We’ve been smitten with the thought of a diesel-powered Honda Accord coming to these shores since first hearing about the Accord i-CTDi diesel.
The Accord i-TCDi is a game changer. The 2.2 liter four cylinder common rail turbo diesel produces 140 horsepower, 250 foot pounds of torque, and fabulous fuel economy. It’s tough to argue with a highway mileage rating of over 50 miles per gallon (adjusted for US gallons) in a four door sedan of this caliber.
After a long wait, we finally had our chance to meet the elusive Accord i-TCDi …
Alas, our first encounter with the diesel Accord (at the Green California conference in Sacramento, CA) was just enough to wet the pallet.
Needless to say, this is one smooth little diesel.
While we didn’t have the chance to go for a test drive, we were able to capture the car at idle with the hood open.
We look forward to putting the diesel Accord’s 0-62 time of 9.3 seconds to the test in the near future …
This Accord is the car I have been waiting for. I had the VW TDI, but it ended up being too problematic to keep. If Honda gets this right (and they usually do), and then applies the diesel engine to the larger vehicles in their line, we will sell the other cars and own nothing but Hondas.
Honda! Hurry up, will you?
More diesels are needed,but the cost of diesel fuel makes diesels more difficult to justify. EPA ratings of 41 mpg for the new jetta diesel is far from the 55+ mpg many had expected. At this time the 38mpg corrola(gas) is pretty tough to beat.
Wow, few people ever exercise so-called common sense!
The example of the 2008/2009 Corolla vs the 2009 VW jetta diesel is a perfect case;
Assume gas @ 4.50 gal, diesel at 20% more worst case and diesel is 5.40 gal, then figure 15,000 mi per year, same driver, same driver habits, same commute. Assume both cars can consistently turn the high freeway epa numbers (which I believe is easily the case with the Toyota and VW) and here is the results:
Toyota Corolla gas, 15000 mi, 35 mpg costs $1928 /yr
2009 VW Jetta, 15000 mi, 40 mpg costs $2025 /yr
Now, factor in the dealer mark up factor on the VW and you lose even more money in up front cost.
You will gain however, because resale is much higher for the VW diesels, and also, diesel fuel cost is based at worse case, which in my area, has never been 20% higher. Do a little simple math with realistic numbers, and DO NOT use liar-bs fuel economy numbers, and you can calc any vehicles true cost really easily….
If the government simply required that all new cars be hybridized enough to eliminate the idle cycle, you would dramatically increase overall mileage and decrease city pollution by eliminating the waste caused by millions of cars idling in traffic. This should be fairly simple, much more so than what goes into a typical hybrid.
@Naz – Start/Stop engine technology works well in situations like this to reduce idling. Other than the hybrids that use start/stop, I’ve driven two Euro diesels – the BMW 123d and the MINI d – that use the technology. It takes a bit of time to become accustomed to the engine shutting down while sitting at the light, but other than that, it’s very cool … 🙂