For years Japanese automobile companies have been building cars that have created a certain benchmark and left a lasting impression globally. Japanese cars are the embodiment of reliability, superb performance and value for money. One such Japanese company whose biodata of cars is as impressive as that of the magnificent architecture of the Louvre museum in Paris is Honda Motors. Honda is your quintessential Japanese automobile company, and has dedicated itself to building cars that gives a whole new meaning to performance, reliability and comfort. And it is quite impossible to speak of Honda Motors without mentioning the Honda Accord, a car that belongs to that extraordinary league of legends.
Design
‘Classy’ is the first word that can be associated with the Accord’s design. People have always found that bigger the car the more regal they look and it’s the same in case of the Accord V6. With a length of 4870mm and breadth of 1820mm, the Accord is as big as they come and that makes it a bit inconvenient for the city. It is the sheer design of the Accord that makes it easily identifiable in a parking lot filled with cars of a wide and eclectic range. It is a beautiful blend of swooping lines and aerodynamic styling that gives it a rather sleek appearance. The rear of the Accord is a bit like that of the Mercedes E Class. The ground clearance is a paltry 155mm, not ideal for our Desi roads.  The exterior of the V6 comes fitted with the usual suspects of a high end sedan. Adjustable headlights, front and rear fog lights, power adjustable rear view mirror and the icing on the cake, the shiny 16 inch alloy wheels.
The interior is spacious, luxurious and utterly comfortable but that it expected of the Accord. It has the size which allows it to double up as an office on wheels, you can actually hold a meeting in it with ease. In the case of gadgets and electronics, you name it and the V6 has got it all, infact it has got so many gadgets that you wouldn’t know what to do with half of them. Climate control, multi-functioning steering control, cruise control, parking sensors, it has got it all. This is convenience at its pinnacle, all we need to do is press a button.
Comfort
The Honda Accord, is utterly comfortable loaded with a host of gadgets to pamper even the most demanding of customers. When it comes to drive and ride quality over decent roads, the Accord is undeniably the No. 1. Being a luxury sedan with low ground clearance, I am quite sure no one will be driving it over anything but the best of roads the city has to offer. Though owners would prefer to be chauffeured, while stretching their legs at the rear in absolute comfort and luxury. The Accord V6 comes with a 5 speed automatic transmission which is silky smooth and shifts gears with great efficiency and grace, comparable to the best auto transmissions available in the market. Being Indians though, we are used to and prefer the manual transmission over the automatic, maybe because it seems a bit extravagant and unnecessary. For the record, the Accord’s manual transmission doesn’t disappoint either and is fun to use, selecting gears with great finesse.
Engine, Transmission and Performance
The Accord is as revered in India as it is the world over. In India, the Accord is available in three variants, the V6 3.0L automatic is the top end version and is the one to look out for. At Rupees 17,37,000 (ex-showroom Delhi), the V6 is also the most expensive.  The 2997cc, V6 VTEC petrol engine belts out a whooping 221bhp and has a maximum torque of 28.1kgm @ 5000rpm.  To say that the Accord V6 is fast is a massive understatement, it reaches 0-100 in a mere 9.5 seconds. To put it in another way, the V6 does 0-100 even before we are done with our shoelace, now that is quick! 213kmph is the fastest the V6 can go in the highway which is where the real worth of the car lies. The only drawback is the mileage, but being a powerful car the 6.8kmpl that it gives in the city is quite doable.
Safety
For safety of the passengers which is of paramount importance to both car makers as well as customers, the Accord V6 comes fitted with a host of safety features like dual-stage airbags for both driver and front passenger, seatbelts with pre-tensioners and load limiters, ABS (Anti-lock Braking System), VSA (Vehicle Stability Assist) with BA (Brake Assist) and an all-direction energy absorbing safety cage to protect the car’s occupants in case of an accident. For a car which is suppose to compete with rivals like Skoda’s Laura L&K, it is missing some key safety features like side and curtain airbags, which is frankly shocking! Having that kit would have certainly put the V6 at par if not above its competition in terms of safety.
The Accord is a big car, some feel that it is too big a car for our congested Indian roads. Whoever buys it must be prudent enough to retain a chauffer, driving it by ourselves to work on a busy Monday may not prove be a very good idea. But there is no denying the fact that the Honda Accord V6 is as good as it gets when Japanese automobile engineering is concerned. It may not sell much in India, but it is an icon for sure and nothing can take that away from it.