The Honda Accord Station Wagon You Can't Have

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

Presuming, of course, you're reading this in North America, rather than, say, New Zealand. NZ's Otago Daily Times claims to be surprised (surprised I tell you) by the new Euro-Accord station wagon. "Its arrival comes as part of this month's rollout of an all-new Accord Euro, and completes a freshening of the Accord range that started when a new iteration of the larger, softer V6 was introduced earlier in the year." Not only was scribe David Thompson caught unawares by the Accord wagon, but his efforts to put the wagon through its paces were thwarted. "My plan to preview the new Accord Euro with an extended drive in the upper South Island was thwarted when fog disrupted early flights out of Dunedin at the start of last week. By way of partial compensation, I managed a short drive around Dunedin in one of the first new Accord Euro sedans to arrive here." And Davey was… unsurprised! "Not surprisingly, the car I sampled still felt a little tight mechanically." What exactly does that mean? Your imagination will have to fill in the blanks. Meanwhile, should Honda build an Accord wagon stateside?

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

More by Robert Farago

Comments
Join the conversation
4 of 42 comments
  • MgoBLUE MgoBLUE on Jun 30, 2008

    Honda should sell it in the U.S. Would my household buy one? Unfortunately, probably not. My wife loves sitting up higher in her Odyssey. And being that we have/will continue to have an Odyssey, we don't need a wagon. That said, we just got back from our Summer vacation week to the Midwest (Ann Arbor and Chicago). Put over 2,000 miles (from Boston) on our '06 Odyssey that has Honda's VCM (variable cylinder management). During the actual travel days of the trip, we got 26 mpg doing 75+ mph along I-90, I-96, I-696, I-94, I-294 and I-55 (two adults, two toddlers, and ALL of our shyte). Around town we got ~23mpg, as she typically gets while commuting around Boston. The '06 VCM only has two modes: 6 cylinder and 3 cylinder. The new '08 VCM offers 6, 4 and 3 cylinder modes, which would have further improved our fuel economy (when on the highway cruising at ~75, intermediate hills come along that require the engine to use all 6 cylinders again. With the newer VCM, the engine could go from 3 cylinder mode to 4 cylinder mode, only having to use all 6 when in the mountains). Just sayin. Saw several Mazda 5's on the road. Love the design...they are only going to grow in popularity. Unfortunately, it would not have carried everything in our Odyssey. But maybe once our boys are older, we won't need to transport as much stuff. Golf clubs don't take up as much room as pack n plays, high chairs, strollers and toys.

  • MgoBLUE MgoBLUE on Jun 30, 2008

    @hiptech The 2.4L turbo Odyssey must be more efficient than the 3.5L V6 that we get here, plus it is slimmer, lighter, and only seats seven. Better looking than the U.S. version? Absolutely not. The Aussie version looks more like the original U.S. Odyssey. UGLY.

  • Netrun Netrun on Jun 30, 2008

    wagon + diesel + Honda = :)

  • Rick Sg Rick Sg on Sep 06, 2009

    When they make one that looks like a '32' ford sedan, they won't be able to keep up with the demand! It's what so many folks want. Look, they bought that PT loser just 'cause it was cute. Heck, look at a low '32' street-rod and tell me it aint cool lookin'. I wonder how slippery that shape is...anyone know?

Next