It’s a bit of a grim time for midsize sedan fans. Aside from the aging Chevrolet Malibu, the domestic automakers have bowed out of the mainstream midsize sedan race, and even competition from Japanese marques seems to be slowing down. The incoming 2025 Toyota Camry is essentially a heavy refresh of the old car, the Nissan Altima has a date with destiny, the Mazda 6 is dead, and the Subaru Legacy lacks a certain wow factor. This uneasy climate has given the Hyundai Sonata and Kia K5 a chance to attack, potentially giving the Koreans the upper hand in the segment. But what about the 2024 Honda Accord? Honda’s archetype substantially updated for 2023, and now 2024 brings widespread availability of an intriguing hybrid powertrain.
So, how does the newsest Honda Accord stack up as family transportation in a crossover-obsessed world? More importantly, does its hybrid powertrain have what it takes to battle Toyota and Hyundai, and does it feel nice enough for the Honda Accord Touring Hybrid to justify its $40,000 price tag? I drove one every day for a week to find out.
[Full disclosure: Honda Canada let me borrow this Accord Hybrid Touring for a week so long as I returned it with a full tank of fuel and wrote a review of it.]
The Basics
As-Tested Price: $40,440 including freight and $455 premium color charge ($47,266 Canadian including freight and $300 color charge).
Engine: Two-liter, twin-cam, 16-valve Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine with variable valve timing and direct injection.
Transmission: eCVT.
Drive: Front-wheel-drive.
Battery: Lithium-ion, unspecified capacity.
Motor: AC synchronous permanent magnet motor.
Combined Output: 204 horsepower.
Curb Weight: 3,532 pounds.
Fuel Economy: 46 mpg city, 41 highway, 44 combined (5.0 L/100km city, 5.7 highway, 5.3 combined).
Minimum Fuel Grade: 87 octane minimum, 91 octane recommended.
Body Style: Midsize Sedan.
Why Does It Exist?
Let’s face it, it would be weirder if the Honda Accord didn’t exist. For decades, it’s been the family sedan for people who want something good that’s mainstream but not a Camry. It’s the second-best-selling midsize sedan in America and was heavily revamped for 2023, gaining new styling and losing the two-liter turbocharged engine option. This car is a big deal, as it’s meant to do everything well.
How Does It Look?
On a roadscape of overwrought grilles and enough fake vents to make Pontiac jealous, the 2024 Honda Accord strikes an unusually clean pose. In fact, some people have described the new Accord’s styling as a little bit boring, perhaps because we’re all so used to designs that saddle a single car with enough styling elements for four or five vehicles. Okay, so it could lose about eight inches of front overhang, but otherwise, it’s handsome and likely to stand the test of time well.
How About The Inside?
Honda calls its current interior design language “simplicity and something,” and the cabin of this Accord has plenty of simplicity and plenty of something. Inside, you’ll find a more cohesive mixture of materials than the outgoing model, an abundance of soft-touch plastic, and the softest front headrests you can get in a sub-$50,000 new car. Almost everything is easy to use, comfortable, logical, and fundamentally pleasant. It’s luxurious enough to make you wonder if anyone actually needs an Acura, or even a Mercedes-Benz C300. What’s more, you have acres of room, plenty for four adult occupants in sublime comfort – enough for five if one’s willing to get around the hump in the rear floor. I’d call that mission accomplished.
How Does It Drive?
Twenty years ago, you may have bought a Honda Accord over a Toyota Camry because the Accord was more fun in the corners. Well, that’s not exactly the case anymore. With light steering, comfort-oriented suspension tuning, and seats closer to chaise longues than racing buckets, the 2024 Honda Accord Touring likely won’t set anyone’s pulse racing. Instead, it’s morphed into a luxury car wearing a Honda badge, and although that might not be what every Accord owner is looking for, it does a superb job of it.
While most hybrid vehicles have made the kicking-in of the gasoline engine very subtle, you can still detect the transfer to piston power much like the locking of a torque converter. In the Accord Hybrid, however, the transition from electric to hybrid power is absolutely seamless. What’s more, thanks to plenty of juice onboard and a relatively small frontal area compared to a crossover, it can cruise on electric power alone for miles in the city and short distances on the highway. Oh, and the ability to force-charge the battery is a brilliant touch, letting you juice up while you’re still on the highway and then cruise on silent, relaxing electric power alone on city streets once you’re closer to your destination.
Although you do notice a certain resonance over properly busted pavement that’s a side effect of a cavernous interior, the Accord Touring Hybrid is serene, quiet, and as quick as you’ll ever really need. In a 3,532-pound car, 204 horsepower is plenty for daily use, whisking you up to speed in one smooth motion thanks to the eCVT. Sure, you notice the economy-minded four-cylinder engine when pushing it, but torque is prodigal enough that you rarely need to. Instead, just ease up, engage the adaptive cruise control, and let the miles melt away. As a bonus, I averaged 40 mpg over a week of primarily highway driving, even on high-rolling-resistance winter tires. Proper hybrid efficiency? Tick.
Does It Have The Electronic Crap I Want?
From the surprisingly decent-for-the-segment Bose stereo to heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and more driver assistance system acronyms than you’d know what to do with, the 2024 Honda Accord Touring Hybrid is properly loaded. Affirming how comprehensively equipped this range-topping Accord is, I used it to drive my grandparents to lunch. They were both astonished by the features onboard, from the heated rear seats to Google built-in, so yeah, the Accord has all the gadgets you could ever want.
However, not all of the gadgets work well. Although the infotainment is substantially more responsive than any prior Honda system, it can be challenging to navigate and Apple CarPlay experienced unexplained audio stuttering that I tried and failed to replicate in another make of car. Maybe a software update will fix this, but if you are an iPhone user, it’s best to try before you buy.
Three Things To Know About The 2024 Honda Accord Touring Hybrid:
- The hybrid powertrain is sublime.
- It’s a rather comfortable car.
- This range-topping trim comes with a $40,000 price tag.
Does It Fulfill Its Purpose?
Considering what people actually need in a family sedan, the 2024 Honda Accord Touring Hybrid is among the best of the breed right now. Sure, it has a price tag to match, but it’s economical, spacious, comfortable, and feels beautifully made. Aside from slightly stuttery Apple CarPlay audio playback, this car performs its job faultlessly, and the hybrid powertrain is so impressive that I don’t miss the departed two-liter turbocharged juggernaut of an optional engine. Sure, it doesn’t boast a crossover’s cavernous cargo hold, but it’s elegant, comfortable, roomy, and still compelling as family transportation. Surprisingly, it’s also nice enough to compete with entry-level luxury cars, high praise for a vehicle that was once simply ordinary.
More importantly, the Accord Touring Hybrid gets me excited about the upcoming Honda Civic hybrid. In some areas, like cabin noise control and overall sizing, the current Civic feels even better than the Accord, and if anything like this powertrain ends up in that car, it could be the best daily driver on the market.
What’s The Punctum Of The 2024 Honda Accord Touring Hybrid?
A luxury car in disguise, The Honda Accord Touring Hybrid is an outstanding mainstream midsize sedan with a superb hybrid powertrain that feels worth the somewhat steep price of admission.
(Photo credits: Thomas Hundal)
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It seems like yesterday when the Accord was advertised as “The Civic just grew a trunk!”
It has come a long, long way since then. More economical (with fuel), much more powerful and it now weighs about double what the first Accords did.
40K is a lot for a car, but that’s almost the starting price point when car shopping in 2024, so it’s a very good car for the money, relatively speaking.
I bought a 2024 EX-L about a month ago. While I like it a lot, there is a lot of obvious cost-cutting that belies the notion that it’s a luxury car. For example:
My dad has a 2019 Mazda6 Touring, which was the second from the lowest trim level. It has two seatback pockets, nicer carpet, puddle lights in the doors, nicer door panel trim and interior trim in general, and automatic wipers. And it was notably less expensive, even adjusted for inflation. If only they’d kept making it, and added a hybrid powertrain. I’m averaging a bit over 48 MPG combined in the Accord.
Forgot one: only the front windows are auto up/down. The back windows aren’t even auto down, never mind auto up.
Test drove a couple of these. They’re competent enough, but feel significantly less luxe inside than my ’22 Sonata did, and the Sonata was not a luxury car. The Accord has cardboard-felt-stuff for carpeting, a backup camera (goodness knows no 360 camera!) that looks like it’s from 2009, and a kinda-janky powertrain that is mostly OK in normal driving but which sings and wails as it attempts to gain altitude.
I ended up in a Volvo XC60, which is itself not near the forefront in tech (but is still years ahead of anything in the Honda stable) and is an aging design, but in terms of driving feel and ‘luxury’ – that ineffable “Is it more than you need?”, it’s 100% a yes.
The Accord is perfectly good. Suspension might be a notch above the Sonata, tech might be a notch above the Camry, reliability should be fine. It’s just fine, but… luxury car? Maybe if you haven’t driven one.
I see the appeal here, but I actually prefer the old styling to the new. It looked more expensive and distinctive somehow, and every time I see the rear end of the new one, it reminds me of a VW Jetta.
Now if we could just get the folks over at Car and Driver to admit that the new Accord isn’t 10x sportier than the equivalent Camry…
“. Instead, it’s morphed into a luxury car wearing a Honda badge, and although that might not be what every Accord owner is looking for, it does a superb job of it.”
In essence, the Accord has become what the Honda/Acura Legend used to be. And when you look at the dimensions, the current Accord is actually a little bigger than the 2nd gen Legend.
And the Civic is now what the Accord used to be.
I just will not pay $40,000 for an Accord.
How about $40,000 for a new Honda/Acura Legend if they still made them?
I’m cool with the Accord nameplate. I like the move to all hybrid. I just haven’t updated my brain to reckon with the new normal of an average new car being $45,000+.
That would be a $25,000 Accord in 2005, adjusted for inflation. The 2005 Accord hybrid (granted, with a V6) at $32,000 MSRP in 2005 bucks would be a $52k Accord in today’s money.
I do not like these facts.
I drove one of the lesser trimmed, non hybrids as a rental car in Atlanta last month. I honestly really liked it. Great interior/seats, good MPG, decent enough power.
Wish they still offered the 2.0T, especially since the TLX interior is too tight for its size.
Does it really only have 146hp? That’s…. uh.
Okay weird, some places show 146hp, some say 192hp, and Honda’s site says 201.
Look, I get it, power isn’t everything, and a lot of people aren’t shopping based on horsepower. But I was critical of the 2024 E350 because it has 255hp, which I feel is light for a premium midsize luxury performance sedan. 200, or even less, just isn’t enough. As recent as 2020, the Accord came with 250hp, which I’d say is acceptable. Anything shy of that just isn’t worth $40k.
For us? Yes. For others, they don’t even know what a lot of horsepower is. 20? 2000? 2000 is a high number and 20 is a lower number but they have no idea what that means.
Heck, you can almost get a new (well, almost new) Maserati for not much more.
These cars absolutely do not have luxury or even near luxury suspension
While I appreciate restrained styling, especially compared to other’s offerings (i.e., Toyota), I can’t help but miss the last gen styling. I thought the last gen was more interesting, sporty, and modern-looking. This is the first new car I can think of that looks older than the generation it is replacing. However, I will not look like a gift horse in the mouth; I will instead be thankful Honda graced us with a refined-looking sedan that gets good MPG.
There is something about the back quarter, the slope of it, that really ruins it for me.
Then, you throw in a pop-up infotainment and I am not even looking anymore.
I agree; it makes the whole car look bent. I also preferred the crab-claw tail lights on the old one.
I had one of these last year as a rental, but it was the sport edition. Felt distinctly upscale without any obvious bling. Nicer than my MIL’s Mercedes. I averaged about 43 mpg in mixed driving. Very comfortable, fun (enough) to drive and I really dig the styling. I can’t tell if they are the same, but the sport had really thin tires and huge rims that I could see being absolute curb rash magnets if you weren’t careful.
Probably the nicest sedan I’ve driven in years.
I have an ’18 with similar low-profile tires, can confirm the curb rash
I know this is all about sedans, but can you imagine if they offered an Accord Sport Wagon? I’d break my no-new-car rule in a heartbeat.
There is something about the styling of the 2018 to now that just seems like it would work well. Not a lift back – a wagon.
With the footprint on these you could maybe even get close to squeezing in a third row.
the back quarter already looks like it should be a wagon, the middle is missing.
I’d happily settle for a sport back 5 door.
I’d be happy with a liftback but a wagon would be sublime
How does it ride? I have recently driven an Altima, Camry, and Elantra. The Altima surprised me in striking a nice sporty comfortable balance. Both Camry and Elantra somehow found a way to be too soft and hard at the same time. Tons of body roll, but no ability to deal with bumps, amazingly disappointing experiences and utterly baffling given it is 2024.
Strongly considering one of these when it’s time to replace the ’14 Camry Hybrid. I have not been particularly impressed with the latest Camrys I’ve driven and this may be the ticket unless I downsize since the Civic is pretty damn big now.
In reality yhe best Accord for many would be a used 2018-2022 Sport. Stick shift with both engines if you want, good on gas, lots of room. The new one has the room, but it’s kind of boring looking, and it lost some of the fun.
Great on gas, though.
Hush. I’m never going to get one if you go around suggesting it to everyone else. I wish the reality was that they’d bring back the manual transmission on these.
I had a shot at a “new” 2018 for a great price in June 2019 (the manuals sat, sadly), but it was still more expensive than the car I bought, so I didn’t nab it.
Now that same car would cost only slightly less, but used, and with 120,000 kms on it. D’OH!
I love the styling of the Accord! In person they have certain French design elements to the exterior and that small H badge on the trunk is oh so perfectly sized (i.e. smol).
I call it “Mazda”. Dash layout is almost exactly the same as my 10-year old Mazda3, but with different detailing.
How highly is this recommended? Because considering premium is ~25% higher than regular around here, needing to use it defeats much of the purpose of buying a hybrid in the first place.
I noticed this too and immediately cringed.
I looked up the ’24 Accord Hybrid owner’s manual, and I only see that it requires 87 or higher. So I’m not sure where the 91 recommendation is coming from.
Yeah I’m wondering where that info comes from. I can’t remember seeing an Atkinson cycle engine that called for premium.
Edit: maybe this is a Canada thing?
They’re a bit inconsistent…the CR-V is the same way, it and the Accord both say 91 recommended on the spec sheets on the Honda newsroom site for both hybrid and 1.5T, but the regular Honda autos site just says regular required, as does fueleconomy.gov. There are models with the 1.5T where they say premium, but those are sporting variants – Civic Si & Integra. Of course it isn’t unusual for turbo engines to list figures using both regular/premium, but that’s not really what Honda has labeled on the spec sheet so it seems odd to mention at all, and the hybrid doesn’t use that engine.
Even the Integra is only 81 recommended. Not required. (And, incidentally, I’ve noticed no difference in daily driving.)
Good to know, I couldn’t remember if that was the case on those tunes too. fueleconomy.gov says premium for the Integra and I typically trust they list the minimum a car needs, but I would expect Honda still would have tune to adjust accordingly too since the vast majority of people that have that engine in regular Honda products would just run regular.
(Side note, this reminds me of a longtime debate…where is 91 ever even available? 89 or 93 is all I ever see.)
Huh, I never noticed if it was 91 or 93… I’ll have to look next time!
We have a dominant chain of gas stations around these parts (Upstate NY) where many of the locations offer 91 non-ethanol. That’s what I tend to use for things like my lawn mower and snow-blower. Lots of people around here use it for their older vehicles and boats.
Ah thank you! This tracks with the 2min of research I did lol – equipment and recreational vehicles typically.
I also know a number of people, both who require and don’t require premium fuel, who use it in their cars because they believe that ethanol is bad for the engine. Modern engines and materials are designed to run of 10% ethanol, so I’m not sure whether those claims are valid or not.
That’s another thing too, if higher octanes are ethanol free – but I’m not sure how consistent it is if the higher octanes don’t have it. I typically equate the ethanol content with reduced fuel economy so even beyond the chance to wear items, my sense is it’s not totally unfounded.
Some of the chains like Sheetz have offered 88 which has a higher % of ethanol at a lower price, basically E15. My dad tried it once or twice and mentioned the mpg hit he took over regular 87, so fortunately I think that turned him off using it long term. The cost saving might balance itself out I suppose but I don’t think enough over all the other options we have between Costco and grocery store fuel points.
Top trim Accords and Camrys have always been the classic stealth wealth choice. Certainly a much higher likelihood of seeing a millionaire in one of those than a ca. 7-10 year old S-Class
What happened to you, accord? You used to be cool. You had a cool 2 door, a wagon, and sedan. Sticks for all! The sedan? Could have a V6. The coupe? A V6 and a stick! And 2 magical years, v6 stick sedan. But you ditched the wagon. Then the v6 stick sedan. Then the sporty coupe? Gone. Same with the v6 that made a sensible sedan a bit more fun to drive. But hey, you got a turbo 2.0 that was like a lower-case r. But now thats gone, and you are now a post-middle aged sedan that has lost the spark of life. Youve given up on fun, left it for the little ones. You try to sell yourself as sensible and well to do, while seeing your few remaining friends from Korea and Germany still having a cool side. But there you are, trying to brag about mpg and luxury while not being as luxurious, being in a dying segment, and youve lost the sportiness that many people, including myself, loved.
What happened to you- you used to be cool. Ish.
I had one of those V6 6MT sedans. It was the perfect car for me.
Sigh.
Have you tried the I4? I found the V6 made the car nose heavy in comparison. The I4 is a lot more nimble.
At the same time my wife had an I4 slushbox. I found the V6 much more fun.
The 6MT was an option with the I4 too.
Well put, @Jurassic! I owned 3 hondas (4 if you count the mower) ‘87 and ‘96 Accords and a ‘96 Civic. They were light, handled well and mostly reliable. I can see why many consider the 90’s Honda’s golden age.
With smooth NA 4-bangers that revved to the moon, excellent transmissions and double-wishbone suspensions, they made practical yet engaging daily drivers.
Sure, they felt underbraked compared to the Germans and the lack of low end torque was just not discussed among polite company, but they made up for it in efficiency, quality and fun.
The ‘24 accord is refreshing and the closest the design has come to the lithe silhouette of my 5th gen. Those electric motors bring the torque missing below 5k rpm (yo) and the fit and finish looks good for the price point. A sporty trim offering would be nice, like the old Euro-R, with a manual. Seeing a product like that – or that new Prelude concept getting into production- might make me more optimistic about the brand.