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inGEAR: Words & Photos by Francois Steyn

HondA AccoRdTouRER 2.4 ExclusivE

When I Was lIttle there Was thIs one tV commercIal (that Was In the year 2000) that shoWed What cars of the future Would look lIke. they floated aboVe the ground and droVe themselVes, and looked absolutely amazIng. Well, We’re In the future noW and the luxury cars stIll haVe Wheels that touch the ground, but the neW honda accord tourer (the statIon Wagon) looks stylIsh from eVery angle and drIVes Itself lIke they promIsed When I Was young.

The Tourer is available with two engine variants, a 2.2 i-DTEC diesel and the 2.4 i-VTEC petrol mill. I tested the petrol model, which delivers 148 kW at 7 000 r/min and 234 Nm of torque. The six-speed manual gearbox, with its stubby lever, is amazingly accurate and offers a short throw through the gate. If you wind up the motor it has more than enough punch, but the atmosphere inside the luxury cabin inspired the more grown-up side in me. Electrically adjustable full leather seats that are heated in the front, with memory for the driver’s side, and a steering wheel that fits so perfectly in your hands makes you feel like spending the whole day driving it. With upmarket and reserved instrumentation and leather everywhere – the steering wheel and door inserts – you really feel as if you’ve arrived.

inREviEW:

2 • dindigital | June 2012

Even though the Tourer has a conservative air about it, it by no means holds back on the technology front. ABS, EBA, EBD, Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) and Trailer Stability Assist (TSA) come standard. It also has six airbags, Bi-Xenon headlights with Highbeam Support System and Active Cornering Lights. Safety is not a problem, but do you still have to drive it yourself? Well, you have to be in the car, but the myriad of buttons on the right side of the steering wheel, and there’s even more on the dash to the right of the steering column, is all you need once out of the city.

The Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS) is standard on the Exclusive model. When cruise control is set, a millimetre-wave radar in the front grill measures the time (or distance) to the vehicle ahead, while vehicle speed and yaw rate sensors detect the vehicle’s driving parameters. Three different following distances can be selected from the button behind the steering wheel. When the car ahead slows down, the Accord does so accordingly via throttle release and braking if necessary. If the car in front suddenly brakes an audible and visual warning prompts you to do the same. This system works between 30 and 180 km/h and is not one of those features that just works well on paper, but will never be used. Conventional cruise control only works if you’re on the open road with very little traffic. On freeways you constantly need to de- and reactivate it because no one remembers the 'keep-left-pass-right' rule. Once I began to trust the system, I found myself using the ACC most of the time.

Probably the most innovative system I’ve experienced on a car is the LKAS. Within a range of 70 and 180 km/h the camera in the front windscreen detects which lane you’re travelling in. When you swerve close to a line marking without the indicators on, torque is applied to the steering wheel to keep you in the centre of the lane. A warning is emitted when the car is about to cross the markings and the system uses Electric Power Steering (EPS) to self-steer if you don’t listen to it. If the road is fairly straight you can fold your arms and watch the car drive itself.

The third system, which is on by default, but can be switched off via a button next to the steering column, is the Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS). The same radar sensors used by the ACC recognises when a collision is imminent and emits a visual and audio warning. If you don’t react, it emits another warning sound, the seatbelt pretensioner is tugged and light braking applied. If there is still no response and the collision is unavoidable, the brakes are forcefully applied and seatbelts retracted. This won’t bring the car to a complete stop, but will allow you to avoid the crash or at least lessen the severity of the impact. While all this is happening you will still have full control over the car. I used the ACC/LKAS at every opportunity and found both very user friendly and unobtrusive. Honda SA will be glad to hear I did not test the CMBS.

Comfort has also not been compromised. The suspension is firm enough for good road holding, but forgiving enough even on corrugated dirt roads. Inside, heated seats and dual climate control ensures everyone stays defrosted and happy. Defogging mirrors, headlight washers and a remote opening and closing boot-lid saves you wasting your precious energy on menial tasks. The rearview mirror is self-dimming and parking sensors warn you when your best parallel parking effort is just not good enough. Sitting in the back seat, the legroom is not as good as I would have imagined, but big enough for normal sized (at the risk of offending the vertically challenged) adults. This allows for a very large luggage bay, and the seats can fold flat to increase the space even more.

I enjoyed my Week behInd the Wheel of the accord and really felt at home after a WhIle. at r426 700 for the honda accord tourer 2.4 exclusIVe you are In bmW and mercedes terrItory, but bmW’s neW 3-serIes does not haVe a statIon Wagon yet and on the mercedes estate the dIstronIc plus and actIVe lane Keeping Assist Are optionAl extrAs. •

4 • dindigital | June 2012

2.4 I-Vtec exclusIVe 2.2 I-dtec executIVe

engine capacity (cc) 2 354 2 199

power (kW) 148 (7 000 r/min) 132 (3 200 r/min)

torque (nm) 234 (4 300 r/min) 380 (2 000 r/min)

fuel tank capacity (l) 65 65

acceleration 0-100 km/h (claimed) 8.5 sec 8.7 sec

maximum speed km/h (claimed) 222 217

fuel consumption (combined - claimed) 8.9 l/100 km 5.9 l/100 km

safety: acc/lkas/cmbs standard Yes No

gearbox 6-speed manual 6-speed manual

service plan 90 000 km / 5 years 90 000 km / 5 years

service intervals 15 000 km 15 000 km

price R 426 700 R 436 300

sPEciFicATions

More articles in do iT noW Magazine:❱❱ inREVIEW: Be Pleasantly Surprised - Issue #16❱❱ inREVIEW: Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, Nissan NP200 1.5 dCi vs Chevrolet Corsa Ute 1.8i Sport, BMW G650GS Sertão Launch- Issue #17

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