Test Drive Honda Accord coupe 1998 - 2002 coupe

Honda Accord Coupe: Rare Bird

Honda? Accord? What Coupe? "While I was going to this test, I was simply thickened by colleagues." Theories put forward one other cooler: that I found somewhere a purebred Japanese with a full drive and the right steering wheel, which is not an ACCORD at all, but a certain rare modification of Prelude, etc. Even to them, experienced car journalists, it is unlikely that it would be possible to identify this car. So this is a rare bird - Honda Accord with a body coupe ...

And everything turned out to be much easier. No, this is not a Japanese, and not even a version of any other model, but the most ACCORD, just originally intended for the American market. The catalog is written and written: Coupe Fur Die USA. True, this copy was manufactured for Europe, more precisely - for Germany, from where it was brought. This is also talking about the European devices scale, and a relatively clamped suspension and many more nuances. This is the first copy of Accord Coupe, which hit the territory of the Republic of Belarus!

It is necessary to say that with usual ACCORD us, this version of Coupe has absolutely nothing in common - neither by the body, nor by stuffing. However, all external differences are most pronounced photos: immediately and it is not clear what kind of model. Although that this is Honda, there is no second to doubt a second: common body divers and front optics something unpacable reminds all European Honda combined. But on the side of the car similar to the luxury coupe of the type Lexus, although there is some similarity with the prelude of the last generation already removed from production - the angle of inclination of the rear rack and the window line resemble a relative sports accumulation. But the back of Coupe is definitely similar only to one model - the central engineer Supercar Honda NSX with an aluminum body. Only it is as wide, for the whole feed, the lantern and original triangular dimensions on the sides of the body. And if it were not for the height of the car himself, behind Coupe, too, could well get together for the centralotrian - it looks very rapidly, and two chrome-plated exhaust pipes in combination with elegant anti-cracks trust the picture.

Inside, everything is much more cleaner than we are usually used to seeing in machines for Europe - leather, electric drives, etc. Although no worship of American style was noticed, and the interior of this pro-American Honda was performed in the same style as the European counterparts - a negatively inclined central console with a mandatory visor, a plump four-spin steering wheel with a stylized H and acquaintance with other models of the automatic transmission lever. Even plastic familiar is slightly harsh, but quite expensive. The salon is far from small, even behind, and this is a logical explanation - the base of Coupe is more than that of the ACCORD of the last generation! Naturally, in this car, as originally intended for the American market, there are many different trifles that significantly increase the level of comfort - cup holders, armrests with boxes for storing small things, etc. But one thing just killed me - remote control has not only door locks, but also the trunk. After pressing the appropriate button on the key, the trunk lid opens - I have already seen only in the new BMW seven!

The first impression of a man in the wheel - what is it still huge, this Accord Coupe! Sitting on a passenger seat, we do not notice that, but it is necessary to be driving, immediately you immediately envy drivers of small trains - as famously they pass between the rows, sinking among the cars at the traffic light. But on such a car there is nothing about it and dream - wide, long, low - it is not at all intended for urban crowd. And although almost everything can be seen into huge mirrors, and the visibility seems to be nothing, maneuvering still has to be carefully. Sitting driving, you can not even imagine where the front bumper begins, although the assumptions about its approximate value are completely deprived of the desires to experiment with dimensions. The steering wheel is quite empty, but not so much to interfere with actively driving, although to rotate it with one finger - also a kind of pleasure. Moreover, when maneuvering in a close space, it will have to rotate quite actively - the machine is still large, and the reversal radius is appropriate. However, we ride all around the city, it's time to the will - the track is waiting!

This is where Honda Accord Coupe also demonstrated itself in all its glory. The high-speed route showed who there is WHO. Speed \u200b\u200b- at least 90, at least 190 km / h, and the car goes as if it is a warm-up for her - the supply under the gas pedal is frighteningly, in the salon silence, and only flying back the passing vehicles do not allow you to relax. To say that a semi-trifer machine with a six-cylinder 200-strong motor is going fast, it means that nothing. Only eight seconds you need this silver car in order to gain a hundred from the place - and it is with a machine gun! If there was a mechanical mechanic here, which is not provided for this model at all, then with this motor Coupe probably could simply fly - with such indicators 6.5 - 6.8 seconds until hundreds would be quite acceptable results for it. But we really liked the machine. It is felt that it was very seriously adapted for the needs of dashing European drivers: there is neither inhibition, no jerks when switching. It works almost as clearly as the automata installed on BMW - no reasons for the absence of mechanics you will not.

It is enough to say that despite the presence of only four steps, and not five, like the newest models, it is very famously switched down - sometimes even two steps at once! And all this happens without jerks, almost instantly, it seems that the gas pedal has not yet touched the polish, and the machine has already pushed the right transmission and is ready for work. It is worth only cutting the gas, and the car is instantly transformed. On the change of calm phlegmaticity, characteristic of the whole large coupe, comes sharpness and swiftness. Moreover, the kick-down as such is missing - there is no familiar step under the gas pedal, after overcoming which the car is tearing. It just rides, and quite quickly, and there is little from the engine speed, the motor is equally well lucky in the entire range of revolutions. And the branded VTEC system helps in this. The variable phases of gas distribution allow you to optimize the combustion process of fuel, allowing you to obtain an almost peak torque value from idle to maximum revolutions.

However, and by itself the 3-liter motor can be much, and VTEC simply allows you to more competently distribute the power and make the acceleration control more convenient. And in the case of Accord Coupe, there are no problems at all: your business only demonstrate the intention, and the car will do everything herself. Handling is also at the height. All Honda has long been famous for well-tuned chassis, and Coupe is no exception. You can go to the turn at such a speed that even the most terrible becomes - the limit of the car is much higher than the driver's capabilities. True, in comparison with the true Americans, Accord Coupe may seem somewhat harsh: the road joints are properly transmitted on the body, although the large bumps machine circles much more smasher. But but, in the quality of compensation, it does not swing and does not grow even on a very bad road. Yes, even the discount must be made to low-profile rubber. A relatively small tire profile, I know on your own experience, makes the car very tough and susceptible to trifles, even if the suspension itself is very soft. And in general, the impression is very good. Given that the car was originally designed for the overseas market, its running quality is simply at the height.

Yes, really - the Japanese car made for America, and then also adapted for Europe is a thing in itself. It is very peculiar in everything: on design, by chassis, in dynamics, by manageability. This is a symbiosis of a representative sedan and a very high-speed coupe. And although there are many and more speed, and more comfortable models, but such that would combine all these qualities in themselves, really very little. As for the Honda Accord Coupe directly, it can be safely recommended to those who have already founded by German models, and the American, with all their beauty and power, cannot tolerate due to specific quality. The Japanese pedigree and orientation on the overseas market allowed us to make almost impossible, namely, to give the consumer a car with a gorgeous design in the American style, with characteristics at the level of the best German models and excellent assembly quality.

A source: Autogase / N 39 (385) dated 06.11.02