Honda Wanted 2018 Accord to Top Midsize Class in Fuel Economy - It Does No Such Thing

Timothy Cain
by Timothy Cain

From a historical midsize perspective, the all-new 2018 Honda Accord is rather thrifty with the Earth’s decreasing supply of oil.

It’s fuel efficient, in other words. Over the span of 10,000 highway miles, the basic 2018 Honda Accord is expected to consume 263 gallons of regular octane gasoline. That’s only 13 more gallons than you’ll consume in a 2018 Honda Civic Hatchback with the same 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. It’s 15 fewer gallons than you’d have used in the most efficient non-hybrid 2017 Honda Accord.

The city improvement is more meaningful. The 2017 Honda Accord four-cylinder topped out at 27 mpg in the city, equal to $944 for 10,000 miles at the current fuel price of $2.55/gallon. The new 30-mpg Accord reduces city consumption in the same scenario to $850, a 10-percent decrease.

The 2018 Honda Accord is not, however, the most fuel-efficient car in America’s midsize sedan category. Honda thought it would be. Honda was wrong.

Only weeks after Toyota revealed just how economical the Camry’s Dynamic Force naturally aspirated 2.5-liter concoction would be for MY2018, Honda unveiled the 2018 Accord.

“While EPA ratings are not yet final,” now retired American Honda senior vice president Jeff Conrad said at the time, “we expect to deliver top-class fuel economy and performance.”

As TTAC’s managing editor Tim Healey mentioned in his first drive of the newest Honda earlier today, the 2018 Accord LX, EX, and EX-L earn 30 mpg city; 38 mpg highway; 33 mpg combined ratings on the EPA scale. To be fair, the Accord’s city rating does one-up the Camry LE’s 29-mpg city rating, but in terms of highway (41 mpg) and combined ratings (34), the Camry is the “top-class” car.

(Honda has not yet released fuel economy figures for the Accord 2.0T. After discovering that a good ol’ fashioned naturally aspirated 2.5-liter mill like Toyota’s, linked to a conventional automatic, can outperform the tiny turbo/CVT combo at Honda, there’s no certainty that the 2.0T/10-speed will sip less fuel than the Camry’s 3.5-liter/eight-speed auto.)

Of course, the battle is hardly between all-new versions of the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, two vehicles that overlap in terms of fuel economy depending on trim level. No, the real battle is between this highly efficient pair of midsize cars and the competitors from which they’re increasingly stealing market share. Excluding hybrids and plug-in hybrids, the most efficient versions of eight competing cars possess combined ratings averaging 29.8 mpg, ranging from the 31-mpg rating of the Nissan Altima, Hyundai Sonata, and Kia Optima to the Ford Fusion’s 27-mpg rating.

Over the summer months of June, July, and August, those competing cars owned 57 percent of America’s midsize market, down from 63 one year ago. The market share owned by the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, on the other hand, climbed from 36 percent in the summer of 2016 to 42 percent in the same period of 2017.

[Image: Honda, Toyota]

Timothy Cain is a contributing analyst at The Truth About Cars and Autofocus.ca and the founder and former editor of GoodCarBadCar.net. Follow on Twitter @timcaincars and Instagram.

Timothy Cain
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  • NeilM NeilM on Oct 05, 2017

    “While EPA ratings are not yet final,” now retired American Honda senior vice president Jeff Conrad said at the time, “we expect to deliver top-class fuel economy and performance.” This statement is not at all inconsistent with the fuel consumption results cited. "Top-class" does not mean the same thing as "top of the class."

  • Thornmark Thornmark on Oct 05, 2017

    According some of the articles, they state the Accord is not only the best in class, but also the best in other classes. Is that because the Accord, thought marginally shorter, is now, by interior volume, a LARGE car.

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