Front three quarters shot of my silver Accord Hybrid Touring parked on asphalt in front of a cloudy sky and some shrub-covered hillsWe've all heard it before: the Honda Accord is a great car. Especially when compared against its primary rival, the Toyota Camry, the Accord has always been the sportier, more fun-to-drive option in the midsize family sedan segment. I hadn't driven a modern Honda Accord prior to this press loan, but I went into my week-long evaluation with high expectations, and I was still massively impressed by the car.Initially I wanted to do a comparison test between the 2026 Toyota Camry that I had a few weeks before I had this Accord Hybrid Touring, but the Camry was a less well-equipped Nightshade Edition, so I decided to do two separate reviews. But, considering that the Camry is exclusively sold as a hybrid now, I can still draw comparisons between the two Japanese best sellers' respective driving characteristics, and the Accord would be my pick. With playful handling, a spunky and efficient hybrid powertrain, as well as a silent, luxurious, and user-friendly interior, the Accord really won me over. It made me yearn for the enthusiast-focused 2.0-liter turbocharged engine and manual transmission option from the prior generation, but it's still a damn good car.Full disclosure: Honda gave me a fully loaded 2025 Accord Hybrid Touring to live with for a full week, use as my daily driver, and evaluate it. The hybrid powertrain is a winnerAn underhood shot looking at the Accord Hybrid's powertrainThe 11th-generation Honda Accord reached American roads in 2023, which is three years ago now, if you can believe it. Honda kept the turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-4 gasoline engine and naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four-cylinder hybrid powertrain options from its predecessor. My press car was a hybrid, as were over 50% of all Accords sold in 2025. It has Honda's two-motor hybrid system, with total outputs of 204 horsepower and 247 lb-ft of torque. Because of its unique design, there is no traditional transmission or CVT needed for driving, and rather than controlling the gears, the steering wheel–mounted paddles control brake regeneration, a unique and much appreciated feature on a traditional hybrid.The hybrid powertrain is both the more powerful engine option in the Accord and naturally the most efficient, but even the standard turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder and CVT combo make a healthy 192 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque. It also returns respectable fuel economy numbers for an ICE car, with EPA ratings of 29 mpg in the city, 37 on the highway and 32 mpg combined for baseLX cars, and one less in all scenarios in SE trim.Logan K. Carter/ JalopnikThe Accord Hybrid EX-L is the most efficient trim level, and it's EPA rated at 51 mpg in the city, 44 mpg on the highway, and 44 mpg combined. The Hybrid Touring is slightly less efficient, rated at 46 mpg in the city, 44 mpg on the highway, and 41 mpg combined. Despite a lot of hard driving, I got about 38 mpg over my week with the car, which is mighty impressive. For reference, the 2026 Toyota Camry Nightshade Edition I drove prior to the Accord managed the exact same average fuel economy over my week-long loan. The Camry's EPA ratings are generally a bit higher than the Accord's, returning as much as 53 mpg in the city and 50 mpg on the highway in base LE trim, but as always, your mileage will vary.With a total output of 204 horsepower, 12 more than the base turbo motor, the hybrid is the highest-performing powertrain in the Accord at the moment. The prior-generation Accord's optional turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder, which was even available with a manual transmission, wasn't brought to this new generation. I never got to drive an Accord fitted with that powertrain, but after living with this Accord Hybrid Touring, I know the old 2.0T's 252 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque must have been a total blast. Alas... Changes for 2026 are minorA wide shot from the rear seat looking at the entire dashboard in the black interior of the Accord Hybrid Touring with some dead grass out the windshieldThe only changes that reach the Accord for 2026 are limited to the larger 9-inch infotainment system with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and a wireless charger becoming standard equipment, new 19-inch wheels for the SE, and black window trim for the Sport Hybrid. Considering this generation of Accord was introduced just three years ago, the lack of updates for 2026 make sense.Fortunately, the 2026 Accord gets a similarly minimal price increase, and $100 of that is due to an increased destination charge, now up to $1,195. The cheapest Honda Accord LX is $200 more expensive than last year at $29,590, while the cheapest Accord Hybrid you can buy, the Accord Sport, starts $240 more than last year, now $34,990. My test car was a top trim Accord Hybrid Touring, and its only extra-cost option was the $455 Urban Gray Pearl paint, which brought the MSRP up to $40,850 including destination. (My test car was actually a 2025 model year vehicle, but there are no changes made to the Touring trim level for 2026, so this review covers both model years.)Logan K. Carter/ JalopnikThose prices are slightly higher than a comparable Toyota Camry, especially when you consider that even the base Camry LE is a hybrid now, costing just $30,295 including destination. The top Camry XSE starts out at $36,695, but when you add the Premium Plus Package, which brings its feature content in line with the Accord Hybrid Touring, that price just manages to leapfrog past the Accord, up to $41,455. The Accord shocked me with its brilliance, twiceA rear three-quarters shot of the silver Accord Hybrid Touring parked on asphalt in front of a cloudy sky and a shrub-covered hillDriving the Accord Hybrid Touring was a delightful experience. In town and on the highway it felt quiet, peppy, and comfortable. The hybrid drivetrain is extremely smooth and refined at low speeds, and the brake blending is done masterfully. Every aspect of the car is remarkably user friendly and well thought out.Similarly, all of the interior controls are supremely straightforward, easy to acquaint yourself with, and feel expensive. These are all traits I expect from an industry stalwart like the Honda Accord, but there were two aspects of the car that really blew me away with their brilliance: the truly cavernous interior space, and the genuinely fun driving dynamics.Logan K. Carter/ JalopnikThe Accord is utterly massive inside. I'm 6-foot-8 with long legs, and I fit comfortably both in the driver's seat and when sitting behind my preferred driving position, which is always slid all the way back and down. Sitting behind myself in the Camry was not as pleasant, particularly because the Camry's roofline cuts into rear-seat headroom. When I crawled behind my preferred driving position in the Accord, I was met with enough space to sit upright without my head brushing the ceiling, and I felt like I had more legroom. The specs reflect that, as the Accord is rated at 40.8-inches of rear-seat legroom, where the Camry only offers 38 inches, but if you are anywhere near-or-below average height, you'll still appreciate the Accord's oodles of wiggle room.As you may be able to tell from my photos, I shot the Accord Hybrid quite far up Angeles Crest Highway, higher than I usually go, and that's because I was having so much fun driving it that I didn't want to stop. This front-wheel-drive sedan sticks to the road like glue, a feeling that's amplified by the powertrain's middling performance. The steering is nicely communicative, precise, and direct without feeling twitchy, and the brakes can stand up to a lot of abuse.Since there's not an overwhelming amount of power, I ended up trying to hold as much speed as I could through the bumpy turns on this famous driving road, and the Accord never disappointed me, even achieving some off-throttle rotation that kept things feeling playful and positive. I was genuinely staggered by its roadholding capabilities, and how fun it was to push harder. It ain't all goodA head-on shot of the silver Accord Hybrid Touring parked on asphalt in front of a shrub-covered hill and a cloudy skyI've spent a lot of this review gushing about the Accord, so before you all go into the comments and claim that we're being bankrolled by Honda to say good things about its cars, there are some drawbacks.I feel like I'm beating a dead horse here when I say this, but I resent the discontinuation of the more powerful Accord 2.0T. I say this because while the hybrid drivetrain generally felt peppy around town, that feeling dissipated as speeds rose. This was exacerbated by the fact that I was driving uphill on mountain roads and not doing its intended use case of commuting, but given how capable and sorted the chassis felt, I would appreciate a bit more power.https://www.jalopnik.com/the-2023-honda-accord-starts-at-28-390-1849949071/My biggest gripe with the Accord is concerning its adaptive cruise control system. The lane-keeping assist was inconsistent and frequently just pinballed the car between the lane lines, and I had a couple scary instances of it not recognizing that vehicles were merging ahead of me, requiring my intervention. Especially when compared with the rest of the refined, composed qualities that make up the Accord, these behaviors really stood out.The multi-view camera system is also disappointing, with bad image stitching and bad image quality as a whole. That and the fact that the Bose Premium Audio system sounded unremarkable to my ears were the biggest giveaways that I was behind the wheel of a more volume-oriented model rather than a dedicated luxury car. Aside from those gripes, though, the Accord Hybrid Touring does a remarkable job punching above its price class. You should probably buy an AccordA rear shot of the silver Accord Hybrid Touring parked on asphalt in front of a shrub-covered mountainsideIn case you couldn't tell, I was thoroughly impressed with the 2025 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring. What can I say, it's not very often that you find such a compelling combination of refinement, affordability, efficiency, spaciousness, and driving enjoyment.If your primary motive in choosing your next car is stretching your dollar as far as it can go, then the Camry is the better choice, because it's cheaper and returns 2 mpg better than the Accord. If you need to transport larger humans or if you want a superior driving experience, then the Accord will be the most satisfying choice. It's the midsize sedan I would spend my money on. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox, and add us as a preferred search source on Google.