 Honda
Accord 2.4 VTi-L
The Accord's been somewhat of a colossus for Honda, in India at least.
Nothing that has come before or after this car has managed to topple it,
and with Honda face-lifting its flagship, the reign may well continue
for a few years more. However, before you sigh and flip to the next article,
we have to say this was the Accord's toughest fight yet, won by a single
point and the hundred-gram weight of the Honda badging. Maybe that facelift
isn't such a luxury any more…
Red-hot
brand
There's something about that chrome ‘H’ in the middle of the
grille that makes Indian buyers go mad – and it's one of the major
reasons why the Accord wins this comparison. If you took three abso-lutely
identical, camouflaged cars, and stuck a Honda badge on one, a Ford on
the second and a Hyundai on the other, the average buyer will take the
Honda. And that's actually a very relevant analogy in this shootout, because
the three cars drew up so close at the end.
Buying a Honda will get you a smarter salute at the company car park,
more obsequiousness from a maitre d’, and better resale value, just
because it is a Honda. The good bit is that the badge isn't a sham: Honda
made its name by making classy, high-tech and refined cars with excellent
engines, which is just what the Accord is.
 Internal
affairs
A traditional weakness turned into a big strength. Honda has never been
known for ‘buy-me’ interiors, but this Accord has a lovely,
futuristic cabin, the most plush of the three here. The blond wood looks
great, the electroluminescent dials look great and the shield-shaped centre
console looks just wonderful. There are light colours everywhere and decent
glass area, which makes for an airy ambience, and the plastics used all
around are perfectly acceptable. It's a well-equipped car as well, with
a dual-zone climate-control system that neither of the others is blessed
with, as well as standard dual airbags, ABS-EBD and a 6-CD changer, with
major controls mounted on the steering wheel. There's power everything-else,
of course, as well as neat little touches, like a driver's armrest that
slides for convenience, as well as lamps that automatically switch off
once the key is out.
Comfort, however, isn't quite up there with the other two. It's not bad
at all, mind you, but the seats have neither the body-hugging contours
of the Mondeo's, nor the pillowy softness of the Sonata's. Plus, the rear
seat is a bit too low for our liking.
Road
runner
 Dynamically,
the Accord is a solid if rather unexceptional performer. The chassis is
quite sportily set up, and feels nicely taut, but it doesn't have the
finesse of a Mondeo. The steering is accurate, and the car feels quite
chuckable into corners, with an agility through city traffic that's some
way beyond the other two. However, it tends to be a bit skittish into
corners, the rear showing signs of breaking loose if you push it too hard,
and worse, at high speeds on the highway it's not all that stable. It
doesn't feel perfectly planted at high speeds, and there's an edginess
to the car that doesn't feel very reassuring. The ride is another problem:
it settles down (when loaded) at speed, but on chewed-up city roads it
has a distinctly harsh edge to it, which may be down to unresolved damping.
Braking is decent too, but pedal feel could do with some sorting –
it's just too lifeless to give you much feedback.
The engine, an area where Honda is traditionally strong, is a good motor,
which manages to be refined and muscular at the same time. It's not as
good as the V6 in the top-end Accord, but the 2.4-litre motor is nevertheless
a gem, spinning effortlessly and making very little noise about it. It
responds well, mating well with a slick gearbox, and amazingly, doesn't
drink very much at all for a car of this size.
 Ford
Mondeo
The Mondeo, a multi-award winner and best-seller in Europe, has never
really caught on in India. One
reason is the lack of a prestige badge, another the high price at launch,
and the third the fact that the original Mondeo never really felt as luxurious
as an Accord or an old Sonata. A facelift early this year changed all
that, with the Mondeo getting a more sensible price-tag, a much classier
interior and a more ornate, corporate look. And it's never lost its core
appeal, of being a top-notch driver's car.
Blue-collar
oval
The
Ford's biggest problem in this comparo is that it's a Ford. You don't
really equate the Blue Oval with hoity-toity motors, and that is a problem
for image-conscious luxury-car customers. This problem is more acute in
India – Ford's big sellers, the Ikon and Endeavour, are both discount-priced
and slightly rough, which is fine at their level, but doesn't work at
this end of the market.
The Mondeo hasn't had a great initial run either, with a string of reliability
issues, and a cabin that was too sombre and spare to easily justify a
high price-tag. That price tag was chopped down drastically, but in the
process the car lost a lot on the equipment front, including its Xenon
headlamps and most of the power adjustments for the driver's seat, which
means only height-djustment is now electric. That puts quite a dent in
the car's prestige value as well; in India, a power driver's seat is not
normally a ecessity, seeing it's mostly chauffeurs who drive, but in what
is a great driver's car, it's rather a shame.
 Inside
story
The Mondeo’s cabin, updated this year, is appreciably better. A
two-tone colour scheme is miles better than the almost funereal black
of the old car, and the inlays of oak-like wood look wonderful. The cabin's
still rather dark, but it feels sweeter now, with a nice blend of high-quality
plastics, wood and chrome sprinkles, and lovely detailing like the oval
clock and a cleverly designed cup-holder that pops out like a robot's
arm out of the dash.
Ergonomically, it's a mixture of sublime and ridiculous. On the good side
are the perfectly sized steering wheel, the just-right dials, and the
stereo, which with controls on both a steering-column stalk and just a
finger's extension away from the gearknob, is absolutely effortless to
use. (By the way, that Sony system sounds fantastic, by far the best of
the three.) The bad side of the ergonomics is the seat controls –
the manual knobs for seat-back angle and lumbar support are stupidly located,
and you'll be lucky if you don't sprain your shoulder trying to reach
them.
The seats are pretty good – they're firm but perfectly contoured
to hold you in place during some spirited cornering, and though there's
less room in the back than in the others, you'll never really feel the
pinch.
 Driver's
best friend
The Mondeo is a superb drive, period. And not just in relation to the
other cars here, but anywhere in the world. It feels supremely confident
into a corner, gripping hard and letting you know exactly what each wheel
is doing, with a steering rack that gives you just enough feedback from
the road without getting twitchy, and a board-flat way of cornering that
makes you forget it was designed as a family saloon in Europe. And this,
amazingly, isn't at the expense of ride, which is noticeably firm but
never harsh, unlike the Accord. The only fly in the ointment is the braking:
the pedal is numb and ineffective for the first inch of travel, though
the braking distance is least for the Ford.
The engine’s quite juicy – it's the fastest in a quarter-mile,
despite being the smallest – but not very refined, with a gravelly
engine note that is typically Ford. It responds well, and the engine note
is nice in the ghats, but tiring on the Expressway. A positive point is
the gearshift – the stubby gearlever and snick-snick action are
delightful.
 Hyundai
Sonata Embera
Hyundai has a big fight on its hands, trying to market its new flagship
against one of the world's strongest automotive brands, and to lift its
own image to something acceptable to upmarket buyers. The Sonata in particular,
whether this car or the old one, never manages to escape the feeling that
it's just a family car pretending to be a luxury sedan – and designed
to be inexpensive, VFM transport in the USA, that in fact is exactly what
it is.
Sincere
flattery
The Sonata seems to have a tradition of aping its betters. The first one
we saw here doffed not only its cap but its shirt and trousers to the
Jaguar S-Type, and this one in like fashion draws inspiration from the
Audi A6 and arch-rival Accord. Recognise those rear lights? In fact, you
won't be able to tell the Hyundai and Honda apart in traffic. But plagiarism
notwithstanding, the Sonata's a fine-looking car, substantial and modern,
with a nice, executive look to its clean surfaces and broad Teutonic shoulders,
and a good stance to that wide backside.
That scalloped bonnet in particular looks good. (You may have noticed
we haven't talked about styling at all so far, which is because all three
here look very pleasing, and whether you like the futuristic but dumpy-bottomed
Accord, or the still-crisp Mondeo, or the Sonata, is up to you.)
One significant thing is the difference between the gaudy old car and
the understated, almost un-styled new one; Hyundai's clearly going for
mass-market European appeal, like with the Getz, and has followed the
Germanic styling themes which are currently so popular on the Continent.
That big rear, by the way, also gives you a humongous boot, big enough
to hide an elephant in, if that's the sort of thing you go in for.
Plastic
needs surgery
It's the plastics that kill the Sonata in this comparison – the
interior looks so terribly downmarket as compared to the excellence of
the Accord and Mondeo, you wonder what Hyundai was thinking. The dash
is a two-tone thing, and while the plastic used for the upper half is
about average, the bottom bit is absolute rubbish, as are the face of
the stereo and some of the door inlays.
And that's pretty surprising, seeing the old Sonata was known for its
well- selected plastics; why in the world has Hyundai gone for this cheap
stuff? The dash design itself is not great – even though it's clearly
‘inspired’ by the old Merc S-Class (check out the side air-con
vents and the wood strip) – and along with the plastics, conspire
to give the Sonata's cabin a feel closer to London minicab than Nariman
Point executive's barge. The chrome and wood bits are glossy, but too
much so, and the yellow dial lighting and fiddly stereo don't help.
Smooth
but dull
Amazingly, Hyundai's come up with an engine that pretty much matches the
Accord's. It's a creamy motor, spinning quietly into a fat power-band,
which makes for great in-gear response and an unstressed cruising pace.
It doesn't look exceptionally good in our performance figures, but you
won't really feel the difference on the road. The gearshift is slick too,
possibly the best of the three, and makes for an effortless, quite drive.
It's let down – again – by the handling. It's pretty stable
on the Expressway but a chronic understeerer in corners, with overly-assisted
steering and no real feedback, making for a numb chassis feel. No driver's
car, this one, and you'd be advised to let this ponderous handler take
it easy through the bends. The brakes are great though, strong and progressive,
with no hint of grabbing or sponginess.
And this time, Hyundai's got the ride sorted. It's a bit soft, so you
can feel road undulations at high speed, but it absorbs craters and cracks
soundlessly, and doesn't let any shocks through to your spine.
The final judgement
Let's
get it straight: the Sonata is only last because that's the ranking we
have, and because of its half-hearted interior. If Hyundai upgrades the
plastics, it may even win. It's a handsome and fairly capable car, with
a very good engine and decent comfort, pegged back by an economy-class
badge and the lack of that plush feel which luxury buyers need. This was
a very difficult decision. Check the points table to the right and you'll
see how close it is – and we won't blame you if you don't agree
with the subjective decisions we've had to make. The Honda doesn't win
this one with a flourish like it used to, but instead it steadily gathers
points, doing everything pretty well, without the peaks and valleys on
its rivals' points tables.
Plus, it has that Honda badge going for it, which for many seals the bond,
and overrides the fact that it's the most expensive here. The Mondeo is
a superb driver's car, and the most ‘personal’ of the lot,
the car you'd drive yourself rather than hand over to the chauffeur. However,
there's no getting away from its high running costs or its lack of refinement,
or the less- than-sterling badge.
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November 2005