2008 Honda Accord Coupe LX-S, Pictures, part 2

A few pictures from the interior of the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe. A continuation from the first part of the Review, found at: http://bobbypd.blogspot.com/2008/05/review-of-2008-honda-accord-coupe-lx.html.



Unlike the Civic (which used mostly LEDS), the Accord uses actual dials on its instrumentation panel.



You've heard it before probably, but the Accord has a lot of buttons on the center instrument panel. After a while it grows on you, but I still take a while before finding the exact button I'm looking for - not fun when I'm driving!

The space in front of the clock is a perfect place to stick a GPS unit on (you can see the cradle for my Garmin 360 in this picture). The CD player has room for 6-cds. The steering wheel has buttons for radio/CD station, volume control, and cruise control.



The space in the back is quite limited in the Honda Accord Coupe. The rear windows are also small and really hard to see out of while driving. This is the Ivory-colored cloth interior.

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A Review of the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe LX, with Pictures

This is a review of the 2008 Honda Accord LX-S Coupe, 4-Cylinder, Automatic Transmission (Eighth Generation). I bought this car just over a month ago and have put about 1000 miles on it to date. For comparison purposes: I am 6'1" and about 200 lbs. My previous car was a 2007 Honda Civic Coupe, a review of which is here.

more images at part 2 of this review: http://bobbypd.blogspot.com/2008/06/2008-honda-accord-coupe-lx-s-pictures.html

In the time I've had the car, I've filled up 5 times, averaging 21 MPG as my actual real MPG, with about 75% city driving. I use the recommended 87 octane regular unleaded, usually from Sunoco and Exxon. (For comparison, the average MPG of my old Civic was 26 MPG). My lowest MPG has been 17.8 (the first fill-up, mostly city miles) and my highest 24.3 (with 100% highway driving that particular fill-up), giving me a somewhat disappointing MPG. This is definitely not the 21/31 MPG that Honda has advertised - I understand that no car gets its advertised mileage, but still...I wasn't expecting my mileage to be right at their lowest estimate. The 2008 Honda Accord gas tank has a capacity of 18.5 gallons.







phrawr. click to see full-size image.

Everyone I drive by stops and gawks, and I get lots of compliments, so there is no denying that this coupe is a real winner in the looks department (especially this belize blue pearl color) - but you don't need me to tell you - this thing is sexy! I definitely prefer the look of the coupe to the sedan, but that's up to you, though personally, I feel that the 2008 Accord sedan is a real step backward in the looks department from previous generations - it really looks like a Hyundai. So I'm really glad that Honda made the 2008 Accord coupe look radically different from its four-door sibling.

Driving

I feel confident passing cars at highway speeds, and the 4-cylinder, 190-horsepower engine is more than enough for everyday driving. Normal highway speeds keep the engine in the low-2000 RPM range. I sometimes feel like I should have gotten the v6, BUT really, with gas at around $3.80, I'm glad I didn't. And really, the performance of the I4 engine is more than ample for city driving or highway cruising.

The coupe is hard to see around, however. I cannot see down the hood of my car, nor can I see my trunk that well. And really, there's a lot of junk in the trunk, so I'm always concerned about hitting something when backing up. Seeing around the sides of the car is also a challenge, since the curtain airbags take up a lot of space along the sides, reducing the rear side windows to tiny triangles – just barely of any use, and because the sides are quite high.

I'm a tall person and this car fits me perfectly (this was an issue with my Civic). A friend who drives a large SUV said that he somehow feels that my car is more spacious feeling than his - at least in the front seats. The back seats are ok, but headroom is significantly reduced due to the dramatically raked roof, and the legroom is very minimal. I’d suggest only children and/or shorter people should sit back there for long rides. Specs from Honda, Two Door, 2008 Honda Accord Coupe LX:

Interior Measurements
Headroom (in., front/rear): 39.1 / 35.9
Legroom (in., front/rear): 42.2 / 33.1
Shoulder Room (in., front/rear): 58.4 / 54.5
Hiproom (in., front/rear): 56.4 / 46.3

Exterior Measurements
Wheelbase (in.): 107.9
Length (in.): 190.9
Height (in.): 56.4
Width (in.): 72.8
Track (in., front/rear): 62.2 / 62.2
Curb Weight (lbs., MT/AT): 3221 / 3283

Other Stuff:


Fresh from a wash and wax. Phrawr!

This is the 2008 Honda Accord, LX model, so there is no moonroof. This is something I sometimes wish I got, but thinking back to my Civic, I was a little bit concerned about the headroom that it would take up - I'm much happier with so much headroom. The seats are firm, but comfortable, and controlled manually. The LX model comes with 2 power outlets, and an aux jack for iPods, etc, with a 160-watt audio system. The audio system is noticeably weaker than the 270-watt system I had in my Civic, but it's fine. FM reception can be a little bit spotty at times, and I'm not sure why because I didn't have this issue in my Civic; however, most of the time it gets good reception.

Both the driver and passenger have lighted-vanity mirrors, and powered windows and rear-view mirrors. The trunk space is sufficient to "fit in at least two dead bodies", according to the dealer. It really is spacious; however, the rear seats do not fold flat so don't expect to use the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe to haul cargo. The rear seats do fold down, but leave about a 30 degree angle, not flat, and the pass through between the trunk and rear seats is only a square in the middle, maybe large enough for skis, or maybe lumber, to be accommodated.

2008 Honda Accord Coupe, Automatic Transmission, 4-Cyl

Pros: Beautiful, beautiful car; peppy acceleration
Cons: Rather low mileage
The Bottom Line: Good performance, sexy styling, cool extras. Some visibility issues, but nothing you can't get used to.

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2008 Honda Accord Coupe

2008 Honda Accord Coupe LX-S. Belize Blue.



Sweet!


My review of the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe is available at: http://bobbypd.blogspot.com/2008/05/review-of-2008-honda-accord-coupe-lx.html

2007 Honda Civic EX Review

This is a review of the 2007 Honda Civic EX Coupe Automatic (Eighth Generation - same as the 2008 Civic). I bought this car two months ago and I still have mixed feelings about it. I have put just over 2000 miles on it to date. For comparison purposes: I am 6'1" and about 200 lbs. My previous car was a 1997 Nissan Sentra.

In the two months I've had the car, I've filled up 9 times, averaging 26 MPG as my actual MPG, with about 75% highway driving. I use 87 octane regular unleaded from Sunoco and Exxon. (For comparison, the average MPG of my old Sentra for the previous 9 fill-ups was 27.6). My lowest MPG has been 25 and my highest 27, giving me a consistent, if somewhat disappointing, MPG. This is definitely not the 30/40 MPG advertised - I understand that no car gets its advertised mileage, but my commute consists 75% of a straight road without traffic, traveling at a constant 60 MPH, and the best MPG I've had so far is 27.



Everyone I drive by stops and gawks, so there is no denying that this coupe is a real winner in the looks department - but you don't need me to tell you - this thing is sexy! I definitely prefer the look of the coupe to the sedan, but that's up to you. The extras that the EX provide are nice, especially the moonroof. It has about a 50% tint, and lets you either tilt the back open about 10 degrees up for ventilation, or slides back to open fully. It is "one touch" which lets it slide all the way open with one click.

I feel confident passing cars at highway speeds, and the 4-cylinder engine is more than enough for everyday driving. Normal highway cruising speeds keep the engine at about 2500 RPMS. There is a split-second hesitation before the engine kicks in if I accelerate too fast from a stop sign or red light.



The coupe is hard to see around, however. I cannot see down the hood of my car, nor can I see my trunk. The deck lid spoiler doesn’t help that much in locating it. Seeing around the sides of the car is also a challenge, since the curtain airbags take up a lot of space along the sides, reducing the rear side windows to tiny triangles – just barely of any use.

If you are a tall person, the 2007 Honda Civic Coupe may not be right for you. During my 10 minute test drive, I felt fine, but as the first week went on, I felt less and less "at home" in the car. The legroom for me is just alright, but my concern is the headroom - I am 6'1", and I cannot sit fully upright in the car, nor can I find a seating arrangement that works very well for me. I think this has to do with the moonroof - it does take up about 1" of the ceiling. So having the moonroof is a mixed bag – perhaps the model without it would have suited me better. The seats are quite uncomfortable because they are stiff and do not have effective lumbar support. After more than just a short trip, my lower back is in pain. I wish they had put in lumbar adjustments into this car, but a small pillow does help a little. I seriously considered returning this otherwise great car because of how uncomfortable I was in it. A triangle wedge seat pillow with a hole for the coccyx relieved a great deal of the pain, so I kept the car. The downside is that sitting on the pillow makes me sit even closer to the roof, so it’s a stopgap solution at best.

I’ve not tried the rear seats for any real amount of time, but when I’ve tried to, I’ve had quite a hard time squeezing in. The roof seems a lot lower, too, and the legroom is very minimal. I’d suggest only children and/or shorter people should sit back there for any trip over a few minutes. The plus side is that the floor is flat all the way across.

Overall, I'd say if you are less than 5'11", there is no major reason you should not get this car. It's sexy, performs great, and is a pretty good value. My mileage isn’t that great, but I'm hoping it goes up – maybe 26 MPG is pretty good for some people, I don’t know. But if you are taller than 6', I'd strongly suggest you look at a bigger car, or spend more time test driving it to see if it really fits you. Or get the DX/LX model without the cool moonroof.

Pros: Beautiful, beautiful car; EX comes with fun extras; peppy acceleration
Cons: Car roof is too low for taller people; somewhat uncomfortable seats; blindspots; rather low mileage
The Bottom Line: Good performance, sexy styling, cool extras. Some visibility, headroom, and seating issues - test it for a while before you buy.

My review posted at epinions: http://www.epinions.com/content_332733386372

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UPDATE 24 May 2008/ I ended up selling the Civic in the summer of 2007 (on Craigslist! it worked out pretty well, too). The decision was based mainly on the fact that I was moving up to New York City and decided that I didn't need a car. However, if the car had been more comfortable, I just might have taken it.

I've since purchased a 2008 Honda Accord Coupe (my review can be found here) that is significantly more comfortable and roomy than the Civic. Both the 2007 Civic and 2008 Accord coupes are excellent cars, but definitely make sure you feel at home in the car before signing any papers!