I recently rented a 2021 Accord Sport with the nice wide rims and responsive but low sidewall tires a turbocharged 1.5L motorcycle-sized engine and squishy CVT. It was for fast highway travel in the South Eastern states.
INFURIATING car. Bad choice for this task.
The nanny tech is not well refined and difficult to deal with, some features cannot be disabled. Active cruise and emergency brake warnings are examples of this. In the end, cruise kept slowing the car to the point where people floor it, pass me and cut in front, where it then slowed some more. And yes, I had it on the closest setting. Infuriatingly, even when there was only one car in front, it would follow at ever increasing distances. Also with cars to the side, it would slow, sometimes slamming on the brakes for no reason. Dammit, that's annoying.
The autopilot lane keeping feature is near useless. It would sometimes key up on the shadow of the slightly higher road pavement vs. the shoulder instead of the painted line. Leading to being off center and following the shadow's irregular shape. Looked like it was driving drunk. Then it would depart the lane entirely, halfway into the other lane, and resist being pulled back into the lane.
I got 29.3mpg at high highway speeds and that's right, worse at 28.5 with premium fuel. AC off.
The power drivers seat did not go high enough and the lower cushion is poorly shaped, as it goes up in the back (this shape is wrong and no luxury seats are ever configured like this) Leading to a rather uncomfortable long distance seat. An upholstery shop could fix this with a proper lower cushion design.
The car had 100% oil life when I started the rental, and 100% oil life 2000 miles later, weird. I checked the oil level and it indeed did rise from full to 1/2 quart above the full mark, despite my lead foot and fast highway travel.
Sadly, the engine/trans combo is exactly as annoying as you would expect a 1.5t/CVT combo to be. Low end response can be slow to non existent at times, and calls for high power are noisy. Eco mode did not result in better MPG. Normal mode was pleasant enough. Sport mode kept RPM's annoyingly high all the time, but resulted in the car feeling "Right" with regard to responsiveness.
The ride quality and steering feel were quite good. The noise level on the highway was higher than expected, despite what I think was active noise cancellation. The car was the "right size" for me, and I did not rub up against the door pillar, something that happens in many 4 door cars.
Conclusion: So close to being right. Get the hybrid or 2.0t version with the conventional automatic. And tape over the camera.
EDIT: Cruise is limited in top speed, and consistently resulted in 1-2mph lower than selected.
INFURIATING car. Bad choice for this task.
The nanny tech is not well refined and difficult to deal with, some features cannot be disabled. Active cruise and emergency brake warnings are examples of this. In the end, cruise kept slowing the car to the point where people floor it, pass me and cut in front, where it then slowed some more. And yes, I had it on the closest setting. Infuriatingly, even when there was only one car in front, it would follow at ever increasing distances. Also with cars to the side, it would slow, sometimes slamming on the brakes for no reason. Dammit, that's annoying.
The autopilot lane keeping feature is near useless. It would sometimes key up on the shadow of the slightly higher road pavement vs. the shoulder instead of the painted line. Leading to being off center and following the shadow's irregular shape. Looked like it was driving drunk. Then it would depart the lane entirely, halfway into the other lane, and resist being pulled back into the lane.
I got 29.3mpg at high highway speeds and that's right, worse at 28.5 with premium fuel. AC off.
The power drivers seat did not go high enough and the lower cushion is poorly shaped, as it goes up in the back (this shape is wrong and no luxury seats are ever configured like this) Leading to a rather uncomfortable long distance seat. An upholstery shop could fix this with a proper lower cushion design.
The car had 100% oil life when I started the rental, and 100% oil life 2000 miles later, weird. I checked the oil level and it indeed did rise from full to 1/2 quart above the full mark, despite my lead foot and fast highway travel.
Sadly, the engine/trans combo is exactly as annoying as you would expect a 1.5t/CVT combo to be. Low end response can be slow to non existent at times, and calls for high power are noisy. Eco mode did not result in better MPG. Normal mode was pleasant enough. Sport mode kept RPM's annoyingly high all the time, but resulted in the car feeling "Right" with regard to responsiveness.
The ride quality and steering feel were quite good. The noise level on the highway was higher than expected, despite what I think was active noise cancellation. The car was the "right size" for me, and I did not rub up against the door pillar, something that happens in many 4 door cars.
Conclusion: So close to being right. Get the hybrid or 2.0t version with the conventional automatic. And tape over the camera.
EDIT: Cruise is limited in top speed, and consistently resulted in 1-2mph lower than selected.
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