The new Accord has more standard features than ever before, although Honda engineers did cut back on one thing: weight.
Weight is the enemy of automotive performance. Every pound of vehicle mass has to be accelerated up to speed by the engine, herded around every corner by the tires and steering, and eased over every bump by the suspension. And when it’s time to stop, the brakes have to work that much harder to drag it back to a stop.
Honda engineers had their work cut out for them when they set out to design the new ninth-generation Accord. On one hand, it needed to hit the highest internal targets ever for fuel efficiency and overall performance. That meant it had to be light. On the other hand, to compete in its market segment, the new Accord needed to have a quieter, more comfortable interior, raise the bar in terms of safety engineering and have more standard features than ever before. All that stuff means extra weight.
So after years of development, how did the Honda engineers do? Even though it has a far more quiet and refined interior and has gained standard features like an “intelligent” Multi-Information Display (i-MID), standard Bluetooth® HandsFreeLink®, Eco Assist™, dual-zone automatic climate control, a rearview camera and much more, the new Accord actually weighs 24 pounds less than the previous-generation Accord.
Nice work, guys.
Courtesy of 2013HondaAccordLaunch.com
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