Honda Accord Coupe
Ford’s current advertising and razzle-dazzle media promotions aren’t letting people forget that its Taurus sedan beat Honda’s Accord to become the top-selling car last year, with sales of 409,751 units.
And Ford isn’t likely to let anyone forget the Taurus’ top-dog status for the rest of the year because bragging rights for having the No. 1 auto often translate into lots of extra sales.
Even so, many car buyers likely will remember that the Honda Accord Coupe, which I recently tested, was the top seller from 1989 through 1991, and that Taurus won by only 16,274 sales last year.
The rather blandly styled Honda Accord Coupe was dethroned by the worthy, made-in-Chicago Taurus only after Ford, which has more dealers than Honda, poured millions of bucks into customer and dealer incentives to make the Taurus king.
Ford, which also makes the Taurus in Atlanta, even set up a “war room” in Detroit, where employees sweated over banks of telephones to urge dealers to sell more Tauruses.
Honda offered Accord incentives, but didn’t push as much. Politically astute Honda could have fought harder, but was wary that pro-Detroit, auto-protectionist sentiment in Congress might be worsened if the Accord edged out the Taurus. Japanese automakers take a long view. They think in terms of years, not in terms of quarterly or annual sales reports, and often pull in their horns when politically necessary.
The 1993 front-wheel-drive Honda Accord Coupe has a fourth-generation design. It was last redone in 1990, when it grew from a compact auto to a mid-size model that competes in the highly competitive mid-size market also occupied by the Taurus.
Most Accord sedans sold in this country are assembled in Ohio, while all Honda Accord Coupes and wagons are built there. They’re high-quality cars.
An all-new Accord arrives in 1994. So there’s little new for 1993 Accords, other than a Special Edition (SE) model that’s sold as a sedan and a coupe with only a four-speed automatic transmission.
When a model gets old, an automaker dresses it with special items to prolong appeal until a successor arrives. Thus, the SE sedan and coupe have leather upholstery, special alloy wheels and a premium Bose audio system.
Both SEs also have a driver’s air bag, but the SE sedan adds a passenger’s air bag, and the SE coupe gets a rear trunk air spoiler. Other 1993 Accord models have new colors and trim.
Accords are priced from $13,750 for the base DX two-door notchback model with a five-speed manual transmission to $21,720 for the Accord SE sedan with the automatic.
Add $330 for transportation charges, and you’ve got a $22,000-plus mid-size sedan that lacks the roomy rear-seat area of competitors. Three adults are a squeeze in the rear, and a tall person behind a tall driver who has pushed back his seat doesn’t have enough knee room.
Things are better in the roomy front seat, where the driver has great all-around visibility, comfortable bucket seats with good support and dashboard controls and instrumentation that are a model of user-friendliness. While headroom is just so-so for tall occupants in the front or rear, the deep, wide trunk is easy to load.
Ford Taurus buyers have a choice of three six-cylinder engines, but the Accord comes only with two versions of its 2.2-liter four-cylinder, overhead-camshaft motor. Indeed, some find it amazing that the Accord, which is due to get a six-cylinder engine next year, was a best-seller here with only a four-cylinder in a land known for wide-open spaces that encourage fast driving.
The lower-priced Accord DX and LX models have a 125-horsepower version of the four, but the higher-line SE and EX Accords have a version that pumps out 140 horsepower – thanks to a dual-state intake manifold and more elaborate exhaust manifold.
The Accord four-cylinder is unusually smooth, with counter-rotating balance shafts and dual-range hydraulic engine mounts to eliminate typical four-cylinder roughness and vibration.
Still, my test car’s 140-horsepower four-cylinder snarled and strained a bit during hard acceleration. And vibration could be felt through the steering wheel rim when the transmission was in the “drive” mode, and I was waiting, with a foot on the brake, for traffic lights to turn green.
Acceleration of the 140-horsepower, automatic-transmission Accord is lively (0-60 m.p.h. in 9.8 seconds) and sufficient for safe passing on highways or quick expressway merges if the car isn’t loaded with people and luggage. The automatic transmission often shifts in a harsh, jerky manner.
Fuel economy is 24 m.p.g. in the city and 31 on highways with both horsepower versions of the engine and manual transmision, and 22 and 28 with the automatic and both the 125- or 140-horsepower four-cylinder.
A longish, 107.1-inch wheelbase helps ensure a supple ride, and a firm suspension ensures nimble handling. The quick, direct power steering offers decent road feel, and the standard anti-lock brakes – offered, unfortunately, only on the SE and EX – provide quick, tension-free stops.
The Accord has a good reputation for quality and resale value, but you really must love a leather interior to justify the stiff SE model prices.
