Winning numbers

By DAVID LINKLATER

Honda New Zealand's Accord Euro is all about the numbers. A price tag of just $35,000 for a highly specified car. Outputs of 140kW and 223Nm from a 2.4-litre i-VTEC engine. Six-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmissions. Four airbags. Three electronically controlled driver aids: anti-lock braking with automatic assist/force distribution, traction control and Vehicle Stability Assistance (VSA). Two-zone climate-control air-conditioning. And, as of today, 2000 potential buyers that Honda folk say have registered interest in the new car without so much as turning the key.

Easy to see why. On paper, nothing else in the class compares on price, powertrain or equipment. Ignore the modestly specified, fleet-focused Mazda6 2.0 and you have to spend more than $40,000 for a 122kW/207Nm 2.3-litre model. The Ford Mondeo starts at just under $38,000 but serves up a mere 105kW/185Nm from its 2-litre four. Toyota's four-pot 2.4-litre Camry comes in at a touch over $37,000 and makes 112kW/218Nm.

None of the Accord's mid-size rivals offers a six-speed manual gearbox and only Holden's new Vectra 2.2 CD - probably the closest competitor in its combination of value and equipment - can match the Honda's five-speed automatic option. But while the self-shifter adds $1900 to the 108kW/203Nm Vectra's price, Honda New Zealand asks only $1000 for its auto. Impressive.

There are two Euro variants: the standard car in manual or auto, and the minimalist-sounding but sumptuously specified $42,000 Accord Euro L auto.

That's L-for-luxury, with the addition of curtain airbags (for a total of six), gas-discharge headlights with pop-out washers, rain-sensing wipers, sunroof, power adjustment for the front seats and a leather interior over the entry car. Euros ride on 16-inch alloy wheels with 300mm front/260mm rear brakes.

It looks the part. European that is, although it's actually built in Japan. The Accord looks much smaller than the Vectra sedan, but at 4665mm in length it's actually within 5mm of its Holden rival.

Aggressively styled? Yes. Original? Not exactly. The five-point grille is menacing in a Mazda6 kind of way (the two cars were launched around the same time in Europe). The door mirrors with built-in indicators say Mercedes-Benz, while the sharp crease along the flanks, elegant chrome doorhandles and truncated bootlid are pure Alfa Romeo 156.

Ditto for the cabin. It's nicely arranged and beautifully built - better in this regard than any rival - but so obviously tries to replicate the interior ambience of a BMW that it seems obsessive. The snug thumbholes at the quarter-to-three position on the steering wheel, cockpit-style centre console shape and deeply concave doortrims pay homage to the 3-series in particular. Honda has even duplicated the aspects of the Three that aren't so clever, such as the thick, steeply raked A-pillars that impede through-corner visibility and the rather snug rear-passenger compartment.

Good and bad, it's all quite deliberate and intended to imbue a sports-sedan feel. So, the good news is that the Accord is a fine drive.

Honda's reputation for virtuoso engineering continues with the Euro's i-VTEC powerplant, which regulates valve timing and lift, along with cam timing, to deliver the best possible mix of power and economy. It revs eagerly and with a barking exhaust note all the way to peak power at 6800rpm. But 90 per cent of maximum torque is also available between 2000rpm and 7000rpm.

The short-throw six-speed manual is a delight. The ratios are stacked close together, although top is still a little higher than your average five-speeder, hovering around 2500rpm at 100km/h. Given the strength of the power delivery, it's still easy to lope along a country road in sixth without changing down.

The five-speed automatic is also a smooth operator. It takes a little of the performance edge away, but the shifts are seamless and the protocol is truly intuitive. A sequential-shift mode is available by flicking the lever to the right.

Unlike the latest Civic, Integra and CR-V models, the Accord Euro returns to the traditional Honda suspension layout of double wishbones all round. The chassis certainly makes for an engaging drive and the VSA allows the car quite a bit of leeway before it steps in, braking individual wheels and adjusting the throttle to correct out-of-kilter cornering lines.

First impressions suggest that it's not as sharp through corners as the benchmark Mondeo and Mazda6 models; the steering lacks feel and the chassis is more easily affected by the mid-corner bumps that seem to blight New Zealand backroads. But it's still an exciting car in anybody's terms and an enjoyable experience for the enthusiastic driver.

Why the Euro badge? At the moment we have only half the story. This car is intended to be a sporty foil to a larger-bodied sedan, based on an American model, that will simply be known as Accord V6 when it appears in November. Then, promises Honda, it will all make perfect sense.