Honda's Tour(er) De Force

Some estate cars are roomy, others sporty, luxurious or stylish. From sensible workhorses to sporty holdalls, they all struggle to meet conflicting goals of style, space, practicality and pace.

And then there’s the Accord Tourer, one of the most thoroughly executed "estates" on the market. This new variation of Honda’s superbly engineered quality car shows that smart design can satisfy many needs – and that the traditional compromises don’t have to apply.

In short, the Accord Tourer is an estate car that’s practical, but it’s also one that people will aspire to own.

The Tourer will build on the position established by its Saloon sibling. It too will be aimed at the more discerning, executive end of the market. It will deliver strong performance, a finely tuned chassis, superb fit and finish and highly distinctive styling.

Two unique features make it a particularly attractive proposition and distance it from its competitors: First, it has a power tailgate that can be fully opened and closed at the press of a button. It also features an ingenious, ‘one-motion’ rear seat which can be folded flat to open up the luggage area in a simple and quick, one action, one-handed operation.

The Tourer has a wheelbase and overall length stretched by 50 and 85 mm respectively, compared with the Accord Saloon. It also features its own unique multi-link rear suspension, which combines extreme compactness with very accurate location and geometry. The result is a class-leading load volume, with all seats in place, of 576 litres (VDA), rising to 921 litres with the rear seats folded.