It's almost unanimous. Car critics seem to all love the new Honda Accord and that includes the expectedly good driving dynamics, as well as the styling. Then there's us. Call us boring, call us conventional, but we really did love the 2017 model, despite the fact that it's not exactly adventurous in its styling. We just can't get behind the appearance of the 2018 Accord. The new one actually doesn't look like what we've come to recognize as an Accord at all. Perhaps it was high time it changed, but we don't like what Honda has done with it.
Sure, it departs from the more conventional looks of just about every Accord ever made, but that doesn't mean the result is a good one. Our big test is trying to imagine how well the car will hold up style-wise ten years from now. That's where sedans like the Ford Fusion, Volkswagen Passat, and the Mazda6 will do particularly well. The Accord, not so much. But why do we think it's distinctly unattractive? Let's get into the details.
The whole shape of the car is essentially different, with a much sleeker greenhouse that tapers down into almost a hatchback sedan look, but from the front 3/4 angle, it makes the back look disproportionately small and a bit awkward. The front isn't great, either, thanks to a giant chrome mustache that caps the jewel-eye headlamps.
Then there's the
Go to the rear view of the new Accord, and you'll notice that though the taillamp shape is more European than before with long C-shaped housings, there's a weird plastic trim piece in between that helps give the taillamps their shape. But since it's a separate piece from the decklid, it looks like it was tacked on as an afterthought. In colors like grey and red, it's especially noticeable.
Perhaps the worst view is in profile. The crease in the rocker panel drops down about a quarter of the way from the front edge of the front door rather than continuing all the way through. This makes the car look thicker in front than in the back, where it already looks too slender. Then there's the pointy chrome trim piece that terminates at the base of the D-pillar and the lower edge of the small side rear window rises up to meet it. It doesn't look like it belongs on the car at all and sticks out like a sore thumb.
We get that Honda wanted something distinctive like BMW's iconic and very consistent (but nicely subtle) Hofmeister kink, made famous by Wilhelm Hofmeister, the BMW design chief from 1955 to 1970, but the result is too noticeable and not in a good way.
The new Toyota Camry is about as different from its predecessor as the new Accord is from the 2017 model, but at least the Camry looks well-proportioned, and the dramatic styling actually works. But the old Camry really did need help, whereas the last Accord was truly attractive with just the right amount of visual drama. The proportions are better than in the current model, and the styling is kept tasteful. Accords aren't supposed to push the envelope of styling, they're just supposed to look conservatively handsome. We wish the 2018 Accord didn't try so hard to look edgy because it doesn't work at all, at least not in our book.
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