Honda Accord: a slightly quirky appeal

The Honda Accord is probably not the first car that springs to mind if you're considering family saloons, says Vicky Parrott in AutoExpress. Since its launch in 2008, it has been "a capable but ordinary package". Now, though, it has upgraded its entire range, offering better engines, more forgiving suspension, improved sound insulation, and more refinement. In the ranks of modern diesels, the 2.2-litre turbodiesel 178bhp Type S, which has seen emissions drop from 154g/km to 147g/km through upgrades to the engine and aerodynamics, "is very commendable", with a "good spread of torque and well-judged gear ratios". The Accord has "slightly quirky appeal" and provides "comfortable and likeable transport".

The car "may be as brown and interesting to look at as the periodic table", says Jeremy Clarkson in The Sunday Times, "but it goes like a scalded cock". The diesel engine delivers 178bhp, and "oh boy, do you feel it" but the car still delivers 50mpg. Thanks to a massive fuel tank, that means you only need fill up every 650 miles. It's "almost unbelievably well made" too, spacious, and "lovely to drive" the car feels not so much assembled as "hewn from one solid block of steel". And it's well priced, considering the amount of equipment it comes with as standard. "Boring can be brilliant."

Price: £29,060. Top speed: 136mph. 0-62mph: 8.8sec

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Engine: 4 cylinder, 2,199cc, turbodiesel

Power: 177bhp at 4,000rpm

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