Category: Large Family 
Price Range: £19,945 to £26,920
Refinement, fine ride, good to drive, smooth auto.
Not cheap, fiddly dash, limited space in the rear.
Only the price holds Accord back from being the pick of the large family automatics.
Instead of buying an off-the-shelf gearbox from a transmission expert such as ZF, Honda decided to develop its own automatic for the diesel Accord. The result is a little unusual.
Whereas most modern automatics have at least six ratios, the new Accord 'box makes do with just five forward gears. And instead of using a double clutch gearbox that pre-selects the next gear in a blink of an eye, the Honda uses an old fashioned torque converter - but even this cannot dampen the smooth and refined 148bhp 2.2-litre diesel.
Against the clock the automatic is barely slower than its manual counterpart: 0-62mph takes 9.7 seconds rather than 9.4 seconds, while the top speed drops 1mph to 129mph.
The gearbox reacts faster than before and does not suffer from the unwelcome gearchanges that some rivals suffer from. It's also smooth and the ratios are well spread to capitalise on the generous 221lb-ft of torque peak.
Wheel-mounted paddles are included so you can change gear manually for more enthusiastic and involved driving. Unlike most of its rivals, these are more than a marketing gimmick - they 'hold' onto gears rather than changing up at the red line.
Other than that the Accord provides a controlled ride and high-levels of grip. Shame it feels like such a heavy car beside the class-leading Ford Mondeo.
