Road test: 2013 Honda Accord Coupe EX-L V6

By Nick Tragianis

It does not come as much of a surprise to see that most two-door coupes with mid-sized sedan platforms haven't stood the test of time. Trying to desperately infuse a dose of sportiness into an otherwise boring car, many are little more than less-practical versions of their four-door counterparts.

There is one survivor of this hard-fought battle: The Honda Accord Coupe. It's a rare breed, really. The Toyota Solara, which could cure sleep apnea merely by looking at it, is long gone, and 2013 marks the final year for Nissan's short-lived two-door Altima. In some regards, Honda has the front-wheel-drive two-door coupe market all to itself.

As heinous as the thought may be, we can't help but wonder why it still exists. With the penultimate decline of manual transmissions and a lack of interest for this type of configuration from the general public and enthusiasts alike, it's easy to question Honda’s logic in offering the Accord Coupe. I'm scared to imagine its sales figures compared to the sedan, let alone for the top-of-the-line model with a manual transmission.

It pumps out a healthy 278 horsepower and 252 pound-feet of torque from its 3.5-litre V6 engine. The problem is, it sends those horses and torques to the wrong axle compared to the likes of the rear-wheel-drive six-cylinder Hyundai Genesis Coupe, Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang, which all fall into our tester's price bracket. Contrary to what the coupe body style may have historically suggested, the two-door Accord doesn't exactly scream sporty at first.

Outside, it is much more refined than the lamented eighth-generation Accord. The chiseled edges have been softened while proportions are sleeker; the ninth-generation Accord is smaller than the outgoing model after all. The 18-inch wheels, sweeping roofline and C-pillar, along with the narrow headlights and taillights certainly make the car understated and decidedly mature. The amount of chrome may be polarizing to some, what with the grille and various trim pieces all around, but it adds to the car's understated appeal.

Still, it doesn't come across as sporty, but the interior helps a bit. The cabin feels tight and the low-slung seating position is surprisingly driver-oriented, something completely unexpected in the Accord Coupe. The seats themselves are comfortable and supportive, and the cabin is bright thanks to its two-tone leather seats, and piano black and silver trim pieces.

The layout has been thoroughly reworked for 2013 with top-notch materials all around. The dashboard is soft to the touch, and while there are some areas with hard plastic, they are solid and far from cheap. As with any two-door coupe, the doors are rather large, and in the same breath, some may find them to be heavy and cumbersome, especially with its low seating position.

Forward visibility is superb, yet the thick C-pillar creates a significant blind spot when looking back. Not to worry, though, as our particular tester is equipped with what Honda calls LaneWatch: a camera mounted on the passenger side mirror that does wonders for changing lanes or sharp right turns. When it is activated by the turn signal or a button on the stalk, it relays the information onto one of two screens on the centre stack. Yes, the Accord has two screens, which is terribly redundant considering they can both be set up to display the information.

So, with a sleek yet understated exterior, a refined interior and 278 horsepower sent to the front wheels, where is the Accord's inherent sportiness associated to two-door coupes? Better yet, why does this car still exist in Honda's lineup?

The answers to both questions lie within the bright red start button. Honda could have opted for a more sedate colour — black or grey, for instance — in keeping with the Accord Coupe's refined character. But it didn't. Press the button and the car comes to life, omitting a surprisingly menacing burble from the two chrome exhaust tips out back. Yes, an eyebrow-raising burble, like a beast awakening within the car.

Grip the S2000-inspired shift knob and things begin to materialize. Like it or not, until the NSX hits dealers in 2015, the Accord Coupe is the most enthusiast-oriented car up Honda's sleeve. The Accord's shifter clicks into each gear with long yet tight throws, and the slightly early clutch bite makes it easy to hoon about. Steering is well weighted — not too light yet not too heavy. Considering the power steering system is electronic rather than hydraulic, there is a decent amount of feedback from the front wheels to the driver. As the revs climb and the engine rumbles, it's clear the Accord Coupe has a split personality.

That is, until torque steer comes into play under spirited acceleration, a common occurrence with many front-drivers. It's less of a deterrent and more of a reminder that you're not in a tire-shredding Mustang GT or even Honda's former surgical knife known as the S2000. Rather, you're in a sharp, understated two-door coupe that sometimes likes to have fun, even if it does send power to the wrong axle. Maybe it doesn't make sense from a bean counter or a gear head perspective, but the Accord Coupe is the closest we can get to a Honda with muscle.

Type of vehicle: Front-wheel-drive two-door coupe
Engine: 3.5-litre SOHC six-cylinder with i-VTEC
Power: 278 hp @ 6,200 rpm; 252 lb-ft of torque @ 4,900 rpm
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Brakes: Four-wheel disc with ABS and Electronic Brake Distribution
Tires: P235/45/R18
Base price/as tested: $35,445/$35,445
Destination charge: $1,640
Fuel economy L/100 km: 11.5 city, 7.1 highway

Standard features: Six-speed manual, ABS, stability control, traction control, EcoAssist, electric power steering, LaneWatch blind-spot monitor, back-up camera, forward-collision warning and lane-departure alert, LED headlights and daytime running lights, rear lip spoiler, 18-inch alloy wheels, fog lights, chrome door handles and exhaust tips, heated and power-adjustable mirrors with integrated turn signals, keyless entry with push-button start, power door locks and mirrors, AM/FM/CD/AUX premium audio system with seven speakers and 8-inch display, GPS navigation, Bluetooth and iPod connectivity, sunroof, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, power-adjustable and heated leather seats and more

Options: Six-speed automatic with paddle-shifters

Source;
http://www.driving.ca/research-car/roadtest/Road+test+2013+Honda+Accord+Coupe/8487957/story.html

Car and Driver; 2013 Honda Accord EX-L V-6 Coupe Automatic

Soul Survivor: Honda's shapely and fast two-door goes whistling past the graves of its competition.

• March 2013
• BY AARON ROBINSON
• PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROY RITCHIE

Assumptions fly with the arrival of a driver in a two-door coupe: The driver has no young children. The driver pays others to deliver the new furniture and television sets. The driver does not spend long weekends at the lake, or shop for an orphanage at Costco, or rebuild old Mopars, or venture into rainy nights to walk a malamute. 

Of course, you can own the new Honda Accord coupe while defying all of these assumptions, except maybe the one about the dog. But because people tend to buy cars they believe mesh perfectly with their busy lifestyles, rather than ones that might just do in a pinch, former rivals to the Accord coupe have steadily become stuffed pelts in the museum of automotive evolution. 

The Toyota Camry Solara is gone, as is the Chevy Monte Carlo, and the Nissan Altima coupe is making death rattles. To make comparisons, we had to cast the net widely, from the Ford Mustang to the Volkswagen Beetle Turbo. Proof that it’s been a while since a two-door hardtop was urban chic lies in the increasingly vast flotillas of SUVs, of  jacked-up Benzes and Hyundais shaped like hiking boots. In our auto biosphere, the elephants are winning. 

Thus, what you see here is a survivor, albeit one expertly tailored in the Honda way to serve those with lesser lug-about needs. Whistling past the graves of others, the two-door Accord comes fitted with a four-cylinder or a V-6, and here we sample the latter, oddly equipped with the six-speed automatic. “Oddly,” we say, because a six-speed manual is also available with the 278-hp V-6, and our preference for sticks is well documented. But so is the wider population’s disdain for them, so we have, in this case for the sake of  broader science, deigned to test Honda’s new automatic. 

Choosing the V-6/automatic propels you out of the $20,000s and into the low-$30,000 realm, a sort of Mongolian desert for two doors. The only other kindred soul slogging its way across this barren stretch is the Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8. The Mustang V-6 and Beetle Turbo remain back in Mid-20s Town, and in the far distance is an oasis of pedigreed sports coupes such as the Audi A5 and Infiniti G37, which start at or just under $41,000. 

Yet, when it’s all broken down into lease payments, this gussied-up Accord coupe sits a little too close to machines of seriously upscale pretensions to completely discount them as competition. The Honda is tangibly cheaper, but at $33,140 with the $2000 optional navigation system, it has to be the luxurious and dynamic real deal, or potential buyers might stretch to the next rung. 

The coupe’s styling makes a strong start at keeping buyers in the Honda showroom. This is a company that doesn’t follow the crowd in mixing its genres. Whereas the new Accord sedan is something of a revival of flatter-roof, larger-window, more-upright-windshield practicality in a market hastening toward four-door Lotus Esprits, the coupe is definitely a coupe. From an unapologetically three-box profile, the coupe melts down and puddles rearward into a pleasingly sloped wedge. It breaks the air with an upturned bank of narrow headlights fanning out from the grille, and follows through with flexed tendons in the sheetmetal running up the sides to the rear. Black cutouts in the bumpers add a whiff of racy air ducting, but in fact are just blanked-off, design-studio theater. Because the new, smaller Accord heralds the industry’s retreat to more sane dimensions in this class, the robotic-snowflake wheels manage to look big even at just 18 inches.

As with any coupe, the doors are longer and may require foam ­bumpers to be deployed in the garage, but the inner armrests and pockets are at least slimmed down for easier exits. Honda’s cockpit-design ethos has swayed little with the winds of time, remaining primarily dependent on yards of black plastic interstitched with stacked tiers speckled with buttons. One large super-knob, familiar to any driver of a higher-spec Honda or an Acura of the past 10 years, controls the upper information screen. 

What’s new is a second, smaller touch screen below, part of the EX and EX-L trim upgrades, that serves as the virtual radio console. This second screen is where the ergonomics turn silly. Its pixelated station-seeking buttons are a distraction to tap while driving, and the single, free-standing volume knob, while welcome, is needlessly lonely. By fitting a second knob for spin-tuning (the available real estate is ample and rotary car-radio knobs have been a winning design since the 1930s), Honda would have made the radio much easier to use. Note that you can’t buy any V-6 coupe without getting the touch screen.

Also, the Accord’s electronics are gallingly slow considering that its technology is hardly groundbreaking. As you spin and push the Honda’s super-knob to program the nav, the on-screen cursor alternately pauses and then skips wildly as the processor struggles to keep up with your inputs. Entering an address or syncing a Bluetooth phone is an exercise in target shooting. True, you can use the smaller touch screen to enter addresses directly using a virtual keyboard, which is that screen’s only really useful function. But history will record that profit-laden $2000 factory nav systems were killed off by $200 smartphones, and Honda was happy to help. 

With the coupe, Honda shows its strengths in other ways. If rear passengers are in the party, the back seats welcome them with an easy-slide front-seat release and a deep, supportive scalloping to the bench foam. Honda is not known for wasting millimeters, and in the coupe, a six-footer can sit behind a six-footer without a squeeze. The rear seatbacks also fold as one via a release in the trunk, so longer items need not be left at the curb. Aside from the electronics, the only serious design dribble is with the cutout for the door grab handle, which is placed right where the driver’s left elbow wants to perch. 

Honda’s signature red start button lights the 3.5-liter V-6. It rasps with a voice sharpened to penetrate the cabin. Note the elevated sound levels in the specs, especially the 83-dBA full-throttle reading. Not that we’re complaining. Stand on it, and this Honda sounds like a Honda, built around a precision engine with its power in the penthouse and one brisk elevator going up. 

It attains the 60-mph mark in a snappy 5.5 seconds. Nothing over five seconds is stunning these days, but it puts the coupe nearly even with a G37 and it whomps the Genesis and Audi A5 2.0T. The all-season Michelins mean that other performance indexes, such as the 0.86-g skidpad and the 169-foot braking, are less noteworthy and more aligned with the coupe’s genetic lineage. 

On the road, however, the Accord coupe feels as tightly wound as a sapper poking a land mine. The throttle is on a short fuse and the transmission is always primed and ready. It doesn’t wait to see if you’re serious before kicking down a couple of ratios. The light-but-tense steering responds right now, with a no-nonsense alertness. Slight tugs of wheel feedback hint at the hard work being done by the tires. The brakes have a deep reserve of capability and enough shading in their operation to set up a corner perfectly. Here is yet another Honda that proves front-drive cars can handle. 

Parts of this highly caffeinated coupe are a little too amped for the car’s own good, though. The suspension is just plain harsh, causing obnoxious head-toss where it should just be lightly thumping and bumping. And the transmission sometimes feels too eager, too rough, banging home the next gear unnecessarily or throwing a ragged downshift at you when you’re just coasting up to a light. 

It’s a strange machine, then, and hard to pigeonhole. Closer to its $24,140 four-cylinder-equipped base price, it makes more sense as a larger, steadfastly adult alternative to the Scion FR-S and similar. But at this price, its elegant but utilitarian interior and the tattle-tale squirm of the disproportionately heavy front end under acceleration never let you forget that it’s just the market’s best mainstream family taxi minus two doors. But it is also fast and edgy, at times a can of Red Bull on radials. It generates the performance stats of more-expensive cars, but without the brand cachet or the credibility of rear-wheel drive, a fact that will undoubtedly send some potential buyers walking. 

It is, in short, a car that defies assumptions even as it defies extinction.
Source;
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2013-honda-accord-ex-l-v-6-coupe-automatic-test-review-just-the-markets-best-mainstream-family-taxi-minus-two-doors-page-2