I'm a huge Honda fan so I was eager to drive the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour, particularly since a friend here at Edmunds wants one as a family hauler. I agree with Dan Edmunds' driving impressions, and I particularly like the steering feel and the firmness of the suspension.
But unlike Dan's trip through the desert, my drive was 31 miles along a freeway with four to six lanes in each direction. Cars, trucks and motorcycles are coming at you from every direction. The rear visibility is severly restricted by the divided rear window. But more noticeable is the way the tapered back end eliminates any chance of checking the right rear blind spot. Shooting a look over your right shoulder gives you no information. You are completely reliant on your mirrors.
Some drivers never turn and directly check the right blind spot before changing lanes. But I need the security that there isn't a small vehicle, or a low car like the Mazda Miata -- or even a motorcycle -- there before I change lanes.
Philip Reed, Edmunds Senior Consumer Advice Editor @ 2,966 miles
makakio says:
08:50 AM, 03/12/10
Why not just add two small fisheye mirrors to the side mirrors? EVERY car should have these.
lug1115 says:
08:53 AM, 03/12/10
From the angle shown in the photo, it looks like the grille sticks out from the rest of the front end by a good six inches. Not the most flattering angle. The car looks good at this angle from the rear right up to the front windshield, but that front end reminds me of the hook nose from the witch in the Wizard of Oz.
wobbly_ears says:
08:59 AM, 03/12/10
"...particularly since a friend here at Edmunds wants one as a family hauler."
Who is this blasphemer??
jasond52 says:
09:00 AM, 03/12/10
Yeah, I don't understand why cars don't have fisheye mirrors. I drive a 43 foot motorhome and there are absolutely no blind spots because of the very effective mirror combination (regular and fisheye).
g8gtnorth says:
09:19 AM, 03/12/10
Oh ffs guys. Motorhome, yes. Enclosed cube van, yes. Pickup with a gigantic trailer, yes. On a regular passenger vehicle? No. This is a matter of poor design/engineering. You should not need fisheye mirrors on any regular sedan, suv, hatch, crossover what have you.
brn says:
09:20 AM, 03/12/10
Fisheye mirrors? Yea, that won't mess with your average driver. /s
Just lower the beltline and butt to where they should be.
notabigdeal says:
09:29 AM, 03/12/10
fisheye mirrors are positively ugly... why have one if you can take half a sec to look back...
carguy622 says:
09:37 AM, 03/12/10
If you just adjust the mirrors properly you won't need to worry as much. You absolutely should still look over your shoulder, but it make the situation a lot better.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/how_to/4234574.html
bc1960 says:
09:40 AM, 03/12/10
This problem, such as it is, is hardly unique to the Crosstour. The divided rear window did not strike me as terribly different than any number of sedans with tall rear wings sprouting from their decklids--I think "severely restricted" by that alone is a little exaggerated. The biggest problem is the width/thickness of modern d-pillars combined with the width of the frame underneath the glass--on some vehicles the windows are a lot smaller than they look on the outside. I haven't sat in all of them, but some of the vehicles I think might be problematic include the Chevy Equinox, the Infiniti FXnn, and the Cadillac CTS wagon, and even your long-term Insight, although in the latter two the problem is not compounded by the ever-popular elevated ride height which people claim increases their visibility.
hybris says:
09:44 AM, 03/12/10
I can go with a split fisheye mirror but what I want to see is just larger mirrors on cars.
Its a real shock to me when I go from my truck with 3.5in square mirrors to my fathers Mercedes with more of a 2.5 in rectangle mirror. Of course the way to get around the small mirror is to "bob and weave" and check your blind spots.
mptlptr says:
10:17 AM, 03/12/10
carguy622: Can you still judge the closing speed of other cars in your left mirror? I've found that if I adjust my mirrors as mentioned in the article, then all the left mirror is looking at is the blind spot and it's no longer useful for judging closing speed. Sure, you can look in the rearview mirror for this, but who does that when doing a lane change to the left?
I know, larger mirrors would definitely help.
foxtrot685 says:
10:25 AM, 03/12/10
i agree with hybris. one of hte things that i love about my focus is the "real estate" the sideview and rearview mirrors have. i hate these newer cars that have the more oval shaped mirrors. yeah they look pretty but the cars not going to look pretty when someone clobbers into the side of a silverado because of horrible mirrors. i still check over my shoulder just for peace of mind
rsholland says:
10:31 AM, 03/12/10
"The rear visibility is severly restricted by the divided rear window. But more noticeable is the way the tapered back end eliminates any chance of checking the right rear blind spot. Shooting a look over your right shoulder gives you no information."
As soon as I first saw this car, that's the first thing that came to my mind: lousy rear visibility.
I could care less about the styling, the rear visibility, or lack-there-of, would be a deal killer for me.
1487 says:
10:45 AM, 03/12/10
that picture above shows possibly the most unflattering angle for this car. It looks outdated already.
prndlol says:
10:56 AM, 03/12/10
I'm beginning to notice that my mood is adversely affected each time i look at an image of this car.
zoomzoom22 says:
11:09 AM, 03/12/10
Ick, this is the worst angle for the Crosstour. Look at that horseface!
It looks MUCH better from the front:
http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/reviews/car/09q4/2010_honda_accord_crosstour_4wd-short_take_road_test/gallery/2010_honda_accord_crosstour_ex_photo_21/2976306-1-eng-US/2010_honda_accord_crosstour_28_cd_gallery.jpg
And I actually really like how it looks here:
http://www.automedia.com/cs/blogs/auto_news/2010-Honda-Accord-Crosstour.jpg
Still, I wonder who'd buy this when the TSX wagon with no bad angles is coming soon.
jaeger1 says:
11:40 AM, 03/12/10
It is all but impossible to overstate the ugliness of this vehicle.
1487 says:
12:29 PM, 03/12/10
that grille is really the worst part.
carguy622 says:
04:20 PM, 03/12/10
@mptlptr: That's though to say. I can see where it can be a problem, but usually I am getting ready to change lanes with enough time to see the car in my rearview mirror first and plan accordingly. Truthfully, I use the rearview initially to see if there is someone close by and then check the side view mirror. So I guess I'm that person who checks the rearview to pass on the left. I use my side view mirrors to double check my surroundings, and over look over my shoulder to triple check.
I've had my mirrors like this for a long time, but I know when I first adjusted them it took some getting used to.
aznraptor says:
10:17 PM, 03/14/10
why not adjust the mirrors wider and add those small circular mirrors (fish eyes right?)
that's how my RSX was when I got it. I use the mirrors to check my sides when finally making a lane change, use the fish eye mirrors for parking (see where the curb is) and to get a more general idea of if there are cars or not