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Five Years
On: motioncars.com published its first article five years ago, and our very first test drive was the Accord VTi-L. How fitting then that we are testing the next generation of the Accord for this, our fifth anniversary issue. The Accord continues to be in our long-term fleet and we have developed quite a fondness for our 1998 VTi-L. The engine had always been one of its aces. Though not quite matching Nissan's silky VQ in smoothness, the 2.3's rev-happy nature and song at full VTEC made it best-in-class. Its chassis was also the most agile among its Japanese compatriots, and the cabin the most driver-oriented, with a perfect driving position. Another endearing quality is just that, its bullet-proof build quality. Save for routine maintenance items, a brake light switch, and power actuators for the door locks, no mechanical parts ever needed to be replaced in 60,000 km. We inadvertently plunged it into a knee-high flood and amazingly the car kept running until we reached dry ground. The only casualty was a radiator fan, and that, too, resumed its operation after it had dried up. We said then that "Dynamically, the Accord is an excellent car. Its one failing is actually its exterior styling...it's somewhat boring and wanting for interesting details." The new model addresses that and then some. Its primary competition then was its Japanese archrivals but this model's goal is to reach up to BMW and Volvo levels. A far stretch, you think? The quality of the cabin says not. Our new tax regulations mean that bigger engines such as the 2.4 inline-4 and 3.0 V6 should eventually make their way here. If the time comes to replace our Accord, then right now only one car comes to mind. |
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