2006 Honda Accord SE Road Test

The Everyday Hero

It's not hard to argue that the Honda Accord is an everyday hero. For

So it's not the most interesting looking vehicle, but that doesn't matter when you've got a rapport like the Accord's. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press)

the past twenty years it's been a companion that its owners have counted on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year; it's a car that you can trust to start the next morning even when it's twenty below. But while most modern cars vying for a spot in your driveway are miles more reliable than anything available 20 years ago, the Accord, the most reliable of all midisze rivals, according to J. D. Power and Associates, is now even more special that you might have suspected. Honda has operated on it, turning it into a lean, green mild hybrid-powered machine, and even transformed a Japanese-spec example into a rolling safety lab, the sort of stuff that's usually done to purpose-engineered specialty vehicles, not everyday family sedans. It's also a pretty entertaining vehicle to drive, a description I'd have a hard time applying to most midsize family four-doors.

The peoples' everyday hero is a winner; it has humbly scooped up countless awards in its 30 year existence, all while meeting its customers many expectations while not only following all the family sedan "rules" to a tee, but inventing half of them along the way. It even follows the unwritten law that says midsize family sedans must be anonymous, making it about as easy to misplace in a moderately busy parking lot as your TV's remote control, particularly in my tester's rather inconspicuous shade of browny-gray.

In

The bold new Civic's chromed mustache makes an appearance on the Accord. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press)

hopes that you won't mistake it for another midsize automobile, or spend days looking for it at the airport multi-story carpark, for 2006, our hero gets a new tie with a bolder pattern, and a different but still perfectly starched shirt to help it stick out a little more, but keeps the trusty gray two-piece suit that it was given in 2003. Up front, the similarities to the new and improved car are minor at best; it has grown a thin, chrome mustache on its upper grille lip, to put it more in line with the space-cadet Civic, and sports a revised air dam with extra holes for improved breathing. So far, things have been subtle, but the more obvious changes can be seen from behind, where the makeover was concentrated.

To be honest I was never a fan of the previous Accord's tail end, which has always looked a little bit droopy; I suppose it complements the melted look of the pedestrian-friendly hood. Anyway, prior to the facelift, or, perhaps more appropriately, tail-lift, the four-door's trunk had a beveled edge and a pair of enormous wrap-around lenses which accentuated the smallness of the car's rear overhang. With what was probably a gigantic eraser, fueled by the discontent of focus groups, stylists wiped out the aforementioned frumpy details, penciling in a pair of pointy triangular tail lamps that illuminate bright red by dozens of ultra-quick LED lamps.

It may seem as if Honda merely plucked the Coupe's stylish rear

Triangular LED tail lamps are bright, and fast-acting. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press)

lenses for the sedan, but they're completely different. The sedan's feature separate reverse lights, which have been lumped into the indent for the license plate, while the lamp unit is smaller, and less obtuse in angle, which allows for a wider trunk aperture. Scrapping the wrap-around lamps also allowed Honda to restyle the trunk lid itself, which now has deeper sill for easier loading, and a third LED brake lamp integrated into the trunk lid. A new rear bumper allows the Accord to show its single, or dual exhaust pipes, depending on the engine specified.