OFFICIAL Photos & Review: 2003 Accord

[87accordlxi]

Review (http://www.autoweek.com/search/search_display.mv?port_code=&cat_code=coverstory&content_code=06740771&Search_Type=STD&Search_ID=487605&record=2)

http://www.autoweek.com/specials/galleries/accord/s1.jpg

http://www.autoweek.com/specials/galleries/accord/s10.jpg

http://www.autoweek.com/specials/galleries/accord/c1.jpg

http://www.autoweek.com/specials/galleries/accord/c14.jpg

http://www.autoweek.com/specials/galleries/accord/c2.jpg

[1989 DX R]

Truly depressing.

7th gen = gay

[doug]

yeah. here's some of my favorites I've collected in the last week.
http://87accord.com/2003accord.html

[DrMunky]

I like the front, but the back looks like a Saturn.... ugh

[AZmike]

it looks sort of like an older Lexus GS 300 to me, especially the back.

[marc49]

the 4-door taillights look like a tracer to me

[88LXi68]

I think the coupe looks good kinda like a CL. The coupe has the nice option for the V6 with 240hp with 6pd! I'll take one in 4yrs as a daily driver while the 3g is my show n go mobile.

[DBMaster]

I saw it "in action" on Motorweek yesterday. I imagine it runs "like a dog with his ass torn out," (Check Nate's post in Off-Topic), but it still looks like the new Camry UG-LEEE!

Of course, that's just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions. I have like the body styles of the 1g, 3g (of course), and 5g. I still think the 3g is the only one that really departs from the competition.

If I HAD to go out and buy a new car right now, though, it's still tough to beat an Accord.

Maybe I will go take a test drive just for shits and grins.

Later.

[SteveDX89]

What's the deal with all the new cars coming out with headlights that recede up the fenders? They're all triangular shaped and unproportional.

[Jims 86LXI HB]

Well for some reason I don't care for it as much as when I first saw thos pics:huh: But I'll want to drive one to see it they fixed all the things I hated with a passion on the previous generation.
If it drive's like a Acura TL I'll be allright:D

[Chris86Lxi]

Fuckin Focus in the front and Saturn in the back. What is Honda coming too? C'mon guys. We gotta get some people with taste in the Designs part of honda. Shit!

Chris

[1989 DX R]

What did you hate about 6th gens Jim?

[accordlx]

Honda can kiss it's customer base GOODBYE with this new model. If I wanted a Saturn/Taurus/Focus lookin car, I would buy a Saturn/Tarus/Focus. Why in the world does Honda think it has to look like a Camry or something else. Have the R&D people really run out of fresh ideas? I hate to say it but, I would pick an Altima over that. It's a much better looking car.

[pimp86LX]

yah but think about it. Ever wonder why old people drive 3rd gen's cause thats what they were marketed to. a nice family car. The same people who buy the taures/focus/echo are the same people that these new accord are being marketed for

its truely disappointing

the design sucks ass- but i bet it still has the same Honda quality durability and engineering

[DBMaster]

Even if it looks like a Saturn/Taurus/Focus it will still outshine them in almost all aspects. i have to agree with Pimp. Honda usually does not do a redesign until they are sure they have something that will sell. The Accord is not generally a car for the sports car set. You most often see them driven by moms and office drones (that is, those that have not fallen victim to the SUV mania). Generally, people like us who are driving old cars are going to be a little more mechanically inclined. The rest of the world just wants a car that always works and I imagine this Accord will deliver that.

Who knows, maybe it will grow on me.

[pimp86LX]

lol, i'd like the interior if it didn't have those giant knobs for controls. maybe its so those dumb women drivers (not all, just the ones around here) will be looking down less

[Coitis1]

i kinda like the coupe but the sedan looks like $hit. they should've stayed w/ the traditional guages, imo.

[87accordlxi]

lol, why didnt any of you jerks tell me you couldnt see the review?

(00:01 Aug. 05, 2002)
Bread & Butter: Seventh-generation Honda Accord is best yet


By NATALIE NEFF


Say what you will about the staid ol’ family car, Honda knows from whence it butters its bread. And it’s not trucks.

Granted, sales of its popular sport/utes continue to soar—from the best-selling compact CR-V to the newly introduced Pilot—and with each success in trucks Honda needs to rely less and less on the Accord to carry the bulk of the automaker’s sales load. But when you consider that yearly sales of the Accord have consistently hovered near the 400,000 mark since 1991, it’s clear the midsize family car still sits at the cornerstone of Honda’s lineup.

2003 Honda Accord Sedan DX
ON SALE: September 2002
BASE PRICE: $15,500 (est.)
POWERTRAIN: 2.4-liter, 160-hp I4; fwd, five-speed manual
0 TO 60 MPH: 8.2 seconds (est.)
EPA MPG, CITY/HWY: 26/34 (est.)

“The Accord is still the most important product for Honda,” says Dan Bonawitz, vice president of planning and logistics for American Honda. And it’s one of the most popular choices among the American car-buying public. Not counting fleet sales, the Accord has outsold all other cars in America for nine of the last 10 years. That’s a lot of butter.

Part of the Accord’s success can be pinned on the fact Honda keeps the car fresh, redesigning it every four years or so. Following that tradition, Honda will roll out its seventh-generation Accord this September, and by every measure, from power to refinement, it’s the best Accord yet.

The car comes in two forms, sedan and coupe, with a more marked difference in styling between the two than ever. The sedan remains conservatively styled, with an upright stance and fairly uncluttered sheetmetal. The coupe, on the other hand, gets a shapely makeover, with a swooping profile and Mercedes-like wraparound taillights dominating a rounded-over rear end. And both cars carry a hint of S2000 in them, mostly in the way the triangular, jeweled-lens headlights stretch back over the fenders and the nose tapers down to a simple grille.

“This is the car that pays everyone’s salary here,” says Accord development leader Charlie Baker about the four-cylinder LX sedan. Honda says one third, or over 130,000, of all 2003 Accords sold will be of this model.

While neither sedan nor coupe is likely to win any awards for breakthrough design, few potential Accord buyers will find much in the cars’ shapes to turn them off. The Accord’s interior, however, could easily win over a few shoppers. Not only does the interior look better than the current car, it works better, too. Honda replaced the Accord’s squared-off center dash stack with a stylish, V-shaped setup highlighted by large, easy-to-manipulate stereo and climate control knobs. Even Honda’s navigation system, the best in the business, has been improved, both in its operation and its content. And now all Accords get a standard tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel.

The entire design and layout of the interior is clean and handsome, and yet the best part of the interior is something you’ll rarely look at: the seats.

“Once you sit in this seat,” said Charlie Baker, leader of the Accord development team, “you won’t be able to sit in another seat the same way.” Exaggeration, perhaps, but we undeniably love the seats in the sedan. They offer full support from the thighs to the shoulders and feel firm yet comfortable. They have just enough bolstering to hold you in place during aggressive driving, but not enough to make you feel pinched in or restricted. While the coupe seats provide even more aggressive bolstering than the sedan, we don’t think their extra “sporty” design makes them feel any better than the base-level sedan seats.

Things are a little backward: intake and exhaust manifolds have swapped spots underhood.

Underhood, the Accord comes with one of two engines, a standard 2.4-liter dual-overhead-cam four-cylinder or a 3.0-liter dohc six. Both engines get more power, the 2.4-liter four up 10 horses to 160 hp at 5500 rpm and 9 lb-ft to 161 lb-ft of torque at 4500 rpm, thanks in part to a bump up of 0.1 liter of displacement. The incorporation of Honda’s latest variable-valve timing system called i-VTEC, first used on the Acura RSX, also helps to boost the engine’s low- and midrange power through intake cam phase control. As an added benefit, i-VTEC improves the engine’s emissions by creating a sort of internal exhaust gas recirculation effect by increasing the overlap of the exhaust and intake events during low-load driving conditions. And just as a warning to those Honda fanatics out there, don’t be alarmed if things look a little backward underhood. Honda engineers turned the engine 180 degrees, putting the exhaust manifold at the back of the engine and closer to the catalytic converter for quicker light-off times. Combined, these changes allow all four-cylinder Accords to meet at least low-emissions vehicle standards; California-spec models are SULEV, without a reduction in output.

Honda also did some trick things to its six-cylinder, which result in a 40-hp jump over the outgoing 3.0-liter to 240 horsepower at 6250 rpm, and a corresponding increase of 19 lb-ft to 212 lb-ft of torque at 5000 rpm. For starters, Honda chopped 20 pounds of weight out of the engine, strapped on an electronically controlled throttle body and dropped in a new three-rocker VTEC system. It also reduced exhaust backpressure by 30 percent and increased the size of the intake valves. But more interesting than any of that is what Honda did with the head castings. Each head actually has an integrated exhaust manifold; head and manifold are cast in aluminum as a single part. This not only helps to reduce the overall size of the engine, it also allows the primary catalytic converters to sit closer to the engine, which optimizes the cats’ performance.

The four-cylinder gets mated to one of two new transmissions, a five-speed manual or a five-speed automatic. Six-cylinder Accords get a five-speed automatic, while a close-ratio six-cylinder manual is reserved for the top-trim coupe. Both V6 transmissions are modified versions of boxes found in the Acura 3.2TL.

As with the powertrains, Honda did extensive work on improving the Accord’s chassis. It’s still a double-wishbone-front, multilink-rear setup, but the front now sits in an all-new subframe while the rear gets an additional, fifth link to aid toe control. Honda also reworked the geometry both front and rear and installed larger bushings in front. The sedan’s wheelbase gets extended an inch, to 107.9 inches, while track remains the same, at 61.2 inches. Wheelbase and track are unchanged in the coupe, at 105.1 and 61.2 inches, respectively.

Inside, the Accord looks better than ever, from the stylish yet useful console layout to some of the best seats you’ll find in a midsize car.

The result is a car that handles remarkably well, both as a sedan and coupe, from its linear steering feel to its predictable and easily controlled understeer. Ride is fairly firm but by no means jarring, and we were pleased to find that even on the noisiest road surfaces, the cabin stays surprisingly quiet, a great improvement over the current car. Brakes, tires and wheels are bigger on all trim levels than in the current lineup, with 15- or 16-inch wheels standard, depending on trim, and 11.1-inch front and 10.2-inch rear disc brakes (base-model sedan and coupes still must make do with rear drum brakes, however). Four-wheel antilock brakes come standard across the line, while V6-equipped Accords come standard with traction control.

Honda hasn’t released pricing yet, but expect stickers to start around $15,000 for four-cylinder models or $22,000 for the six—but it could cost close to $30,000 to take home the ultimate Accord.

Honda loaded its top-of-the-line Accord Coupe EX V6 manual-transmission car with a bunch of performance bits not available on other Accords, from 17-inch wheels shod in P215/50R tires to 11.8-inch front disc brakes. It’s the only model to use the six-speed manual, and it gets a tighter steering ratio than the rest of the family. If the sportiest Accord is what you’re after, you’ll have to wait until early 2003 to get one.

But as Charlie Baker put it, it’s the four-cylinder automatic car “that pays everyone’s salary here.” Call that car the bread, then, and the rest of the range pure butter.

[87DXHatch]

Am I the only one that thinks the coupe looks a little bit like a Mercury Cougar? Anyway... the sedan isn't too thrilling but that coupe looks nice! If I had $30k to drop on a car then maybe I'd consider an Accord, but I don't know...

[87accordlxi]

well the sedan isnt anything special. looks like a camry from the side and a saturn from the back.

but the coupe looks really good to me. the back looks alot like a Merc CL and the front resembles a Peugeot 406 coupe, which is a gorgeous car. and i like the interiors on both of them.

btw, heres a 406 so you can see where im coming from..
http://406.peugeot.com/en/gif/1_album/1.gif

[88Ex-i]

here's a couple of pics that have been altered............

http://hondasport19.150m.com/otherrides/goldcoupe.jpg

http://hondasport19.150m.com/otherrides/silvercoupe.jpg

http://hondasport19.150m.com/otherrides/greysedan.jpg

[Chris86Lxi]

Damn. I take back some of what i said. That first pic of the gold altered coupe is tight as fuck. I would take it in a heartbeat. The sedan still sucks balls. That drop and kit and rims makes the coupe look nice and clean and aggresive like.

Chris

[3_GENCYCO]

THE SEDAN LOOKS F'UP,BUT THE COUPE COULD GROW ON ME IF IT LOOKS LIKE THE GOLD ONE....

[1989 DX R]

I still dont like it. The grille is just too big...way out of proportion. The coupe is ok...sort of. Still not as nice as the 6th gens imo.

[LX-i dragon]

i think tha coupe is really nice. kinda looks like tha skyline( g35) ta me

[Stefi-blueLX]

What can I say, that coupe is great! I love those tailights, compared to the 2002 coupes :( I love those altered pictures. Especially that gold one! Quite Nice. I can't wait to go to the Honda dealer and test drive it!:D ....the EX V6 of course.

[88Ex-i]

ya, i love the coupes...........after i got those chopped pix, i really like the coupes........the sedan looks better chopped, but the coupes look way better.

[DarkkManX]

You know, I like the way the coupe looks but I hate the fact that these last couple of years there have been no obvious distinction in design to me with the major manufacturers of their flagship cars.

There are two cars that have me ga ga right now. and that is the acura RSX/Integra and the New Z, or the 300Z in lamens terms.

.02

[SteveDX89]

The new Z car from Nissan is the 350Z

[DrMunky]

That gold coupe is badass. Gonna start saving up the money right now :D

[jigga225]

I think the coupe is tight, especially from the back.
The altered pix really give me hope though.
The back of the sedan is camryish and I dont like it......
I still want a 95 legend though.....

[paultgt89]

The new accord sucks ass they really fucket the model up.:werd: :toilet: :banghead: :badass: :flame:

[Accordingly]

To all the haters of the new redesigned Accord
.
.
.
http://home.earthlink.net/~gxstarchild/ACORIDER.JPG

[1988starter]

Well I just got my new motor trend and I am damn happy with the new V6 accord. It is a 240 HP 3.0 the sedan comes with a 5 speed automatic trans that does 0-60 in 6.57 and the coup with it's 6 speed manual short shifter is estamated in the high 5 second range.. BTW the coup is very different from the sedan not just a lack of two doors. I gotta hit my dealership.

[1988starter]

The automatic sedan also does the 1/4 mile in 14.98 at 94.95 MPH

[POS carb]

yuck, looks like a hondasaturncamrychrysler :banghead:

[goldyaccord]

After seeing the radical altered pix with the kit and rims, I'd have to say i'm impressed!

At first, i didnt like the stock looking accord. MAn, it's soooo sweet looking after all the mods.


Josh

[88WhiteLX-i]

THe sedan looks like it got raped by Saturn, but the Coupe is fucking sweeeet. They fucked the design up on the sedan but the coupe i can work with. It has potiential to be a bad ass. THe coupe coming with a v-6 and a 6-speed, what more could a guy ask for..... ONLY TWO DOORS, SIX CYLINDERS, SIX GEARS!!! The thing looks bad asssss dropped too. Those rims do it justice... Damn i gotta save up.....

[88Ex-i]

Ok, here's one more from the ps archives..........

http://hondasport19.150m.com/otherrides/2003accord.jpg

[1989 DX R]

I can handle the coupe. Almost. The sedan is gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay. Might as fucking well made it rainbow colored.

[88Ex-i]

haha, ok......found another

http://hondasport19.150m.com/otherrides/2003accord1.jpg

[A20A1]

Originally posted by DrMunky
I like the front, but the back looks like a Saturn.... ugh

Yup someone at honda needs a kick in da nuts.


I don't like the front either... seems like honda is following the trend and isn't making their own stuff...