Honda Accord 2016

The Honda Accord has been one of the best-selling cars in the United States for more than two decades. The 2016 Honda Accord is the subject of a light refresh for the venerable sedan and coupe, which is currently in the middle of its ninth generation of production.

The Accord is available as a 4-door sedan and as a 2-door coupe. The sedan comes in six trim levels, from the base LX ($22,105) to Touring ($34,580). The coupe comes in five trim levels, from LX-S ($24,775) to Touring ($34,125). This year, it's also possible to add the Honda Sensing suite of driver assistance technologies to every trim level (except Touring, which already includes Honda Sensing).

Sensing Technology

Honda Sensing is a sophisticated set of passive and active safety features, including Collision Mitigation Braking System, Forward Collision Warning, Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keeping Assist System, Road Departure Mitigation and Adaptive Cruise Control. Additionally, Honda is making a play for the tech-savvy consumer with its first implementation of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Jamming all of this technology into the Accord's dashboard creates a bit of a real estate issue. Honda solves this with dual display screens on upper trim-level vehicles, with one screen at the top of the center stack and one right below it. If you're not using a lot of tech, the screens are often redundant, with the same information available at the same time. It's not an entirely successful approach.

Good Looks and Tailoring

Still, the interior is attractive and nicely designed, with a tasteful mix of high-quality materials and surfaces.

Outside, there's been a bit of a face-lift, with new grille trim, new alloy wheel designs and LED daytime running lights and taillights. LED headlamps are optional (standard on Touring), which further enhance the modern look and function of both the coupe and sedan. Tailoring and trim enhancements on the exterior of the vehicle have resulted in better aerodynamics.

Power and Efficiency

Under the hood, two available engines get matched with both sedan and coupe. There's a 2.4-liter inline 4-cylinder (185 horsepower and 181 lb-ft of torque) and a 3.5-liter V6 (278 hp and 251-252 lb-ft of torque). A continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) will be the popular choice(6-speed automatic with the V6), but enthusiasts will be happy to hear that a 6-speed manual transmission is available in all 4-cylinder models, and can even be found in the EX-L V6 coupe. All Accord models are front-wheel drive only, for now. The Accord Hybrid is on hiatus this year, but it's said to be returning for 2017.

The EPA estimates that fuel economy in the 4-cylinder Accord Coupe will be 24 miles per gallon in the city and 34 mpg on the highway with the manual transmission and 26 mpg city/35 mpg hwy with the CVT. The Accord Coupe with V6 and 6-speed automatic is rated at 21 mpg city/32 mpg hwy. The manual hasn't been rated yet.