2023 Honda Accord Touring Hybrid Review

Let’s talk about stacking the deck, because that’s what Honda is doing here.

This is the 2023 Honda Accord Touring Hybrid. Ahead of this current eleventh-generation model debuting, the Japanese brand said it expected a full 50-percent of sales to be the electrified model. A full half. That sounded extremely ambitious in a world where hybrid-happy Toyota typically saw take rates hovering between a quarter or a third.

After driving both powertrains, it’s easy to see why Honda is so bullish. The Accord Hybrid is—budget allowing—the obvious choice this generation, not just because of its fuel-sipping nature, but the creature comforts Honda ties to that electrified powertrain.

For 2023, the Accord took one of its more evolutionary generational leaps. It still rides on the same 111.4-inch (2,830-millimeter) wheelbase as before, with another iteration of the strut-front, multi-link-rear suspension setup. The whole package is slightly longer than the tenth-gen model, but width, height, and track are all the same or nearly so.

I wasn’t sold on the Accord’s revised looks during its earlier comparo against the Kia K5, but this Touring trim makes a much better impression. To start, the red certainly helps showcase definition the white paint had drowned out. Another big improvement would be the 19-inch alloys, which combined with the paint help the Accord shed the EX’s rental car feel. It’s still very conservative, mind: more than one friend compared it to the old Ford Taurus. I do like the rear-end treatment though, which both emphasizes the width and visually distances the Accord from its baby brother Civic.

Buyers have two powertrain choices. LX and EX use the familiar 1.5-liter turbo-four from the CR-V and Civic, though producing 192 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque here to retain the pecking order. It hooks up to a continuously variable transmission, sending power to the front wheels. In fact, Honda finds itself as one of only a handful of brands to skip AWD in this segment: only the Hyundai Sonata and the reheated leftovers that are the Chevrolet Malibu are still part of the single-powered-axle club.

But this is the Touring. Everything from the Sport trim up uses the fourth generation of Honda’s hybrid powertrain. It pairs a powerful electric traction motor (181 horsepower, 247 pound-feet of torque) with a 2.0-liter, Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder (146 hp, 134 lb-ft). Combined figures are 204 hp and 247 lb-ft, although you’ll experience those peaks in somewhat unusual circumstances.

Without getting too far into the weeds, let me say that Honda’s transmission-less hybrid system is weird and wonderful. Yes, it skips a whole transmission. To over-simplify, the gas engine spends most of its time powering not the wheels, but an electric generator instead. This supplies the traction motor. When cruising at highway speeds, the gas engine engages a clutch to actually send power to the front axle, when it’s most efficient to do so. Need to pass? Press the pedal down and the gas engine disconnects and hands the main role back to the electric motor.

Through the winding roads around Hope, British Columbia, the result is a pleasantly smooth drive experience. Honda has spent a lot of effort minimizing the “rubber banding” feel of the gas engine, where the aural response doesn’t necessarily align with what the driver is experiencing. Part of it comes down to insulation: the Accord is so quiet it’s hard to make out the 2.0-liter in Econ and Normal modes.

Performance is strong, though folks who put that as a high priority will miss the outgoing 2.0-liter turbo. The hybrid is more than capable of passing on the hilly roads here, however, and Sport mode adds a noticeable amount of oomph. It also adds extra noise, both real and piped-in, as Active Sound Control has the engine revving up and down more almost—key word there—as if the Accord had a traditional box of cogs.

The goal of EcoRun isn’t to hustle the cars, but to extract their best economy figures. Officially the Touring is rated at 44 mpg combined (5.3 L/100 km), and I found it easy to match that in the real world. Or keep the car in Sport, hustle it and take a slight hit, but take comfort in the best-balanced mainstream entry in the segment. Your call.

If you’ve sat in a Civic or CR-V lately, the Accord’s interior should be pretty familiar. It’s the same clean, minimalist design language as its siblings. There’s a grille running across the dashboard housing the slimline vents, and a trio of nicely tactile rotary dials below, with the associated climate controls all grouped nearby. The center console houses a traditional PRND shifter and two tandem cupholders—the best layout. The leather seats are super comfy, mounted nice and low, and—on this top Touring trim—include ventilation up front. Heated seats are available for everyone except whoever gets stuck in the middle of the rear bench. They’ll still have plenty of room to stretch out, though; the Accord is huge inside, and it offers an SUV-shaming 40.8 inches (1,036 mm) of rear legroom.

While all hybrid Accords feature this model’s big 12.3-inch touchscreen, only the Touring holds Google Built-In. As you’d expect, this replaces just about all main apps with Alphabet-sourced ones, such as the navigation and voice assistant. Once you’ve signed into your Google account, it works quite well, with accurate voice controls for audio, climate, and navigation. The touchscreen itself is sharp and responsive, and the larger screen comes with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. It is a huge jump up from the dated system in the EX. Please Honda, at least offer the Civic’s system here.

I came away similarly impressed with the smooth, customisable 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster, as well as the (smallish) head-up display. The wireless charger had a hard time holding onto my phone and providing a steady charge, however.

The Honda Sensing safety suite is standard on all Accords, bundling just about every modern driver assist together. The adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist both work well, with consistent, natural operation. I find Honda’s blind-spot monitoring very good at detecting cars even far away on the highway, too. Other standard assists include automated high beams, automatic emergency braking, traffic sign recognition, and Traffic Jam Assist, amongst others. Given the size and price of the Accord, I’m a little surprised there’s no 360-degree camera.

The $39,440 ($46,630 CAD, both including destination) as-tested Accord Hybrid Touring is both affordable and way too expensive, depending on your perspective. Compared to that EX we tested earlier in the year it’s basically a bargain: an extra 25 percent cost up front for vastly better equipment, infotainment, fuel economy, and driving experience. I’d say the looks have improved, too.

On the other hand, this is one pricey mainstream sedan, outlasting both the aging Camry hybrid and the soon-to-be-facelifted Sonata Hybrid. You can get a loaded Subaru Legacy for around the same price, with more power and AWD, but it lacks the Accord’s sophisticated ride.

How about staying under the Honda umbrella? The CR-V Hybrid Touring is another two grand, which gains you AWD and a more practical tailgate shape, but it doesn’t drive as nicely. The hybrid Accord Sport looks like the sweet spot, at least on paper, offering the same driving experience we have here but sans goodies at a more reasonable price.

That gets to the heart of the matter though, doesn’t it? As a classy, comfy means of conveyance, the 2023 Honda Accord Touring Hybrid excels. But that’d be true of any of the electrified models; even the Sport essentially matches the equipment of the gas-only EX. With the latest Civic being so excellent, we’d recommend a Civic Touring to folks looking at a low-trim Accord. If you want an Accord with a good amount of kit, Honda has shaped the lineup to funnel you right into the hybrid.

Suddenly that 50 percent almost seems low.

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