Honda typically sticks to very strict model cycles, and four years after it went on sale as a 2008 model, the Accord is receiving its scheduled refresh. Among the tweaks for 2011 is an exterior freshening for both sedan and coupe, including a sharper front fascia design, new wheels, and updated rear lighting. The grille is marginally wider and sports less chrome than before, and it rests above a restyled bumper with more deeply scooped fog-light surrounds. Sedan models have a new trunklid with lighting strips adjacent to the license-plate holder.
A new SE sedan debuts, slotting into the very small gap between LX-P and EX four-cylinder trims. It supplements the LX-P sedan’s equipment with heated leather seats and a leather-wrapped steering wheel, and allows folks to get leather on an Accord with the entry-level 177-hp four-cylinder rather than being required to step up to the EX trim and its 190-hp four.
A handful of interior updates consist of new cloth upholstery, a redesigned instrument panel, repositioned climate-control buttons, and what Honda claims are “more-refined” accents. (They must be British accents.) Steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters are now fitted to V-6 coupes with automatic transmissions, EX sedans and coupes get a USB audio input, and sedans with navigation now have a backup camera.
There are rather major fuel-economy improvements thanks to revised gear ratios and claimed aero efficiency gains. Honda says four-cylinder engines equipped with the five-speed automatic transmission now return 23 mpg city/34 mpg highway, bumps of 2 and 3 mpg respectively. The automatic-only V-6 sedan scores an extra highway mpg, and now sits at 19/30. Fuel-economy figures for all other powertrains are unchanged.
Long one of our favorite family cars and the most decorated 10Best winner of all-time, the Accord was dethroned in a recent comparison test, finishing second to the all-new 2011 Hyundai Sonata. It’s doubtful these updates would have affected the outcome, but if you’re suitably impressed, you can buy the updated 2011 Accord in mid-August. View Photo Gallery
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