The Honda Accord has once again been voted as the Best Family Sedan in the 2023 AutoTrader Awards. Each year, a jury of more than 20 automotive journalists considers every single family sedan available for Canadians to buy, and for the third year in a row, voted for the Honda Accord as the winner in its segment. Jurors’ votes go towards cars they can confidently recommend to their own family and friends. While we were in the middle of voting, a new 2023 Honda Accord was introduced to the world at the Los Angeles International Auto Show and aims to set the bar a bit higher.
Even though the outgoing 10th-generation model has been around since the 2018 model year, it still managed to be a repeat winner for Best Family Sedan despite its relative age. While initial impressions are still coming out for the new 11th-generation Accord, we can surmise that much of its winning formula has undergone an evolution rather than a revolution, with similar underpinning and general updates as opposed to a complete overhaul.
The Accord beat competitors such as the Kia K5, Hyundai Sonata, Subaru Legacy, and the Toyota Camry. What’s interesting is that each of the others brings a different flavour to the table. The Hyundai and Kia duo offer a ton of extra features and bolder styling, the Camry has the best hybrid system of the bunch, and the Legacy offers standard all-wheel drive (it’s also optional on the Camry). The Accord sliced and diced in between all of them, and other than the lack of all-wheel drive as an option, it is the best mix of features, value, styling, and driving experience.
The 2023 Honda Accord will feature three trim levels: the base EX and then the Sport Hybrid and Touring Hybrid on top of the lineup. With the shift towards electrification, driving enthusiasts might lament the loss of the gutsy 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder as the flagship engine, and the fact that the manual transmission that was dropped a couple of years ago will not make a return in any trim level. The Sport and Touring Hybrid models make 204 horsepower and 247 pound-feet of torque out of a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated (non-turbo) gasoline engine and two electric motors.
The EX just about carries over the 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine that makes 192 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque with small improvements to refinement, throttle response, and fuel efficiency. Fuel economy ratings have not yet been released for either powertrain, so expect more details when we report back with a full road test later on.
On the outside, changes for 2023 include handsome but more conservative styling that has moved in a similar direction to the new Honda Civic that debuted last year. Length has increased slightly on the same wheelbase, which suggests similar volume in the passenger cabin with small increases in cargo space. On the inside, there appear to be incremental changes over the already-good 2022 model in terms of quality, features, and appearance. There’s a smaller seven-inch infotainment screen on the EX, and a larger 10.2-inch unit in the upper Sport and Touring trims that adds wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay; wireless phone charging appears on the Touring only.
Rounding out changes to the 2023 Honda Accord are safety improvements to the crash structure, additional airbags, and incremental updates to the Honda Sensing suite of autonomous driver assists. Pricing information for the 2023 Honda Accord wasn’t available at the time of publication, but it will likely be similar to what’s happened with the smaller Civic: more standard features but with a higher base price. Without big changes to the still-good platform, we still expect it to be a big winner for those who like to drive sedans.
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