The navigation system is programmed with some 8 million destinations. It offers a voice-activation feature. Say, "Find nearest Japanese food" to the dashboard, and it will guide you there. Even better, if you know the phone number of a business establishment you're trying to reach, it will take you there. Better still, you can press the buttons and avoid one-way conversations with your car. Packaged with the navigation system is Honda's new intelligent dual climate control, which factors date, time, latitude, longitude, and vehicle direction into its calculations, to keep both driver and passengers as cozy as possible.

Driving Impressions

From a driving standpoint, you're getting an outstanding automobile whether you choose a cloth Accord sedan four-cylinder automatic, a sporty V6 coupe or anything in between.

We think the four-cylinder Accord sedan is the best car in its price class. It strikes a perfect balance between ride and handling. The Accord rides more smoothly and more comfortably than the Nissan Altima. Yet its handling is controlled. The Accord handles better than the Toyota Camry yet it rides well. Its suspension smooths out bumps and ripples in the road, but isn't so mushy that your back-seat passengers get motion sickness. When pushed hard, it's balanced and fun to drive. We found it inspired confidence at high speeds on winding roads. It's smooth, poised and supremely stable.

The four-cylinder engine is smooth and powerful, with a high-quality, mature feel. It's strongest at higher rpm, but never gets buzzy. This 2.4-liter twin-cam four-cylinder engine delivers 160 horsepower at 5500 rpm and 161 pound-feet of torque at 4500 rpm. It's equipped with Honda's i-VTEC valvetrain, which means the valve timing is continually adjusted according to demands for strong torque over the entire rpm range. (Torque is that force that propels you away from intersections and up hills.) In short, it's responsive at all engine speeds. Yet it delivers excellent fuel mileage: 24/34 mpg City/Highway with the automatic. It gets even better mileage around town when equipped with the manual, earning an EPA-estimated 26/34 mpg. And it qualifies as a LEV-2 low-emissions vehicle.

The five-speed automatic transmission is incredibly smooth. The drive-by-wire throttle is programmed to cut the gas during upshifts, and its timing is perfect. It's not often that the performance of an automatic transmission is so tight that it stands out. The five-speed manual gearbox is especially wonderful. The gear ratios are perfect and the shifting is buttery smooth. It shifts beautifully, and seems to love aggressive downshifts. Acceleration with the automatic transmission was decent. With the five-speed manual, acceleration was strong, although you still need to downshift to keep the revs above 4000 if you want to accelerate quickly.

The V6 is light and powerful. This 3.0-liter V6 is rated 240 horsepower and 212 pound-feet of torque. Equipped with Honda's VTEC, its torque range broad and begins at relatively low rpm. The V6 gets excellent fuel economy: 21/30 mpg with the automatic transmission.

The Accord is a carefree car. Both engines run on regular gas, and there's no scheduled maintenance for at least 105,000 miles, except for oil changes, and even those are required only every 10,000 miles. It's also a clean car: LX and EX four-cylinder automatic sedans are available in California, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine that are rated as PZEV cars ($150), for Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle, which emit almost no evaporative emissions.

The Hybrid combines exceptional fuel economy with even better performance. With 255 horsepower and 232 pound-feet of torque, the Hybird beats the regular V6 sedan from 0 to 60 miles per hour by half a second, but gets much better gas mileage and has a range of 633 miles, 120 miles more between fill-ups than the Accord sedan with a gasoline-only V6.

The Accord Hybrid doesn't shout "environmentally friendly" to those inside or outside the car. A small rear spoiler and a small HYBRID badge on the trunk lid barely hint that this car has a different powertrain. Inside, the only change is the addition of a bar graph below the speedometer that lets the driver know when the batteries are recharging and when the V6 engine is in its three-cylinder mode. Yes, you read that correctly: When cruising or in other light-load situations, the engine is designed to operate on just three of its six cylinders, though while driving you do not feel it make that transition. The engine also shuts off completely at stoplights, restarting instantly when the driver releases the brake pedal. A separate compressor keeps air conditioning blowing cold even while the engine is in its temporary off mode.

Driving enthusiasts will find the EX V-6 MT coupe particularly enjoyable. The smooth six-speed gearbox shifts beautifully and loves aggressive downshifts that would cause many other gearboxes to cry abuse. Obviously, Honda spent great attention to detail in designing the gear ratios and synchronizers. This model also features a special resonator in the intake system, put there just for your listening pleasure. Stand on the gas and the engine responds with an enthusiastic growl that's music to the ears. With its spirited performance, the V6 coupe redefines the Accord.