Our dealer got some 08 Sedans in last night, so I stopped by today and test drove an EX-L and an EX-L V6.

First impressions. The car is HUGE, way bigger visually and otherwise compared to the 07s, which they were parked next to. It's also very awkward looking, even more than in the pictures I saw. The proportions are a bit off. The front headlights are very bubble shaped and stick out too far to the sides, you can even see them from BEHIND the car, sticking out like earlobes. The taillights are the same way. The side view is the car's best angle, and it looks a little like a 5 series or 7 series BMW from that view. The inside of the car is really busy with buttons, and the steering view has lost its nice heart shape for a more rectangular one, with two aluminum pillars on the lower part. The dash is two tiered like the civic, and adds to the interior clutter. I drove the EX-L 2.4L first, auto of course - there won't be any 5 speeds for a while. The front hoodline is very elongated and visible from inside the car, like looking out over the bow of a boat. I definitely didn't like this, I'd rather see the hood hidden from view like in the 07 Accord and Civic. It makes the handling, which has gotten clumsier because of the car's heft, seem even more vague and boat-like. The 4 cyl actually feels slower than my 2.4L , maybe just because it was an auto , but it weighs nearly 3500 lbs too, so it's almost 500 lbs heavier than the LX coupe from last year. The V6 had nice punch, but the handling was nowhere near sport sedan prowess. We played with the voice commands a little, which was fun, I don't think the 07 navi had voice prompt. I'll wait to see what the Coupe is like, but I'm already feeling disappointed, given that it'll be heavy too, spoiling the extra HP Honda decided to give us; I'm just hoping it's not as ugly as the sedan.

 

I was at the dealer today as well and was not very impressed. Neither by girlfriend nor I liked the looks, but both agreed it may grown on us in time. The car does look very bmw ish. Didn't get to look at the interior much or anything else since it was in the back and was not ready to be put out yet.

I got the brochure and looked over the coupe some more. I think the couple has potential to look very very sexy.

 

im not a huge fan of the rear, I think that part needs the most improvement on on the next batch or the 2nd half of the 8th gen.

 

agreed, I dont like the step honda has takin making the car so big. Now the 4 cylinder models feel out of spot, with all that weight its gotta carry. ok true the 190hp will help but torque hasnt increased at all. I wish honda would stop trying to be like europe car makers, I love hondas becuase they are hondas, not becuase there BMW wanna be's.

 

Here are some pics I snapped on my phone:





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[IMG]local://upfiles/5775/D3C41697F91C4B25AC36E20BF53B027E.jpg[/IMG]

 

It looks kinda like someone took a rectangular piece of clay and a putty knife and just started choping pieces off, weird, random angle intersection and a defenite boat like "look/feel" to the rear end....

 

I don't think this one is going to go over too well with the consumers. But watch me be totally wrong.....
I wouldn't buy one

 

While I was looking at the car a couple was looking at it as well. I made small talk and they narrowed down their choice to an avalon and the accord. They sure didn't seem to impressed by the 08 accord =/. I hope it they make some changes from 08 to 09 model cuz I don't see this car growing on me. While I was in the svc dept the owner of the dealership was there and was talking to one of his employees about how honda expects sales to increase by 400,000 in North America for 09'. I found that very interesting.

 

Honda's sales are increasing but I don't think that car is doing them any favors... perhaps we all have issues with it because we're die hard accord guys (for the most part) so we've come to expect the accord to look/feel a certain way and this style looks so far off from any of the traditional looks. It may do well in getting the attention of people who haven't previously owned an accord but I don't forsee to many prior owners trading theirs in for it...

 

I think the coupe looks rather pretty good from the back.