The Honda Accord is one of the most popular midsize sedans on the road thanks to its roomy interior, excellent fuel efficiency, and fun driving experience. Despite these benefits, Honda understands that it can't rest on its laurels. The automaker is looking ahead in order to compete with other family sedans as well as Americans' growing appetite for crossovers and SUVs. For 2021, Honda offers more features for the Accord including subtle styling changes, more standard tech, and improved performance with a focus on the Hybrid model. These key changes come with a price increase of $500 across the lineup.
Styling Updates
To the untrained eye, the 2021 Accord looks nearly identical to the outgoing model, but a closer look reveals a wider grille, new LED high and low-beam headlights (for the Accord Sport and higher trims), as well as smaller openings for the fog lights. New alloy wheel designs can be found on the LX, EX-L, and Touring trims, and a new Sonic Gray Pearl color is available for Sport trims and above.
A new special edition Sport SE model is added to the 2021 lineup, replacing the 2020 Accord EX 1.5T. The Sport SE adds features like leather heated seats, a four-way power passenger seat, heated mirrors, Smart Entry, and remote engine start. The Sport and Sport SE trims offer unique exterior styling features like a rear trunk lid spoiler, exclusive19-inch wheel design, LED fog lights, dark-chrome grille, and chrome exhaust finishers.
Performance Improvements
The Honda Accord gas models come with either a 192-horsepower 1.5-liter turbo (standard in the LX, Sport,, Sport SE and EX-L) or a 252-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbo offered in the Accord Sport 2.0T and Touring grades. Honda has updated the software for both turbocharged engines, resulting in a more linear throttle response. The 1.5-liter turbo also gets improved Idle Stop performance, with quicker engine start-up. Finally, the Accord's braking system is now smoother, especially at low speeds such as stop-and-go traffic.
For 2021, Honda paid special attention to its Accord Hybrid model, focusing on making it the best Accord from both a performance and an efficiency standpoint. According to Dave Gardner, executive vice president of National Operations at American Honda “The new Honda Accord Hybrid is really the Accord to buy, offering customers more of everything they like about Accord -- more power, refinement and, of course, excellent fuel economy ratings."
The Accord Hybrid's two-motor hybrid system offers a best-in-class 212 horsepower and 232 lb-ft of torque. The hybrid system is updated for 2021 to offer a more direct throttle response and smoother acceleration. These performance improvements are complemented with a top fuel economy rating of 48 mpg2.
Infotainment and Safety Tech
The Honda Accord was one of the first vehicles to be offered with both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and now each trim offers standard integration with both systems. Shoppers who go with the EX-L and Touring trims can take advantage of wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, leaving the USB ports available for other devices. The connectivity systems will be available on the newly standard 8-inch Display Audio touchscreen entertainment system across the lineup.
The Accord's safety upgrades include a new standard Rear Seat Reminder which reminds the driver to check the rear seat with an audio and visual cue when the vehicle is turned off. Another new standard feature is a rear seatbelt reminder which notifies the driver when rear-seat passengers fail to buckle up.
A new front and rear braking system called 'Low-Speed Braking Control' uses sonar-based parking sensors to identify objects at low speeds, and warn the driver or apply the brakes to help avoid or mitigate a collision. This feature is available on the Accord Touring and Hybrid Touring trims.
2021 Trims and Pricing
The Honda Accord and Accord Hybrid will be available in dealerships this week, starting on Oct. 13. 6 trims are available for the gas model along with 4 trims for the hybrid. A $500 price increase across the lineup is the largest jump for the current model, with the base Accord LX starting at $24,770 MSRP (excluding destination and handling), and the 2021 Accord Hybrid starting at 26,370 MSRP.
