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The age of the Honda Accord with a V6 under the hood is coming to an end, and it’s hardly surprising that Honda’s showing up late to the turbo party. But if the first glimpse is any indication, the Accord’s 2.0-liter turbocharged inline four will stand out in an already crowded marketplace.
Honda is poised to unveil the 10th-generation Accord this fall, along with the recently introduced Civic sedan and the CR-V crossover. The new Accord will share a few things in common with its cousins, including a 1.5-liter turbocharged four engine, which fetches 175 horsepower in the Civic and 190 in the slightly bolder CR-V. It’ll also have a continuously variable automatic transmission.
The redesigned Accord lineup will also include a Hybrid model featuring the same 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle four engine used in the current Hybrid. No news there—the real “news” is the new 2.0-liter turbo engine. Rumors are already circulating that this upgraded engine will be the most powerful in its class. But that’s not the only trick Honda is ready to pull out of its sleeve.
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This new engine is slated to come with a 10-speed automatic with a torque converter—the first-ever in a front-wheel drive car—designed by Honda. Other Honda sources have confirmed that both the 1.5- and 2.0-liter turbocharged engines will be offered with a six-speed manual transmission. Phew. We were worried the Mazda 6 would be the last-remaining bastion of the traditional stick shift among the latest wave of mid-sized sedans.
Other than that, Honda hasn’t said much about the Accord 2.0T’s specs, including horsepower and torque ratings. They have, however, promised both faster acceleration times and improved fuel economy compared to the current Accord EX-L V6 and the Accord Touring V6, which fetch 21 miles per gallon in the city and 33 on the highway—respectable, for the mid-sized car range.
The Accord’s 2-liter turbocharged engine should be a relative carbon-copy to that featured in the soon-to-be launched Civic Type R, save for a few tunings and trimmings. The engine specs include full-variable valve timing, two chain-driven cams, an air-to-air charge, a single-scroll turbo with an electric wastegate, an exhaust manifold cast into the cylinder head, and an array of heat-alleviating features.
Among other teases, Honda engineers claim that the new engine should be significantly lighter than the current 3.5-liter V6. They’ve hinted, too, that the car should be about 10 percent lighter than the six-speed, with the ability to handle an additional 20 percent of torque. All of the 2.0T engines will come out of Honda’s Anna, Ohio plant, while the car will be assembled in Tallapoosa, Georgia.
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But that’s about all we know, though Honda did recently treat a handful of journalists to a sneak peak of the car at its design headquarters in Tochigi, Japan. A final—camouflaged—prototype of the new Accord made a few laps around the on-site racetrack, leading to speculation about whether it would be roomier than the ninth-generation Accord.
It’s been years since the same engine configuration went mainstream. Will it be enough to save the Honda Accord from flagging sales? Only time will tell.
