Photos: 2008 Honda Accord EX-L
The restyled 2008 Honda Accord EX-L looks good and offers a very comfortable drive. It works well as a commuter and family car, and its low emissions make it an environmentally conscious choice, but don't expect the most cutting edge cabin tech.
Honda restyled the Accord for 2008. The new sedan is bigger, with rounded off body edges, updating the exterior look.
The headlights look a bit bug-eyed on the new Accord, but they bookend a nice, curving band into the grille.
The V-6 engine in the Accord is a remarkable piece of engineering. Not only does it produce 268 horsepower, it gets the best emissions rating, PZEV, we've even seen on a 3.5-liter engine. It produces decent mileage, too, getting an EPA rated 19mpg city and 29mpg highway.
The Accord is a modest-looking car, but this 2008 version has plenty of room in the cabin. Rear seat passengers get all the leg-room they need.
With its dual tail pipes, you would think this car has some performance credibility, but its handling and transmission keep it from being a thrill ride.
Accords have always been tastefully outfitted, and the 2008 model is no exception.
Honda made big changes in the interface for the 2008 Accord's cabin gadgets. The stack is now loaded with buttons and the LCD, no longer a touch-screen, gets set deep into the dash to prevent glare.
We were amused by the quick start guide in the Honda's glove box, which covered the navigation system, voice command, the stereo, and Bluetooth hands-free cell phone integration.
The steering wheel was also restyled, but with all this car's understeer, you will still have to crank it very far around to make a turn.
Honda didn't update the car's software, so the maps have the same poor resolution as when Honda first started offering navigation systems.
There are some small updates to the navigation, however, such as offering more route options to a destination.
We've always found it easy to enter destinations with Honda's navigation system. But this system won't compute routes to multiple destinations.
The embedded Zagat survey is a nice feature, letting you know something about the restaurants listed in its database.
XM satellite radio is included with the navigation-equipped Honda Accord EX-L.
The stereo system lets you list the folders on an MP3 CD, and access tracks by clicking the folder.
There is an auxiliary input mounted in the console, right next to a power point.
The premium stereo in the Accord EX-L is barely above average. It uses two tweeters, four mids, and a subwoofer, a fairly typical configuration for today's cars.
The on-screen trip computer gives you detailed information about fuel economy.
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