Honda Accord Tourer Review
Published: 7th September 2003
2.4 i-VTEC Executive Tourer
Comfort and Refinement
The new Tourer has a roomier cabin with more than adequate head and leg room. The interior width of the cabin has been increased allowing rear passengers to relax and spread out without feeling cramped. The rear passengers also benefit from extra knee room and reshaped foot wells allowing front occupants more foot room.
Honda has worked closely with experts in seat design to develop the perfect posture driving seat. The leather seats (standard on the 2.0 and 2.4 Executive models) are supportive and they are designed to adapt themselves to your individual shape. Undoubtedly they were amongst the most comfortable we have experienced. On Executive models the front seats are heated (two settings hi and lo) and eight-way electrically adjustable perfect for fine adjustment and those who change drivers frequently although a memory function would be helpful. The Tourer also has an adjustable reach and rake leather covered steering wheel (with audio controls on the left and cruise control settings on the right) and an adjustable centre armrest enabling the optimum driving position to be achieved.
All Tourer's feature dual zone climate control air conditioning which allows the driver and passenger to select their own preferred temperature independently of each other.
The door mirrors are electrically operated and heated whilst the exterior housing have indicators in them as an added safety measure.
The DVD touch screen Satellite Navigation System (standard on the 2.4 Executive) is an excellent feature and does away with map reading, wrong turns and arguments. Simply type in the Postcode of the address you wish to go to and select your preferred route its as simple as that.
Executive models have rain sensing windscreen wipers which automatically activate the wipers and adjust the wiper timing depending on the intensity of the rain. This system was particularly useful on the Motorway in varying rain conditions as it allows you to concentrate on the traffic around you without fiddling with the wipers.
In poor weather conditions the auto levelling (HID) High-Intensity Discharge headlamps (containing xenon gas) were particularly helpful as they cut through the rain at night allowing improved visibility.
The most fun innovative feature on the Tourer is the power operated tailgate. Simply press the key fob and it opens or closes you can also close it by pressing a button incorporated in the tailgate. This feature is superb and useful if you are laden with shopping. The engineering is faultless and reassuring as it closes, you'll find yourself and other people fascinated by it.
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