2011 Honda Accord ES GT review
New Honda Accord ES GT Saloon
By Ian Lynas, 05th July 2011
My opportunity to try a GT version of the new Honda Accord came on some of the best roads in Europe - not in Germany or France but closer to home: North Antrim.
Generally speaking, the new Honda Accord features sharper styling, has lower emissions across all engines and is more economical. However, this test was designed to reveal both the cruising and sports-focussed qualities of the GT version.
2011 Honda Accord ES GT
The roads in North Antrim allowed me to explore, not only the performance potential of this very smart saloon, but also its improved handling and refinement. The designers and engineers have taken what was already a good car and fine-tuned it to deliver a car that is excellent in all respects.
The GT relies upon a 2.2-litre engine that produces 150PS, paired with a super-slick six-speed manual gearbox: there is no getting away from the fact that Honda engineers are masters at engines and transmission and the superb combination in the tested car only served to reinforce this.
There is a 9 g/km drop in CO2 emissions for the six-speed manual Saloon which achieves a sub-140 g/km CO2 figure and an 11 g/km reduction achieving a sub 160g/km figure for the automatic variant. All of this was achieved without adversely affecting the power.
New 2011 Honda Accord ES GT
Comfort is high on the priority list and Honda engineers from Japan worked closely with their counterparts in Germany and the UK to refine the dampers in the Accord to suit the vast range of road conditions found in Europe.
Higher density foam in the under-bonnet and dashboard areas improves the NVH (noise vibration and harshness) performance and the under-floor noise insulation has also been revised and teamed with additional sound-deadening shields on the particulate filter and exhaust manifold cover of the diesel engine, helping to improve refinement. Honda has even gone to the trouble of adding a 0.9 mm increase to the thickness of the rear window glass to reduce noise in the rear passenger compartment.
Saloon and Tourer have benefitted from small but noticeable changes to the headlights and bumpers. The headlights now feature a cleaner appearance with the previously amber indicators now in a clear finish.
2011 Honda Accord ES GT
On higher-spec cars, the lights are now Bi-HID and feature Active Cornering Lights to improve night time visibility. Honda is also offering 17-inch alloy wheels as a complimentary upgrade on ES and ES-GT models. My test car had 'quartz' alloys. The rear of the Saloon has been subtly enhanced with the reversing light and indicators now featuring the same red finish as the fog light to give balance to the styling.
The updated look of the Saloon is rounded off with a light chrome finish above the rear licence plate on most models and dark chrome on Type S grade cars.
Equipment levels are extremely high and the new Accord is generally an extremely well appointed car.
