2023 Honda Accord Is the Best-Looking Accord Ever

Honda has revealed the new 2023 Accord mid-size sedan.The big news is the clean new exterior look and a revised hybrid powertrain.The 2023 Accord will go on sale in the U.S. early in 2023.

The 2023 Honda Accord won’t be the first generation of the venerable mid-size sedan to do an impression of a luxury car, but it might just be the first Accord that truly looks the part. Freshly unveiled with an elegant new design, the 11th-generation model looks sharper, more modern, and better proportioned than anything else in its class. While we’re sad that the powerful turbocharged 2.0-liter upgrade engine is gone, Honda ensures us that the hybrid drivetrain is much improved, and the base 1.5-liter engine carries over with tweaks to improve refinement and fuel economy.

The lineup is reconfigured to emphasize the hybrid model, as Honda is aiming for the gas-electric Accord to make up 50 percent of sales. The nonhybrid LX and EX trims come with a revised turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-four and continuously variable automatic transmission; horsepower and torque are the same 192 hp and 192 pound-feet as before. (The manual transmission won’t make a return, as Honda dropped it from the previous-generation Accord midway through its run due to low demand.)

The 2023 Accord’s other four trims—Sport, EX-L, Sport-L, and Touring—are hybrid only and come with an updated version of the two-motor drivetrain from the previous Accord hybrid. As in the new CR-V hybrid, the two electric motors are now arranged side by side, and the Atkinson-cycle 2.0-liter inline-four gas engine gains direct fuel injection. Combined power output is 204 horsepower and 247 pound-feet of torque, and Honda claims it will feel more responsive than the previous system. EPA fuel-economy ratings aren’t available yet, but it should pick up a few extra mpg compared with the current Accord hybrid’s 48-mpg combined rating.

Although the new Accord is 2.8 inches longer than before, its wheelbase is unchanged, and it will likely ride and handle much like the outgoing model did. That’s fine by us, as we love the current Accord’s refined on-road demeanor, but Honda does say that it has increased chassis rigidity, retuned the suspension, and widened the front track by 0.6 inch. All Accords feature Normal and Econ drive modes, while the hybrids also offer a Sport mode and an Individual mode that will allow drivers to customize different vehicle settings.

While the clean new exterior styling steals the show, the interior looks better than before, too. As in the cabins of the new Civic and CR-V, the Accord has piano-black trim and a mesh cover for the air vents which spans the width of the dashboard. A 7.0-inch touchscreen with volume and tuning knobs comes standard in the nonhybrid trims, and a considerably larger 12.3-inch screen (also with a volume knob) is offered in the hybrid models. Wireless smartphone mirroring is offered only with the bigger screen, but a 10.2-inch digital gauge cluster is standard across the board. There’s a bit of extra rear legroom, and cargo space is unchanged at 17 cubic feet.

A full complement of driver-assistance features will come standard on every trim level, but many of the nicer features—such as leather upholstery—are reserved only for the hybrids. The Touring is the fully loaded trim, coming with features such as a head-up display, cooled front seats, heated rear seats, a wireless smartphone charging pad, and an array of Google apps built in to the infotainment system.

We’re expecting a slight price increase for the new Accord, but we won’t know the details until closer to the car’s on-sale date in early 2023. Look for the LX to start at around $28,000 and the Sport hybrid at around $33,000, with the loaded Touring pushing $40,000.

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