Honda: All in one Accord

The 2013 Honda Accord has been launched in New Zealand. Photo / Supplied

Honda tech package gives drivers a helping hand

Automotive technology is getting a bit scary. I'm talking HAL horrors here. We've got Google busy readying autonomous vehicles, which have graduated to road-legal research machines in the past year.

While this tech is impressive, and will eventually find its place in society, people like you and me - that is, those who love driving so much that it could easily be listed as a hobby rather than a convenience - are starting to worry that our years at the wheel are limited. Failing eyesight used to be the slightly blurry writing on the wall; now it's the juggernaut of technology.

As manufacturers pack more tricks into their cars, one could argue that technology makes lazier drivers. But some things trickling from the R&D departments of major car producers should be mandatory. And Honda has just dropped a brilliant tech package on the New Zealand market, all neatly tied up in its new Accord.

Buyers could be forgiven for being a bit puzzled by the Accord in New Zealand, so here's clarification: the Accord Euro, a good car in itself, is sourced through the company's Acura arm and is a completely separate vehicle. The Accord is a different one on a newly developed platform. The all-new Accord (the middle one) was launched midway through the week and will be available in three flavours - the base-spec S, with Honda's well-regarded 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine; the NT (Navigation and Technology) with the same mill; and the V6NT which, as the name suggests, is powered by the 3.5L V6. The 2.4 versions are linked to a five-speed auto and the V6 gets a six-speed.

Honda's Maseo Nakano, who led the Accord project from its inception in 2009 until the first cars came off the production line, was in Auckland to explain the tricks of the new Accord. He said the point behind the two transmissions was governed by the extra weight of the six-speed and the likely use of the car in its target market.

But the mechanicals of Nakano's creation are secondary to the company's new tech - some grouped under a suite called Earth Dreams (akin to Mazda's Sky Activ) which endeavours to drop emissions 30 per cent by 2020. The rest are labelled Helping Hand, a brilliant selection of driver aids seemingly tailormade for the evils of big-city traffic.

The launch took place in some of the week's wild weather and ran from the Auckland CBD to Matakana and back through Kaipara to the city. Only the first quarter-hour was in the dry, with the remainder a battle against torrential rain and gusty wind.

On the way out of the city, I switched on adaptive cruise control (not a new technology, but one that's decidedly quite useful) and let it maintain a safe gap between my car and the erratic fool in front of me. Once this was working its magic, I pushed a steering-wheel-mounted button to activate Lane Keep Assist. This will save a lot of panel damage, and probably a few lives.

It seeks lane markings in much the same way as current lane departure warnings do, and will steer the car back into a central lane position if inattention or inability start moving the car towards lane edges. It is possible to execute the motorway commute in the new Accord without actively driving the car - resting a hand on the steering wheel is enough. On most light bends the Lane Keep system will turn the wheels enough to keep within the lane (it'll warn if the bend is too tight), and on straights it's excellent.

Collision Mitigation Braking works in three stages, warning the driver of impending doom before applying light braking and finally hitting the picks to bring the car almost to a complete stop. Its multi-stage approach is, according to Nakano, a way of keeping the driver involved and hopefully improving their reaction times.

Another gem, about which I was initially dubious, is the LaneWatch blind spot monitoring system. The left-hand mirror is larger than the right. It accommodates a camera that gives a wider field of vision than the mirror, and its video is visible on the large eight-inch screen on the centre dash. Eschewing a mirror for a screen seemed like a bad idea; when indicating a lane change, the video was clear and included lines to indicate whether it was safe to change lanes. After a few lane jumps, I was using the screen first and the mirror second. These features, labelled ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) by Honda, will also be released on some CRV models later this year.

Driven's first stint on the very soggy drive was in the extremely capable V6, not a new engine but one that's undergone an extensive redesign for the Accord. It puts out 206kW, 4kW more power than its predecessor, and 339Nm, but its combined thirst has been knocked back from 9.9L/100 to 9.2L. This is helped considerably by Honda's take on displacement on demand, which deactivates three cylinders when the full power of the engine is not needed.

The transmission in the V6 proved to be the better of the two. It could be left to its own devices in D, returning excellent economy results, particularly when flicking the frugality switch - an Eco button which reduces power, knocks back auto shift points and even backs off the intensity of the air-con system.

Drop to S and it gained its grunt back and offered a more engaging experience. The flappy paddle shifters on the steering wheel placed even more emphasis on getting the driver involved.

The 2.4 four, which makes a respectable 129kW at 6900rpm and 225Nm from 4000rpm, seemed as if it would benefit from an extra cog. When driving it with enthusiasm, it was necessary to knock it back to second from speeds as high as 90km/h. This was obviously unnecessary when running it as a full auto, but flappy paddles are there to be used, and the open roads of rural New Zealand are, let's be honest, a great place to enjoy a car.

Around town the taller early gears are a benefit, bringing great power off the lights and good delivery at speeds in the 30km/h-70km/h range. Picking between the four and six is down entirely to personal preference. While the V6 has traditionally been the darling of the Accord lineup, the 2.4's 8.1L/100km consumption (7.9L in the less-loaded S model) is likely to give it a boost in this era of grotesquely overpriced fuel.

Steering feel in the new Accord has improved markedly, and the disconnect between steering wheel and rack felt in the Euro is no longer there.

The new electronic power steer system is a result of Honda binning the old double-wishbone front suspension in favour of a MacPherson strut set-up - the new lane-stay system would not work without this change, which allowed upgrades to the steering system and fitting the required servos to let the car steer itself a bit, but not too much.

Elsewhere are the usual bits and pieces that you'd expect from a mid-sized modern machine with a price tag around $50,000 - high-end, Alpine-sourced car stereo with Bluetooth hands-free functions and nicely rendered colour screens, climate control air conditioning and the full selection of good things with bad initials - ABS, EBD, HAS (hill start assist), ALR and ELR locking reel seatbelts, TSA (trailer stability assist).

Basically, if it's got three letters and it takes a minute or so to figure it out, it's probably in the new Accord.

So what is the pick? For me, the extra power of the V6 and its extra cog in the transmission make it the winner, even though this means extra weight and more money - it hits the market at $60,000.

The 2.4L iVTEC NT model will sell for $55,000 and the S (which is yet to land in New Zealand, but will be tested by Driven when it does) will set buyers back $45,900.