The 8:00 p.m. email simply asked, "What are you driving?"
A common enough question in our office, but when it comes from two Inside Line editors on assignment in Japan, it translates pretty quickly to, "Can you pick us up at the airport in the morning?"
Lucky for the boys, our long-term 2008 Honda Accord was already stashed in my garage. I responded with the affirmative, "What time?," safe in the knowledge that the Accord's 14-cubic-foot trunk would handle their personal luggage and camera gear, and my daughter's car seat wouldn't be in the way, either.
Had I gone for the Mini Cooper that night, they might've been thumbin' it...
Kelly Toepke, News Editor @ 4,251 miles
stovt001 says:
01:09 PM, 11/30/07
I drive a little Cobalt Coup, yet I still always manage to pull airport taxi duty. My friend, a mutual friend of all the people I usually pick up, drives a Ford Fusion, but does anyone ever ask her? No, its always me. Sigh.
tackepj says:
03:24 PM, 11/30/07
Good photo of the Accord. I must admit that the design is (very slowly) growing on me, and it sure is nice to see a mid-size sedan without a silly spoiler bolted onto the trunklid. Must be the front end that puts me off.
What's with the swage line on the sides, though? Looks like someone sideswiped a parking meter.
altimadude00 says:
04:09 PM, 11/30/07
I only have issues with the bulbous rump of Accords. Every time I see it I get flashes of Saturn L-Series. They could have done better with the lower valance on the front, but the rest of it is fine. Kinda looks like a BMW from the side (good for Honda, bad for Bimmer, maybe?)
stephen987 says:
07:30 PM, 11/30/07
I saw a white LX sedan from behind. Someone (here?) really nailed it when they described it as looking "like it was carved from a bar of prison soap."
carfreak8394 says:
08:38 PM, 11/30/07
tackepj,
I think that character line makes the Accord look a little more unique than other mid-size cars, like the Camry.
Does anyone else agree ?
stovt001 says:
11:54 AM, 12/ 1/07
It works on Acuras, it doesn't work here, IMHO
hondacura4 says:
01:43 PM, 12/ 1/07
The character line looks good from the angle in the above photo but most other angles it looks too "added on". It doesnt really flow with the overall design in some angles.
Takepj, like most new Honda designs they dont look good on paper. In person they tend to be better executed . When I first saw the sedan and coupe I prefered the sedan more. When I saw them at the dealer the EX-L V6 coupe was just stricking compared to the more mudane sedan. I woulnt go as far as saying the sedan is ugly, its just still a very conservative design.
blacke61 says:
03:46 AM, 12/ 3/07
I looked at the Camry and didn't really like it except for the trunk space. I was so amazed by the huge trunk space that I pulled out my golfbag and my wife's golfbag from my car and climbed inside the Cmary with them. My wife was pretty embarassed by the whole thing and in panick, just shut the lid on me. I wonder why some women are not capable of appreciating things like huge trunk space...
Anyway, how does the Accord's trunk space stack up? Is it bigger than the Camry's? How many golf bags can I fit in the trunk?
carfreak8394 says:
05:50 AM, 12/ 3/07
The Accord's trunk is 14.0 cubic feet and the Camry's is 14.5 cubic feet, I believe.
daytona_500 says:
09:59 AM, 12/ 3/07
Damn, 14 and 14.5 both sound really small. If I'm not mistaken the previous Camry had around 16 cubic feet. I wish Edmunds would get a Ford Taurus LT car so we could see how useful its trunk is, because I believe it has the biggest trunk of any car out there today.
On a side note, I saw my first 2008 Accord yesterday, it was in the same color as this one. Looks very good, a huge improvement for sure.
blacke61 says:
10:07 AM, 12/ 3/07
14.5 is small? I could have sworn I could at least put 4 golf bags in the Camry. At least the trunk space looked a lot bigger than the BMW 5 series' (and that one doesn't even contain a spare). Hmm... If I get a Taurus I can throw in 4 golf bags and a dead hoo.... Oops. I'll keep that to myself.
jriz says:
10:54 AM, 12/ 3/07
"I wish Edmunds would get a Ford Taurus LT car so we could see how useful its trunk is, because I believe it has the biggest trunk of any car out there today."
It does. Bigger than the Crown Vic and without the oddly shaped space and spare tire. Ford says it can Tetris eight golf bags in there, although with only enough space for five golfers, one wonders about that fact's usefulness. Either way, it's huge. In fact, here is a picture of a friend of mine in the trunk of a Montego.
tjbeck says:
11:01 AM, 12/ 3/07
If I used to get 4 sets of clubs in my '94 Civic Coupe trunk, I'm sure everyone can fit them in the new accord. Of course, I haven't figured out how to fit two bags in my '01 bmw 330 without folding seats... (one barely fits, diagonally)
estreka says:
02:48 PM, 12/ 3/07
Oh yeah? Well the S2000 can fit two bodies in it's trunk. :P
http://www.carspace.com/estreka/Albums/S2000/DSC00135.jpg/page/photo.html#pic
BTW, the guy on bottom is 6'4".
blacke61 says:
09:02 PM, 12/ 3/07
estreka, were they chopped up?
jaeger1 says:
07:12 PM, 12/ 6/07
Did someone really use the term "unique" to describe the exterior styling of the Accord? Man, I can hardly conceive of a more derivative, uninspired design. Beaut y really is in the eye of the beholder.
And hopefully someday I will be able to understand how the largest vehicle in its class ended up with the smallest trunk. This Accord makes the current Mazda 6 look like a Civic size-wize, but the Mazda still has a larger trunk. And then Honda had to cheap-out with those awful luggage-crusher hinges to further compromise usable cargo space. Go figure.
Jaeger