Honda Accord Crosstour review

It is indeed in a similar vein to the BMW Granturismo, both are
‘crossovers’, both try to straddle the gap between at least two types of
car, and both fail in a gallant effort to boldly answer a question that
nobody actually asked.

Like the BMW Honda takes its most popular saloon and stretches its
appeal way over and beyond the bounds of acceptability. The saloon is
solid, the estate (available in other markets) is extremely practical
and the coupe is svelte and really quite desirable.

But in some ambitious bit of gene-splicing what they’ve done here is
inject some SUV DNA into the Accord to create a CUV (Crossover Utility
Vehicle). The Accord Crosstour finds itself raised up higher off the
ground, fitted with four-wheel drive, and adopts a hatch-like rear for
increased versatility.

So it’s just turned into a wobbly mess then?

You referring to the shape or the drive?

From some angles the car looks almost acceptable and certain details are
quite nice, like the grated rocker panels giving it a butch brush-off
stance. And bizarrely, whilst it’s usually the case that some cars look
better in the metal than they do in pictures – it works the other way
around for this car.

Take the front three-quarters or the side profile, and the car seems to
have a stylish presence. That side glass area profiling is actually
quite sleek. But then you get to that bulbous over-sized rear end and
it’s like when the pretty girl behind the desk gets up to reveal a
well-filled out pair of jeans.

Even the face on this car takes getting used to. That imposing grill is
much bigger than on regular Accords but it thrusts forward and down like
the front of an old steam locomotive or, perhaps more cruelly, I could
compare it to one of those ASMA grilles that the tuning firm inflicts on
modified Mercs. Still it has some interesting angles, and has the sort
of stern aesthetic appeal you get from a Samurai’s helmet.

Is it as difficult to comprehend as the BMW Granturismo?

Maybe slightly less actually, or it could be because it has a couple of
saving graces in its favour – the Granturismo is not four-wheel drive,
and this Accord is a lot cheaper that the BMW crossover.

And has the drive been similarly adversely impacted?

Actually no. You can certainly feel the loftier ride height, but body
control is remarkably good. Handling-wise it’s fairly stubborn when it
comes to grip, making good use of the four-way drive. Throw it hard into
a corner and it will understeer, but drive more appropriately and it’s
predictable and not entirely dull, although we’d stop short of ‘sporty’.
Response from the light helm is good, it doesn’t lean as much as you’d
expect and overall it’s an easy car to drive.

Performance is adequate, despite its grunty 3.5 V6 – which does make for
refined and easy cruising, so this is a good companion on the longer
journeys, which in some parts of our region is what Accords are used
for. Should offer decent economy too, with its cylinder deactivation
system that can run the engine on four or three cylinders when
cruising. 

The five-speed automatic transmission now features a new downshift
rev-match feature for smoother downshifts – oh yes you can downshift
yourself with the paddles behind the steering wheel. Frankly speaking
though, it’s not particularly satisfying and the gearbox is good enough
to just leave to its own devices.

Does look practical and user-friendly

It’s reasonably well-equipped, although a trip computer and external
temperature readout would be welcome (supposedly it has the latter but I
couldn’t find it), and it is very nicely appointed with a welcoming and
usefully spacious leather-upholstered interior, where even taller
passengers can ride in relative comfort.

There’s dual-zone climate control, auto-dimming rear view mirror, 8-way
driver’s seat adjustment with memory, a 7-speaker audio with subwoofer
and AUX/USB jacks, and something called Active Noise Control, which
presumably quietens the cabin on the go. I didn’t notice it, which I
guess means it works.

Of course having a hatch-like rear opening makes it a useful thing for
hauling loads about – though the higher ride height does mean you’ll be
doing part of the hauling to get it up into the cargo area. But the
60:40 split folding seats do free up some extra space should you need
it. Be sure to measure the width of any cabinets you plan to carry
though as the suspension turrets do intrude dramatically into the cabin
thereby narrowing the gap into the passenger compartment.

There’s an underfloor storage and the floor panels themselves are
reversible, this presumably is for this trips to the beach where you
want to just throw your wet gear into the back.

Well it get to the beach and back okay without getting stuck?

Should do. I tried a bit of gentle off-roading, as you’ll see from the
pictures, and where the sand is not too deep, it performs well enough.
But this is very basic ‘real-time’ 4WD which by Honda’s own admission is
intended for light-duty off-roading including dirt roads. It just give
you that little bit of extra ability for added reassurance where you may
have to venture slightly off the tarmac along a path that would either
leave your regular Accord stuck or damaged.

Scores badly on looks, but not so bad on ability… Thumbs up then?

No quite. Putting aside its challenging visual appeal for a moment there’s another factor to consider – the price.

Considering that this car tries to bridge the gap between a regular
Accord and a CRV, it complicates matters by being around $5000 more
expensive than an Accord V6, and a whopping $9000 more than a top-trim
CRV.

Okay so that only has a 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine, but here’s the
clincher: you can buy a Honda Pilot with the 3.5 V6 for $36k versus the
Crosstour’s $38k. And for a couple of grand more you can get the EXL
flagship Pilot. That car is bigger, even more spacious, has two extra
seats and has a proper 4×4 tranny that really will go most places. And
whilst no great looker itself, it still has a simple boxy visual charm
that the Crosstour can’t match.

So there you have it, if the Crosstour has everything you need, head down to the Honda showroom and buy a Pilot instead.