DRIVEN: 2019 Honda Accord LX 1.5t CVT

[regfootball]

DRIVEN: 2019 Honda Accord LX 1.5t CVT, MSRP under 25k

HIGHS:

-Roomy, spacious, front and back, and in the trunk.  Front seats reasonably comfortable.

-Interior design and quality of plastics entirely nice enough for this price class.  Clean, simple dash shape and console.  Fake wood is decent, plastics are nicely grained.  No complaints.

-Its nice to not be in too much of a bunker.  The side windows and glass area are generous enough that it is easier to see daylight out than some other competitors.  Good front, rear and side visibility, comparatively speaking.

-For a CVT, one of the better performing CVT's.  And with good get up and go with a heavier throttle foot push than you would expect out of 1500 cc's.

-Likewise, for a 1.5, the roll on acceleration is 'alright' as well.

-The handling, steering etc. was pretty good.  Maybe not worth the fellatio on Honda the buff books give the Accord, but nonetheless for this class of car it is at or near the top in this regard.  The ride, as well, not too bad. (no, it's not 'sporting')

-Dual zone climate comes standard with the LX.

-I liked that the LX had the traditional shift lever and not the buttons or dial.

-Simply put, a lot of the basics you need in this 'mid size' sedan class are satisfied well with the Accord.

LOWS:

-a CVT is still a CVT.  Still 'rubberbandy' and still seems disconnected.  Still laggy, and noise and drone.  Just so much less of it than the CVT's 10-15 years ago.  You just have to wonder how much more pleasing the car with be without the CVT and with a traditional stepped automatic.-

-all manufacturer's play the trim level and packaging games.  Even though this base trim had say, dual zone climate, you also don't have passive fob key access on the LX.  If you want true keyless entry, you need to step up to the EX.  Quite bush league / GM style.  I will have to go back and see what safety equipment is on the LX trim.  Power seat is missing here, which is truly acceptable for the LX I think, but you will want that as well.  Moving up the EX gains you CarPlay / Android Auto, and blind spot / cross path detection as well.  How do you expect to sell LX's without CarPlay or Android, I would ask Honda.

-I wanted to hope this car escaped the Honda problem of the last handful of years, that being loud inside, not taking suspension noise and dampening it very well, perception of NVH issues....'tin canny'.  It's like there is no sound deadener at all.  This has been my impression on multiple Hondas the last 3-5 years.  Stepping on the gas hard and getting the CVT drone only amplifies the problem even more.  I just deeply imagine how much nicer this car would be to give up 1 mpg to a stepped traditional automatic and to push some sound deadening in the floor and manage the suspension so it takes road imperfections much more quietly.  The perceived NVH is the biggest demerit of the car.

-while I am coming around to accepting the styling more and more, it still is challenge to be happy with the strange styling.  It really is going to take a lot to get this car out of the 'ugly' doghouse in my brain.  At least the shape is functional and contributes to the good mpg and large spacious interior and trunk.  It truly is up to the buyer to determine if they like the looks or not.  

-center console is a bit wide, knocks your leg a bit more than you'd like.  Not fond of the screen sticking up out of the top of the dash either, although functionally it is not a problem.

SUMMARY:

A very decent car overall.  But not manna from heaven the buff books would suggest, due to NVH issues and CVT.  If you can tolerate the styling, CVT, and NVH issues, then this is one of the better options left in a now declining market.  I wanted to test a Sport 2.0t and i imagine that will be a much more satisfying configuration.  All this said, this a car i could live with totally if i needed to.

Edited April 7, 2019 by regfootball

[daves87rs]

Yeah, it took a while, but the styling is finally growing on me.....

[regfootball]

for me its not the basic silhouette per se' , its some of the character lines on the upper part of the sides and how they flow into the hood, which the grille is awkward as well.  The greenhouse is ok and the flare from the drivers door into the front fender at the bottom, that's decent.

[regfootball]

I took an Accord Sport 2.0 out for a drive this weekend.  I'd write more about it, but need to put laundry away instead LOL

It was a good car but I don't think it should be glorified as much as the buff books say.  It is a very good car.  But it's still not attractive, and it's Honda plain inside (which is totally ok) and it could stand to still have less cabin noise and ride cushier.  The 2.0 powertrain is great, but for a turbo it seemed to lack the noticeable turbo lunge; I could see where someone who had the v6 Accord may not feel like they would prefer the new 4 pot turbo.  The 10 speed automatic is a HUGE upgrade over the base CVT, and the sport vs Eco mode really is a noticeable difference.  The steering was good but really didn't feel wayyyyy better than other cars I've driven.  I was impressed they have the pushbutton shifter in the sport now, and also the blind spot monitors, which I thought Honda didn't have.

I'd give the car a solid A for being well balanced all around but to be honest considering how much the car and driver's and other buff books suck the accord's teats so much I expected something on another level and IMO its good, just doesn't transcend itself into another price class or anything.  I'd have no issues driving one every day but it's not manna from heaven.

Edited August 5, 2019 by regfootball