the exhaust note became more pronounced.

Two laps on a course designed to be as straight and stable as possible isn't nearly enough time for a full evaluation, but I came away from the experience pleased with the performance and pedal feel and looking forward to spending more time with that powerplant once the next generation Accord debuts.

New 1.5T and 2.0 hybrid models, too

The rest of the Accord lineup will also stick to the four-cylinder configuration, shifting from a 2.4-liter naturally aspirated engine to a more compact 1.5-liter turbocharged engine. The smaller engine will be available with either a continuously variable transmission or six-speed manual gearbox.

Honda isn't talking numbers here yet, but the 1.5-liter turbo makes between 174 and 205 horsepower when used in the Honda Civic EX-T and Si models, so its numbers, at least, should line up with the current Accord's stated 185 horsepower.

2018 Honda Accord Prototype First Drive: No V6, No Problem

Jun 9, 2017

A quick drive in a prototype gives us reason to be optimistic about the next Accord's 2.0-liter turbo engine.

– Tochigi, Japan

It’ll still be several months until Honda pulls all the camouflage tape off the 2018 Accord. Luckily, we got an early preview of what is perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the new midsize sedan: Its 2.0-liter turbo engine and 10-speed automatic transmission. That’s right, the most powerful Accord will be a four-cylinder affair in its tenth generation, and it will have a lot more gears than before.

The new 2.0T will replace the current Accord’s 3.5-liter V6 as the sedan’s top engine choice when the new car debuts. That naturally aspirated six is a strong, smooth engine; arguably one of the best in a midsize sedan. How does the new turbo four compare?

Very well, actually. Off the line, the four banger feels quicker, much quicker; Honda credits the early torque delivery to a low-inertia turbocharger that’s quick to build boost. The car pulls with gusto for brazen 80-to-110-miles-per-hour passing maneuvers, and doesn’t in any way feel like a compromise from the V6. I take advantage of being on a closed-course oval and hit the electronic limiter at what I’m told is 124 mph (200 km/h). It’s not a very scientific top-speed test, but even at long past legal limits the car stays steady and planted.

While a lot of this first drive was unorthodox and under wraps – the car I drove was still a pre-production – the drive and the engineers did reveal things. For example, the new powertrain isn’t as strong on the top end compared to the V6. But then, you’re not buying an Accord for high-speed runs are you?

Kudos if you had guessed already, but this 2.0-liter turbo is very similar to the one in the new Civic Type R. To be specific, the Accord motor shares a block and many components with the Type R motor, but will run on 87-octane regular gas. As for power itself, all Honda would tell us is that the new motor creates more than the current V6 and less than the Type R. So between 278 and 306 horsepower, and 252 and 295 pound-feet of torque. Want to start a wager? Leave a comment below.

Switching to a smaller motor is also intended to help improve fuel economy; Honda didn’t say by how much, only that it would be “better” than the 3.5-liter V6.

Speaking of sharing, the 10-speed is actually shared with the one that was just unveiled in the Odyssey minivan. But again, it’s not exactly the same as both vehicles have very different power delivery needs.

With Sport mode engaged, the 10-speed is rather marvelous, downshifting under hard braking; the audible rev matches is by far my favorite thing. Under heavy acceleration, the upshifts are smooth and quick, skipping gears as necessary to get up to speed. The automatic feels almost like a continuously variable transmission, always in the meat of the turbo engine’s power, but without the droning often associated with CVTs.

Grabbing the steering-wheel-mounted paddles and shifting myself was fine, but not nearly as much fun as leaving the automatic to its own devices in Sport mode. I noted one particular shift from fifth down to fourth sounded especially terrible; the engineers furiously took down notes.

When asked what Honda benchmarked during development of the 2018 Accord, a project engineer pointed out the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and E-Class, along with the BMW 3 and 5 Series, noting the wish to move the Accord up-market.

The Accord prototype was heavily camouflaged inside and out, so I can’t tell you much about how it will look. The car was left-hand drive at least, unlike the Type R I had driven earlier in the day, so chances are I was driving a North American-spec vehicle. The headlamps showed tell-tale signs of Acura’s Jewel Eye design, while around back, I spied dual exhaust pipes with openings moulded into either side of the lower bumper. During a media roundtable, Honda CEO Takahiro Hachigo said that a new corporate design direction would be unveiled this fall. All indicators point to that the new design direction being unveiled on the Accord, which is likewise expected to show up this fall.

Limited as this test drive of the pre-production Accord was, it gave us plenty of reason to be hopeful that the new 2.0T will live up to the legacy of the Accord’s respected V6. Our drive was also a chance for Honda engineers to gather feedback from automotive journalists as they continue to hone and develop the car over the coming months. In other words, you can thank me (in part) if the 2018 Honda Accord is a knock-out success.

2018 Honda Accord prototype first drive: V-6 deep-sixed, and better

June 9, 2017

The 2018 Honda Accord will be an all-new version of the popular mid-size sedan last redesigned for the 2013 model year.

The 10th-generation Accord will ride on new underpinnings, and use a pair of revised 4-cylinder engines, eliminating the previous V-6 that's been the top engine option for many years now.

Because the Accord is largely a North American product, Honda brought a small number of U.S. journalists to Japan for a short drive around the company's high-speed test track in a heavily camouflaged prototype of the new sedan.

The new Accord will be "lower and wider," Honda says, but so far the company has released only the powertrain specifications.

More details on the car and its features will follow closer to its launch, which Honda says will take place in "fall 2017," meaning the car is likely already in pilot production in the plant in Marysville, Ohio, that has been building Accords for 25 years now.

The base engine to be found in most 2018 Accords will be a turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-4, with the V-6 replaced by a more powerful 2.0-liter turbo-4 that's lighter but equally powerful.

The 1.5-liter engine is direct-injected and turbocharged, and can be paired with either a 6-speed manual or a continuously variable transmission that will likely give the best EPA-rated fuel economy of any model in the range.

The more powerful 2.0-liter engine can also be paired with the 6-speed manual—unusually for a mid-size sedan—but the more common transmission will be a new 10-speed automatic, the first such unit fitted to any sedan sold in the U.S.

There will also be an Accord Hybrid, fitted with a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine tuned to run on the Atkinson Cycle and paired to a refined third-generation version of Honda's innovative two-motor hybrid system that replaces a transmission.

Our brief driving impression near dusk at Honda's Tochigi R&D facility came in a prototype fitted with the more powerful 2.0-liter turbo engine and the new 10-speed automatic.

During two laps of the high-speed track, the engine delivered power that felt equal to that of a conventional V-6, delivered smoothly across the rev range.

The transmission shifted quickly and smoothly after a brief hesitation on full acceleration, and the car reached 125 mph on the track at a speed that would clearly keep pace with any mass-market mid-size sedan competitor.

More impressive yet was the car's handling, which combined good steering feel with a lack of body roll and crisp but predictable tuck-in when lifting off the power at high speeds.

That means, in mid-size terms, that the car tightened the line of its turn at speed when a driver lifted off—the safest and most predictable setup for a front-wheel-drive car.

The feel and feedback from the electric power steering was natural enough that a driver would likely never know it was simulated with all the direction changes being done electrically.

Then our two laps were done, and we turned the car over to the next eager journalist—leaving us curious to learn more about this next version of the popular Honda Accord, which seems as though it may be more of a driver's car than its predecessor.

Engineers vow better performance, efficiency over outgoing V-6

Honda announced that it will replace the V-6 at the top of the 2018 Accord’s lineup with a 2.0-liter direct-injection turbo-four tuned to deliver torque at very low RPMs. It will be paired with either a manual or a new 10-speed automatic.

That means the new, 10th-generation Accord will have three available engines. Joining the 2.0T, which is a differently tuned version of the engine from the Civic Type R, will be the 1.5-liter turbo-four at the bottom of the range paired with a CVT or a six-speed manual. A hybrid Accord will have a 2.0-liter naturally aspirated engine.

The news was announced at a gathering of automotive media at Honda’s R&D center in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.

Honda has generally always gone its own way with transmissions, shunning planetary gears. The 10-speed automatic breaks with this tradition and contains four planetary gear sets. This will mark the first time a 10-speed transmission has been used in a front-drive passenger car, Honda said in a release.

A handful of automotive journalists were invited to Honda’s R&D facility in Utsunomiya, Japan, to briefly drive the new powertrain—inside a camouflaged 2018 Honda Accord prototype. It was far too short a drive to determine much, but not much seems to be lost versus the outgoing V-6 engine. And the transmission is an improvement.

Significant torque could be felt well below 2,000 RPM, and the 10-speed transmission, with its wider range, helped the Accord get off to quite a quick start. How quick, Honda wouldn’t say yet, but Jungi Yamano, Honda’s chief engineer on the project, said the new powertrain wouldn’t disappoint and would best the V-6 in performance and economy.

“We are confident of that,” he said.

Back on Honda’s proving ground oval, we made a couple not-scientifically tested acceleration runs from 0-60 and some typical passing sprints. The transmission was extraordinarily smooth—no bumps or hesitations—going through the gears during acceleration. It didn’t spend any time hunting for gears and was quick to kick down and skip gears while executing the kind of acceleration that comes with highway speed. And changing our own gears via the paddle shifters was similarly responsive, even on a string of downshifts as if prepping for a curve. That was in sport mode.

We’ve already seen this engine, which is in the new 2017 Civic Type R. The block and most of the parts carry over to the Accord installation, but output has been dialed back, largely for optimum efficiency.

Also keeping things efficient is improved exhaust-gas recirculation, and a two-piece water jacket rests above and below the exhaust port to allow heat transfer from a larger surface area.

A good portion of the new low-end torque is credited to a low-inertia turbocharger that doesn’t take much time to build boost.

Working to reduce NVH is a semi counter-forged crankshaft and a secondary balancer.

Honda would not detail performance specifications and said mileage has yet to be certified. It did confirm the new 2.0 turbo would not require premium fuel. An engineer said the whole package is lighter, even with the extra speeds of the new transmission.

Honda folks normally bristle if asked questions about which cars from other manufacturers were benchmarked, or used as reference points, when designing the 2018 Accord. Honda believes it can make for satisfied customers without copying others. But when pressed, they admit they set a high bar for this Accord: They wanted it to feel like a Lexus ES, or a C-Class or even E-Class Mercedes.

Not much else could be determined about the next-gen Accord. The interior was heavily padded and cladded and the exterior was draped in camo.

We’ve seen some spy shots of camouflaged Accords recently, but Honda was tight-lipped about anything but the powertrain, except for Jeff Conrad, senior vice president and general manager of American Honda Motor Co., who said: “Just as the new Honda Civic injected new energy into the compact car segment, we expect this all-new 2018 Accord will make people rethink the midsize sedan.”

The 1.5-liter turbo and 2.0-liter turbo engines will be produced at Honda’s Anna, Ohio, plant. The new 10-speed automatic transmission will be built at the company’s plant in Tallapoosa, Ga. regardless of where the Accord is built.

We’ll get a full glimpse of the 2018 Honda Accord in the fall.

When asked what Honda benchmarked during development of the 2018 Accord, a project engineer pointed out the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and E-Class, along with the BMW 3 and 5 Series, noting the wish to move the Accord up-market.

Honda folks normally bristle if asked questions about which cars from other manufacturers were benchmarked, or used as reference points, when designing the 2018 Accord. Honda believes it can make for satisfied customers without copying others. But when pressed, they admit they set a high bar for this Accord: They wanted it to feel like a Lexus ES, or a C-Class or even E-Class Mercedes.

. . .a 1.5-liter direct-injected DOHC Turbo with dual variable cam timing (dual VTC), mated to either a Honda continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) or 6-speed manual transmission; and a 2.0-liter direct-injected DOHC Turbo with i-VTEC® valvetrain, paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission or a 6-speed manual.

World Debut of Dramatically-styled 10th Generation Honda Accord Set for July 14

Jun 19, 2017 - TORRANCE, Calif.

• Live in Detroit and via Livestream on YouTube at 11:00 a.m. EDT
• Concept sketch reveals dramatic new styling direction
• America's best-selling (retail) midsize sedan gets complete remake from ground-up

Honda today released a concept sketch highlighting the aggressive stance and proportion of the all-new 2018 Honda Accord that will make its global debut in Detroit and via YouTube Livestream (honda.us/2018AccordReveal) on July 14, at 11:00 a.m. EDT. The all-new Accord – the most fun-to-drive, premium and dramatically styled Accord ever – is the 10th generation of America's best-selling midsize sedan, the number one choice of individual American car buyers cumulatively since 20101.

Earlier this month, the company announced plans for a new Accord that will feature three powerful and fuel-efficient powertrains, including two new direct-injected and turbocharged engines paired with either a new Honda-developed 10-speed automatic transmission, CVT or a 6-speed manual transmission depending upon engine, as well as the next-generation of Honda's two-motor hybrid powertrain technology. Honda will share additional details of its powertrain performance, along with the new design and technology at the event.

A perennial best-seller with American car buyers, the Accord has been the U.S. retail sales leader in the midsize sedan segment for four straight years (2013-2016). For the first five months of 2017, based on retail sales to individual buyers, Accord is the top selling midsize sedan in America and the second best-selling passenger car overall, surpassed only by the new Honda Civic2. Accord also is an unprecedented 31-time recipient of Car and Driver magazine's coveted 10Best award.

Since its launch in 1976, American car buyers have purchased more than 13 million Accords. It was the first vehicle from a Japanese automaker to be made in America and has been in continuous production at Honda's Marysville, Ohio auto plant since November 1982. Cumulative U.S. production of Accord now exceeds 11 million units over 35 years of U.S. manufacturing3.

About Honda

Honda offers a full line of reliable, fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive vehicles with advanced safety technologies sold through over 1,000 independent U.S. Honda dealers. The Honda lineup includes the Fit, Civic, Accord and Clarity series passenger cars, along with the HR-V, CR-V and Pilot sport/utility vehicles, the Ridgeline pickup and the Odyssey minivan.

Honda has been producing automobiles in America for 35 years and currently operates 19 major manufacturing facilities in North America. In 2016, more than 95% of all Honda and Acura vehicles sold in the U.S. were made in North America, using domestic and globally sourced parts.

1. Based on Urban Science cumulative retail sales data for all car models in the industry for 2010-2017CYTD May.
2. Based on Urban Science retail sales data in the Midsize car segment for 2013-2017CYTD May.
3. Manufactured in the U.S. using domestic and globally-sourced parts.