Honda Accord 2.4 first drive

What’s new?

Mild styling updates for 2006, including new front and rear bumper, grille, bonnet, headlights and sill detail.

The saloon also gets new tail lights, but the Tourer (estate) keeps the old ones. Both body styles get a new dashboard design with three-dial cluster and exotic new lighting. There’s also a thicker steering wheel and a new design of gearlever knob for both autos and manuals.

A new option (on 2.4 EX models) is the availability of a Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS) plus Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). And all Accords can now have a new voice recognition sat-nav system with traffic density info built in.

What’s it like?

As competent as the old Accord, and a bit better-looking.

LKAS uses forward-facing cameras to spot lane lines on the road and keep the car within them. While your hands are on the wheel, the system guides the car on a straight course, but it can be easily overridden by the driver.

And it’s not a hands-free system. Sensors detect minute driver inputs, but if these stop LKAS emits a beep. The ACC cruise is as efficient and ideal for the UK as other radar-based systems.

Should I buy one?

Certainly, as long as you can hack the fairly high prices and the probable lack of a discount. This is a fine car and a class-leader made better.

Steve Cropley

Title: Editor-in-chief

Steve Cropley is the oldest of Autocar’s editorial team, or the most experienced if you want to be polite about it. He joined over 30 years ago, and has driven many cars and interviewed many people in half a century in the business.

Cropley, who regards himself as the magazine’s “long stop”, has seen many changes since Autocar was a print-only affair, but claims that in such a fast moving environment he has little appetite for looking back.

He has been surprised and delighted by the generous reception afforded the My Week In Cars podcast he makes with long suffering colleague Matt Prior, and calls it the most enjoyable part of his working week.