2018 Honda Accord and Toyota Camry: A closer look

DETRIOT: The recent world debut of the 2018 Honda Accord in Detriot, came hot on the heels of the launch of the 2018 Toyota Camry, and showed how ferocious the competition is in the midsize sedan segment in North America.

Carsifu takes a closer look at the design and packaging for these two popular 2018 D-segment models, which carry themes that would eventually be featured on the Accord and Camry models for other markets.

2018 Honda Accord

2018 Honda Accord Touring

The 10th-generation Accord gets a tonne of new technologies including direct-injected and turbocharged engines, the world’s first 10-speed automatic transmission for a front-drive car and a new generation of Honda’s two-motor hybrid technology.

It’s also sportier looking and more spacious, with a longer wheelbase, a lower overall height and wider body, wider wheel tracks, a shortened overall length and lower, sportier seating position.

Also, the longer wheelbase allowed the second-row seats to be moved substantially rearward, giving Accord almost 2 extra inches of rear leg room.

2018 Honda Accord Touring

Overall aerodynamic efficiency is improved by 3 percent to make it the most streamlined Accord yet.

The new Accord has a 10mm lower center of gravity.

It also has crisper turn-in and steering response, due to lighter-weight turbocharged engines and other body design changes that reduce the vehicle’s moment of inertia.

In the United States, for 2018, all Accords will feature the full suite of Honda Sensing safety and driver-assistive technologies as standard equipment.

2018 Honda Accord Touring

Honda Sensing includes Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), Lane Departure Warning, Road Departure Mitigation, Adaptive Cruise Control with Low-Speed Follow and new Traffic Sign Recognition.

Other driver-assistive technologies include Blind Spot Information, front and rear parking sensors, Cross Traffic Monitor and Driver Awareness Monitor; and all models feature a Multi-Angle Rearview Camera with dynamic guidelines.

2018 Toyota Camry

The 2018 Toyota Camry, the best-selling car in America for the past 15 years, has a face accentuated by a two-piece grille based on Toyota’s “Keen Look” design philosophy.

The eighth-generation sedan also has a sleeker profile, with a curvaceous 1.6-inch-lower aluminum hood that sits neatly above the grille’s uppermost section.

Building on the Camry’s undisputed reputation as an extremely smooth and quiet car in its class, Toyota engineers incorporated a variety of new noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) countermeasures that were previously found exclusively on luxury models.

These include sound absorbing/insulation through the fitment of a hood insulator and upper and lower fender separator.

Wind noise has been suppressed through a newly-designed rain gutter molding and a reduction in the step at the bottom of the windshield.

The new Camry also gets a new Direct Shift-8AT eight-speed automatic transmission and a new double wishbone rear suspension, for a more refined drive.

The new Direct Shift 8-speed automatic transmission provides crisp-yet-smooth, quick-shifting capability of a performance-oriented gearbox.

The new gearbox features a torque converter that offers a wider range of lock-up (when compared to the previous 6-speed automatic transmission) for a more direct driving feel while contributing to improved fuel efficiency through suppressed engine revving.

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More Photos: 2018 Honda Accord