2008 Honda Accord

Though the Accord is much larger than the last generation, it's also more powerful, pushing out 190 hp from a 2.4L I-4, giving the Accord an 8.2-sec 0-to-60 time.

Markus gave the Accord high marks for its "huge" rear seat, terrific visibility, and a nice lockable ski pass-through, but dinged it on the equally upsized trunk. "Not great -- decent space, but lots of intrusions, including two exposed, quaintly obsolete, goosenecks."

I can say, from my time in the Accord Coupe, that Honda has just put all other front-drive sedan and coupe manufacturers on notice. The 2008 Accord Coupe EX-L -- cute butt and all -- has just brought sexy back.

Now in its eighth generation, the Accord is longer, wider, taller, more powerful, and more fuel-efficient than its predecessor-traits that every buyer of a midsize family sedan can appreciate, certainly if the family is growing as quickly as gas prices are rising. With that in mind, we added to our long-term fleet a topline 2008 EX-L V-6 sedan, replete with Honda's fuel-saving Variable Cylinder Management system, to determine if the Accord's step up in size and technology will keep it at the top of its class after 12 months of rigorous duty.

Unlike VCM in the Odyssey, though, which can switch only from six- to three-cylinder power, the Accord's system operates in six-, four-, or three-cylinder mode, the middle by deactivating one cylinder per bank and for, say, driving on the freeway at high speeds. With three-mode VCM, the Accord V-6, mated to a five-speed automatic, will achieve estimated fuel economy of 19/29 mpg-markedly superior to the 3.0 liter's 18/26 ...

The 2008 Honda Accord Coupe is a now bona-fide sport coupe, with the specs to back it up: control-arm front suspension, six-speed manual transmission, and a 268-horsepower V-6 engine capable of churning up lung-searing clouds of tire smoke in seconds.

"As for the often discussed issue of the Accord's growth in size," says Truck Trend Editor Mark Williams, "It's a lot of yelling about nothing. It certainly isn't small and it's noticeably bigger than the previous Accord, but it's not actually that much bigger -- 4.8 inches longer, 1.2 inches wider, and 1.0 inch taller -- and it hardly represents steroid-fueled growth like that of the Scion xB, for example."

If you've grown weary of reading reviews in which automotive journalists wax endlessly about Honda's manual gearboxes, we sympathize, but we don't apologize. Once again, the Accord, which is all-new for 2008, has one of the sweetest-shifting manual transmissions on the market.

Honda's V-6 makes sense in the Accord coupe, but for this generation of Accord four-door, the less-expensive model is in many ways the most desirable. Get yourself a four-cylinder, stick-shift version of Honda's perennially popular sedan, and you, too, will bore family, friends, and neighbors with endless praise for your sweet-shifting Honda.

Just look at the new, way-attitudinal Accord coupe. Where Accord styling used to err on the side of apologetic - "Hello, I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm the Accord" - the 2008 Accord coupe, with its raked side glass and chunky, aggressive front end, gets in your face right away with some Samuel L. Jackson swagger. It is not a polite car. And, I say, it's about time.

Like previous Accords, the '08 is heavy, measuring in at 3,459 pounds when equipped with navigation, which means it's a couple hundred pounds portlier than its predecessor.

...the '08, six-speed Accord is our kind of Accord: quick, responsive, fun...not your mother's Accord.

All-new, the 2008 Honda Accord impresses with what you don't see, don't feel, and don't hear. There's no gee-whiz gadget, two-tone animal-on-animal upholstery, or 400-hp engine to get worked up about. There's also next to no learning curve to operate it, no weak spots in the powertrain, no unnecessary or intrusive noise, no bad manners in how it responds to driver direction, next to nothing bad for the environment, and no excuse for not asking directions since you can do that without winding down a window. It's a case where a lack of superlative aspects (and the frequent compromises accompanying them) is a very good thing. In short, the new Honda Accord is a great midsize sedan. It's also available as a stylish, trouble-free coupe