’08 Accord vs. ’08 Fusion

In a few short years, pedestrian sedans such as the V6 Accord and a Fusion will be considered high performace hot rods. 16 mpg is unacceptable mileage and with 35 mpg fuel requirements coming, cars like this will become rare.

I can’t believe the mileage results. The manufacturers should realize how important overall mileage is. Remember the old “overdrive” manual transmissions that had 6 speeds as it “high gear” in each of the selected ratios. This allowed for both power and mileage. Let’s start this again. Don

I am surpised that the Accord got the same gas mileage out of a larger motor but weighed the same as a Fusion. Shouldnt it be able to get a little better mileage? Meaning it didnt have to work as hard? Also with cylinder de-activation. The tester probably had their foot in it a little longer due to the horsepower.

16 MPG is indeed unacceptable, and so is 17 and 19 mpg,BUT the author explains it was during short haul city driving with cold starts etc.

My old 1990 Accord 5-speed would easily get 35 MPG highway, even 36-37 on occasional actual trips, but only 20-22 mpg around town short haul cold starts.

The Accord tested here was a V6 with 268 HP, while mine was a much smaller and lighter I-4 with 125 HP and 137 lbft torque.

I still own the Accord, BTW.

But as for choosing between the Accord and the Fusion, give me a break, there is NO comparison in RIDE, HANDLING, PERFORMANCE, RESALE VALUE, TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP, QUALITY and RELIABILITY, unless Honda has let itself go in this millenium.

PS if you want better MPG, get the Accord with the I-4, there are I-4s that make 190 HP in the Accord today, more than the 177 HP in the I-6 in the 1990 Mercedes S-class 300SEL a stupidcolleague of mine paid $57,000 to buy!

Yet better, get a CIVIC, easily averges 33 MPG!

I would not TOUCH the Fusion, any of the execrable Chryslers and Dodges, not even the much hyped Malibu, the new malibu that is really a pontiac G6 version 3.0 (the Saturn Aura being version 2.0!)

I have a 4 cyl. Fusion, it’s true, it has a better driving feeling then the acccord. The trunk is a lot bigger and has a 60/40 split then the bigger Accord. The seats of the Accord it way to hard and short. Too many buttons on the dash, it’s very hard to operate while driving. My friend has a V6 Accord and can’t get lower the 15 liters of gas per 100 kilometers. I thing the front is not aerodynamic and is one of the reasons why the Accord gas millage is more then it should be.

The Accord has Honda’s ACE safety crash structure - the Fusion has the old style traditioanl dual tube crash structure that is less compatible with vehicles of other sizes.

See for yourself:
http://www.honda.com/ace/

Since when has Ford been comparable to any Japanese or European car ever! for starters this is Mazdas car the “6″ exterior designed and build in a ford plant thats it, how dare the editor compare Honda which has spent billions of dollars in high quality design and engineering over decades in their Accords. You can still see unrusted good condition 88′ and 89′ accords on the road today. Can you say the same about the old Taurus’s NO! and Ford still haven’t come nowhere with this crappy Fusion It test drives like you driving a small pick up truck. and you talk about the simpicity of the Fusion interior design its called cheap! this comparison is like comparing apples to oranges, What an insult to Honda.

To people like guestar and Thor, there is no way GM, Ford or Chrysler can build a car that is even remotely competitive with Hondas. For God’s sake, wake up! The new Malibu with 3.6 is a great car that looks much better than any Accord or Camry. Honda’s bland styling, wonderfully illustrated in the new Accord, is already a major drawback. I’m not saying it’s a bad car or that it doesn’t have a good engine, all I’m saying is that you overrate Hondas and put them on a pedestal while claiming that Fusions and Malibus and Auras are junk. These cars are good and reliable cars that stand out in terms of looks, unlike the Accord. Wait until you see the next Aura; I’ve seen pictures. But I can easily predict your evaluation: “Mediocre piece of crap that’s ugly, unreliable and what not” You also dare talk about RIDE, HANDLING, PERFORMANCE, well I test drove the new Malibu and it rode and handled better than the Accord…and I could honestly say it was a looker…not something I could say about the Accord. Look at its headlights, the rear (reminds me of Saturn L-Series tail lights…), etc. It’s simply…bland and uninspiring.
Oh well, the insult isn’t to Honda; the insult is to all open-minded and unbiased people but keep on your good work though; I’m sure Honda would love to hire you to write comments that are detrimental to their competitors’ products. By the way, did you know that Honda was caught doing that? Let’s find a good excuse to brush it off, after all it’s Honda.

There is a difference between people who do not have CLUE ONE, like TED, and people like ME, who has OWNED BOTH Hondas for almost two decades and a GM (pontiac) I bought new for 11 years AND a truly execrable VW Passat, that is as unreliable today as it was 30 years ago (when it was called the Dasher) and a “Magnificent 7″ BMW 740iL which I bought despite the warmings of COnsumer Reports (but because of these warnings I paid as much for it as I would have paid for an equally old Accord, only $10.5k for a 98 I bought in 05)

But never mind about my OPINION, see t he opinions of all the experts!

The Accord is in a different league than all these domestics you mention.

Not only is it superior in HANDLING and PERFORMANCE, having made Car and Driver’s top 10 for 24 YEARS,

It is ALSO at the TOP of the more sober “Consumer Reports” in Reliability, Resale etc

And I have EXPERIENCED all these personally in the Hondas that I have owned and still own (a 92 civic with low miles and a 1990 Accord, both excellent and VERY Reliable and extremely fuel effiicent 5-spepeds)

AND AFTER ALL, in case you did not know, TED,

The ACCORD is made RIGHT HERE IN THE GOOD OLD USA, and is largely of US CONTENT,

WHILE your Fusion is made in MEXICO!

Get your facts right, then talk.

It is too bad that the features for the Fusion were not more clearly underscored. Having a AWD vehicle in the snow or on wet surfaces is an experience unlike any other. The AWD is vastly superior to a front wheel drive. Talk about innovation? Honda might get around to an AWD verision in a few years… where the Ford system is here now, it works very well, and equiping your car with it adds re-sale value and confidence while driving. so you are getting a lot more for the money. Order a Fusion without AWD and the vehicle is now $2K less expensive. With the excellent quality confirmed in all the media(JD Powers for one) - I think the Fusion would be the safer bet. Save some money buy a Fusion.

Hey Thor you are just plane wrong about the content of the accord.

If you check out the NA content of both cars you will find that the Fusion has almost as much as the Accord.

Fusion = 50% NA content
Accord = 60% NA content

In addition, the accord content is down from the last gen.

Also, seeing as all the major engineering and design work for the Accord was done in Japan compared to Dearborn for the Fusion, the economic impact is much more positive for design and engineering work than final assembly.

Oh Thor,

Also, check the source of the engine and transmission on those accords.

The 4s are made in Japan, and the transmission in the Philippines!

B smith Says:”It is too bad that the features for the Fusion were not more clearly underscored. Having a AWD vehicle in the snow or on wet surfaces is an experience unlike any other. ”

AWD is vastly overrated. Not only did I have Zero problems with simple FWD cars all these 30 years in the Snowbelt, even REAR wheel drive in a modern luxury car with all these systems (ABS, Yaw control, stability control) is more than sufficient! I found out this winter when my 1990 Accord developedf a problem and I had to drive the RWD BMW 740iL for more than a month in all that snow. It handled PeRFECTLY and not ONCE was it stuck or did it slip etc.

All season tires too, I never bothered using those Blizzaks snow tires etc.

It would be more interesting to have a comparison between the top-of-the-line 4 cylinder models (Camry XLE/Accord EX/Fusion SEL/Altima S/Passat Lux).

The Accord is by far the ugliest sedan currently in production. It’s what you get when you copy an E60 5-series BMW while drunk, there’s not an original line on the car and they’re all exaggerated, Botox-inflated, overdone.

I have no doubt of Honda’s ability to do perfectly nice mechanicals, but the thing in which they’re wrapped is hideous. About the only thing they got right was not jacking up the beltline like Toyota and GM.

I haven’t yet been in one, but Honda’s been decontenting its cars faster than most makes and has been struggling with material quality inside their cars in recent models (the last Accord had a hard-plastic upper dash pad and mundane US-make-supplier colors, the 2000-ish Civic was a hard-plastic disaster, the current Civic is just weird) and the new Malibu is just so much better than just about anything else in this segment that I have to think Honda’s playing for second-place at best there.

As for 16mpg in mixed-mostly-city use, that’s just about what my ‘00 M5 gets. I find it perfectly acceptable, but then I’m getting the benefits of 400HP and a nice RWD chassis. The fact is that both the Accord and the Fusion are big cars - bigger than my M5, if not quite as heavy - and Americans like their automatic transmissions and away-from-the-stoplight torque.

” Jay Says:
March 10th, 2008 at 11:24 am

Hey Thor you are just plane wrong about the content of the accord.”

PLANE wrong??? Now that’s a jewel. FYI, it’s PLAIN Wrong!

If you check out the NA content of both cars you will find that the Fusion has almost as much as the Accord.

Fusion = 50% NA content
Accord = 60% NA content

Assuming these %s are correct, the Accord is made in OHIO and the Fusion in MEXICO.

Can you still say, with a straight face, that the Fusion is an “american” car and the Accord an “import”??

Hint: Ask the workers in Marysville Ohio.
In addition, the accord content is down from the last gen.

“Also, seeing as all the major engineering and design work for the Accord was done in Japan compared to Dearborn for the Fusion, the economic impact is much more positive for design and engineering work than final assembly.”

You must be kidding.

It takes a LOT more man-hours to make the 1.6 MILLION Accords that are made HERE and sold in the US per 4-year model cycle than the few hundreds of engineers that ar needed to design and develop that model.

Get Real.

Hey Thor

You know what?
On the one hand, based on Consumer Reports as well as on Protégez-Vous (local magazine equivalent to Consumer Reports here in Canada), I should never have bought my 94 Saturn SL1 because it was junk. I sold it last year as the odometer read 320 000 km. I should also have abstained from purchasing my 2004 Saturn VUE with Honda’s V6 which I owned for 4 years without a single issue. My wife’s only complaint was that the engine was somehow a bit thirsty (Honda if you paid attention while reading). I should also have avoided the AWD V8 1997 Ford Explorer which I used to haul my trailer across America with one or two minor problems but which proved otherwise solid, comfortable and fun to drive. On the other hand, I should have bought my 1989 Nissan Sentra, which I did, but blew the engine at 150 000 km (not miles) You see my neighbour’s wife loves her Ford Fusion, my other neighbour can’t stop saying good things about his 300, my brother wouldn’t trade his Dodge Ram Hemi for anything in the world in spite of Consumers report. I also know other people who love their Accords, Altimas, Bimmers and that’s their own right. But reading your lines one can only see that your on a misson to raise Honda to car heaven and bring all domestics down to car hell. You can make statistics say whatever you please when you’re intellectually biased. I’m sure I can find data that’ll prove that Renaults or VW’s are unrivaled in terms of initial quality and that Hondas are below par. And if I did say that, I’d be bullshitting the world. Some people accept to do that, others don’t. I belong to the second group where you obviously don’t belong.

I have a 2008 Accord with the V6 and auto. I get 25mpg city/highway and over 30 mpg on the highway. I believe the style off your driving play a big part in the Mpg. I like the new Malibu but what will it be worth in a few years. I have had fords, gm products and dodges and always got beat up at trade time. The Accord will be worth more and thats a fact. The accord has the option of a NAV. system and I really like this feature when I travel. The style of the accord is different but not bad with the right color and interior. For its size and equipment it was hard to beat its price. Future trade value makes the difference for me.

Hey Thom,

Do you work in the auto industry? Based on your statement about how many man hours it takes to design and engineer a car I’d say - NOT!

The highest and most significant economic impact in the auto industry comes from the design and engineering work and the high value added parts of a car(1. Engine 2. Transmission). Think about an ipod. Where do you think the biggest bang econoically comes from - San Jose or China? It was designed, software writen and engineered in San Jose. All that happens in China is slapping some parts together.

Also, take a walk in the Marysville plant and tell me where the tooling was made. Won’t see any “Made in USA” stamps. Now do you even know what is “tooling”?

The Fusion was designed and engineered in Dearborn, not Tokyo. It’s has almost the same NA content as a car “assemblied” in Ohio and has had a much more positive impact on the US economy!

It’s is so nice of the japanese to let us put cars together. Funny, how all the important work(the most importand and value added work) is done in Japan!

my 05 chevy v8 pickup averages better than 17 mpg mixed driving..

I get 30 mpg on the highway in my TaurusX.

B

I have an 2008 Accord which is FWD we just had 24 inches of snow in WNY and no problem with the accord getting around. The front drive works fine in bad snow conditions. AWD is better but at the cost of Mpg and more hardware to go wrong i am not sure its worth it.

The fuel usage for these two cars is really unacceptable. My stable has a 2006 Mercedes CLS500 that get 20mpg in ex-urban driving, 24 on the hwy. My 2007 Cayman S, 6 spd, averages over 23 mpg in my driving which is pretty aggressive; and the poor old 2004 Ford Ranger Edge p/u with the 3.0L gets 17+ in normal driving.
The Fusion is a decent car though and doesn’t get its due. Sure the Honda is a very good car too, but one pays more for it. When folks ask me (and they do), I tell them Hondas are excellent, but it would save them to try a Fusion, Mazda 6, or a larger Hyundai, all of which are excellent cars with high levels of quality.

FOUND ON ROAD DEAD + FIX OR REPAIR DAILY = FORD