As Honda Accord revamps go, this 2023 revision is a little more understated than most. From the outside, it looks pretty much the same, despite Honda’s protestations that the eleventh-gen version of the car is longer, sleeker, and boasts more premium proportions. Shorn of its badges, no automotive consumer worth their internet search button would mistake the 2023 Honda Accord for anything other than, well, a Honda Accord. For those that shop America’s best-selling passenger car (over the last 50 years, cumulatively speaking, says data from Ward’s) continuity is next to Godliness.
Under the covers, however, there’s a different story, namely that the hybrid has ascended to the top of the model range, the Sport, EX-L, Sport-L, and Touring models all boasting two-motor electrification. Only the two base trims — EX and EX-L — are purely fossil-fuelled and, even then, it’s by Honda’s now tried-and-true 1.5-litre turbocharged four. Largely unchanged, it’s still good for 192 horsepower and mated to a CVT.
Eagle eyes will notice that no mention has been made of the 2.0-litre turbocharged four that used to sit atop the range. That’s because it’s gone the way of the dodo, confined, at least as it pertains to the Accord, to Honda history. Its place has been taken, as I said, by the hybrid models.
2023 Honda Accord Photo by Honda
2023 Honda Accord Photo by Honda
2023 Honda Accord Photo by Honda
2023 Honda Accord Photo by Honda
2023 Honda Accord Photo by Honda
Honda says say the hybrid is more powerful than the 2022 version. That’s kinda, sorta true. For one thing, Honda says the two electric motors that help the all-new 2.0-litre naturally-aspirated Atkinson-cycle four along are torque-ier. And the numbers (again kinda, sorta) back that up, the net system torque — both electric motors and the gas engine combined — up some 15 foot-pounds, to 247 lb-ft.
That said, the combined system horsepower now sits at 204 hp. A quick perusal of Accord Hybrids previous would suggest that’s eight ponies shy of the 2022 model, its peak “system” horsepower 212 hp. Like I said, kinda, sorta. Honda makes no mention of the new hybrid’s fuel economy, but let’s hope that all that torque means the electric motors are more “active” in their propulsion and reduce the load on the gas engine.
Honda says it’s also made the Accord “more fun to drive” — one never gets tired of quoting cliches, does one? — through the addition of stiffer body supports and front brace bars, since frame rigidity is another thing Honda thinks next to Godliness. Ditto for the all-wheel independent suspension, which, along with front suspension damper mount bearings and ball joints, contributes to all that fun.
2023 Honda Accord Photo by Honda
The ”sporty and modern” interior is noticeably more upscale, however. Whether it’s the infotainment system — now with Google “built-in” and a huge 12.3-inch touchscreen in the hybrid models — or the 12-speaker Bose audio system, the Accord’s cabin looks more like a mid-range Audi than a family-hauler for those masses not yet sucked into an SUV. The dashboard is striking, the touchscreen integration sophisticated, and even the centre console is novel.
It should also be more comfortable and roomy. On the first front, the front seats are now labelled “Body Stabilizing.” Whether that’s simply Honda’s marketing department trying to steal some of Nissan’s Zero Gravity thunder or there’s actually something stabilizing about the seats, we’ll only know when we get a test drive. What we can say with more certainty is that there’s plenty of space inside the new Accord, there being 105.7 cubic feet inside the passenger compartment, the leading figure amongst family sedans, says Honda. The trunk, meanwhile, can house as much as 16.7 cubes, and all Accords boast fold-down seats.
In the “smart” department, the Accord gets all manner of upgrades. As I mentioned, Google is now “built in,” which means Google Assistant, Google Maps, and more on Google Play will always be at hand to select vehicle functions by voice, get directions and live traffic updates, and to download music, podcasts and audiobooks (this last hopefully not when driving).
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also available, as is a Qi-compatible 15-watt wireless smartphone charger on the top-of-the-line hybrid Touring model. All Accords also get two USB-C ports in the front, while EX-L and Touring models get two more in the back. It’s worth noting that although base EX and EX-L trims only have a 7.0-inch touchscreen interface, they nonetheless get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, too.
2023 Honda Accord Photo by Honda
On the safety front, the Accord boasts no fewer than 10 airbags including two knee airbags and revised front airbags that are claimed to reduce the possibility of brain injury in a collision. The new Accord also sees an updated Honda Sensing driver assistive system, enhanced by a new camera with a wider 90-degree field of view, and wide-angle radar with a 120-degree field of view.
Both improve collision-prevention performance via improved ability to recognize objects, differentiating, for instance, between vehicles and pedestrians, as well as distinctions in boundaries such as white lines and curbs and road signs. The Blind Spot Information (BSI) system has been expanded with 82 feet of radar range now available. And the 2023’s Traffic Jam Assist (TJA) is a first for Accord.
As of yet, there’s no official date for delivery, but we suspect that hybrids will be delivered in the first quarter of 2023. We’ll also have to wait a little longer for 2023 pricing.
Keyword: All-new 2023 Honda Accord puts emphasis on hybrid