 So if you guys welcome back to another one, if you are new to the channel, I am Gold Pony, I do new car trucks, SUV reviews on YouTube. And today we are in the new 2021 Honda Accord, courtesy of Apple Honda in York PA. For more information on the inventory, please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. If you were catching this video at the end of 2020, they do have their year and sales event going on right now until the end of the year. But so I wanted to check this one out today because there are actually several new changes for the 2021 Accord. Of course, this one also has a great design in my personal opinion, probably the best looking midsize sedan in the segment. Again, that's my own personal opinion at least. And this one has actually been around since 1976. So it's got a lot of history to it as well. So having said all that, what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. So as you can imagine, there are several different trim levels for the 2021 Accord. First one being the LX, starting at $24,770. Sport for $27,230. Sport Special Edition for $28,720. EXL for $31,090. And lastly, the Touring starting at $36,700. And so having said all that, there are two different engine configurations available for the 2021 Accord. First one belonging to the LX, SportTrims and EXL. However, I will say that SportTrim is available with the other engine configuration as well. But this one is going to be a 1.5 liter turbocharged inline four cylinder, putting out 192 horsepower at 5,500 RPM. 192 pound feet of torque available at 1,600 RPM. Power sent to the front wheels to receive T on this one. That's going to be a big difference between the two. Zero to 60 approximately 7.3 seconds with MPG numbers coming in at 30 in the city, 38 on the highway, taking regular unlit fuel. But so then there is the other engine configuration, which is going to belong to the Touring trim level and it is going to be optional on the SportTrim level that we do indeed have here today. So we do have the upgraded engine, so to speak, being a two liter turbocharged inline four cylinder, 252 horsepower at 6,500 RPM, 273 pound feet of torque available at 1,500 RPM. Power sent to the front wheels once again, but this time through a 10 speed automatic with paddle shifters. And yes, we will test out those paddle shifters in a little bit here, but 10 speed is going to be the much better transmission option in my opinion, comparing that to the CVT, not only for reliability, but of course driving enjoyment as well. But nonetheless, zero to 60 time on this engine set up 6.2 seconds with MPG numbers coming in at 22 in the city, 32 on the highway. But once again, taking regular unleaded fuel. Got to love that, save you a little bit of money there at the pump. But one of the biggest changes for 2021 is there is no longer a six speed manual option for the 2021 Accord, which is sad to see it go. I know my uncle got a previous Honda Accord in a six speed manual and it was a fun option to drive and Honda always did very well with their manual transmissions as well, but it's supply and demand, so sad to see it go. But anyways, before we do that acceleration test or paddle shifter test, I did wanna mention there are a couple drive modes located just behind the drive buttons there and they will include econ and sport, adjusting things like the shift points, throttle response, steering sensitivity and climate control settings actually as well. And so what that is going to do is essentially when you press that econ button, the climate control settings will be dialed back helping give you a little bit extra miles per gallon. I used to use that particularly on the highway in my Honda Civic and it really does help if you could tolerate perhaps less AC in the summer, things like that. So didn't wanna mention that. But so now having got all of that out of the way, what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and find a straightaway and let's do a quick little paddle shifter test here to start. I'm going to put it in that sport driving mode as I just did. And I think we got a straightaway coming up here. Let's go ahead and put the paddle shifters to the test and let's see how quickly they are going to react for us here. All right, and we're in first gear and you know what? Let's do it from the standstill. Three, two, one. Woo, oh my gosh. Yeah, that's fun. Wow, paddle shifters are actually very, very quick in the Honda Accord. It kind of took me by surprise. A lot of times sedans fall into that category like SUVs do with the paddle shifters at least. They don't always react that quickly but the Honda Accord really got the paddle shifters right. I will say that but having said that, that acceleration at the very beginning, there was definitely some torque steer there. Unfortunately, when you put a two liter turbocharged engine with that much power to the front wheels, that is not always going to provide optimal grip as is the case with the Honda Accord. Unfortunately, if the Honda Accord, however, weren't to pair that up with an all wheel drive system, that would be a completely different story and I would be quite excited about test driving that one but that kind of power on a Honda Accord being sent to the front wheels, is that always going to work when it comes to grip? I will say that so. Having said that, Honda, go ahead and pair that up with the all wheel drive system if you don't mind and this car would be an absolute blast but at the same time, kind of ease into that acceleration and then give it a little bit more, you should be just fine but to go along with that acceleration, as always, braking is equally important as it when it comes to the braking configurations with the Honda Accord, it is going to actually differ dependent upon the engine configuration that you go with. For example, if you go with that 1.5 liter, you're going to get 11.5 inch ventilated front disc, 11.1 inch solid rear disc. However, if you were to go with that two liter engine configuration, that is actually going to be bumped up in the front at least to 12.3 inch ventilated front disc. Again, still 11.1 is solid rear disc in the back though but overall as far as that 60 to zero stopping distance goes, of course it's going to differ amongst this two engine configurations. For example, the 1.5 liter is actually going to come in at 135 feet, which is kind of not the best, quite honestly. Usually with sedans, you get 120s. Sometimes if it's really good, you get the teens but 130s is perhaps among the slowest 60 to zero stopping distance but I will say if you go with this two liter that we have here today, 116 feet, which is among the best. So big difference when it comes to braking power when you compare those two different engine configurations and the way Honda paired them up with the brakes. So I did want to mention that as well but as far as the braking feel goes since we have the larger brakes in this one, definitely no issues. One of the best braking feels actually, I will say I've experienced in quite a while, certainly brings this one to a very quick stop, no brake pedal delays or anything like that. With sedan touching on suspension and handling in the Accord upfront, you're going to get a McPherson strut front suspension in the back, independent multi-link rear suspension of course front and rear stabilizer bars but where the Accord really got it right, you can actually get an adaptive damping suspension if you go with the touring trim level. That's the trim level that you're going to need to get it but I always like to emphasize adaptive damping systems because that really gives you the best at both worlds and not only tightens up the suspension during heavy cornering but it also monitors each shock absorber individually, really giving you a much smoother ride as well. But when I've compared other vehicles in the past with and without that adaptive damping suspension, it really is a night and day difference, I will say that. So if you want the very smoothest ride in the Accord and at the same time, the best handling, go with the touring trim level so you can get that adaptive damping suspension. So wanted to mention that to you guys but I will say even though we don't have it here today, when it comes to the handling and the steering feel of the Accord, I will say it is amazing. One of the things I immediately noticed when I first got into this Accord was the grips. The 10 and two grips on the steering wheel are bolstered very nicely. They're definitely thicker than just about every other sedan that I've test driven. I think I've probably done all of them at this point. So I love the thicker grips in this one and it immediately points you in the direction that you want to go especially when you put it in that sport driving mode. It's an amazing feel of being in control of the Accord. That's really one of the Accord's strengths is its handling capabilities and its steering feel overall. So I love that. As far as cabin noise goes, it's definitely quite nice. I will say there's not a whole lot of exterior wind noise coming into the cabin. So Honda did a very good job with that as well. The touching on ride quality, it's actually perfectly fine for me. Again, that adaptive damping suspension is going to give you an even better ride quality but even without it, it's just fine for me. Honestly, I don't have any issues there either. Then touching on visibility, I can see perfectly fine out the back and usually with sedans, you're not going to have any issues there. Do want to also mention though, along those lines, if you were to go with that touring trim level once again, you will actually get a head up display as well, projecting your speed limit as well as the speed you were currently going and some safety features onto the windshield so it can better help keep your eyes in the road. So you're less likely to get into an accident or anything like that. So that's a big plus to the touring trim level at least as well. But that about rounds out the performance segment of this review you guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior of this brand new 2021 Honda Accord. All right, so here she is. You guys, the new 2021 Honda Accord finished in Sonic Gray Pearl, perhaps the best color choice for the 2021 Accord. At least in my opinion, this thing looks amazing. But anyways, there's actually several subtle changes for the 2021 model year. So let's go ahead and start up front on this one. There's actually a slightly refreshed front grill for this year for the 2021 year. Very nice look to it. Radar sensor is now hidden a little bit better for the 2021 model year. It's hidden down below there. You guys can see that an active grill shutters are actually going to come standard on the EXL and the touring trim levels, meaning they will open and close, dependent upon the engine cooling that is needed at any given time. But again, this just for those two trim levels though. So it's usually a feature found on luxury automakers like for example, BMW comes to mind right now. Anyways, let's go ahead and take a look at the size here. When it comes to the headlights, LED headlights actually do come standard on every single trim level across the board. They do also come with the automatic feature, meaning when it starts to get dark at night, they will turn on automatically for you there. LED daytime running lights also coming standard. And there's actually redesigned LED fog lights down below for the 2021 model year. If you were to go with the sport trim level and up, that's how you're gonna get those fog lights. But still one of the subtle changes for the 2021 model year and just to the outsides of this fog lights, you guys could probably see that you have some air curtains there as well, directing air around the wheel and tire combination. So a little bit of aerodynamics there as well. But now let's go ahead and make our way to the side of the 2021 Accord. And so now since we are around to the side here, chrome upper trim surrounding the windows, you guys can see that there. Body color door handles will come standard for all trim levels and you will get a little bit of chrome trim on those door handles. If you were to go with the touring trim level at least and take a look at those side mirrors, they are body colored power adjustable side mirrors that do come standard. However, they will be finished in gloss black. If you were to go with one of the sport trim levels, and that of course is what you guys are looking at right now. They will be heated on the two liter sport that we have today. And also the sport special edition trim level and up if you wanted those heated mirrors at least. LED integrated turn signals within the side mirrors will come with the EXL trim level and up then. Then take a look down at the wheel setup 17 inch alloys coming with the LX and EXL trim levels. Then there will be bumped up to 19 machine finished alloys with the sport trims that we have today. And also the touring trim level as well. And I love the look to the side skirts on the Accord as well. And it definitely ties in very well towards the back. And I know it's a small thing, but not all sedans give you that nice look to the side skirts. A lot of times there will be with a matte black finish on the bottom. So I do like that they're body colored and there's a nice design to them as well. But anyways, let's go ahead and make our way now to the back of the new Accord. And so since we have the sport trim level here today, there are going to be some subtle differences comparatively speaking to the other trim levels. For example, you will find a gloss black shark fin antenna up top as opposed to body colored. Also you will find a gloss black rear spoiler back there as well to tie in together with the gloss black side mirrors of course. But anyways, if you were to not go with one of the sport trim levels, however, there will be no lip rear spoiler back there. So I did want to mention that as well, but just below that LED taillights actually come standard across the board. And of course they do come with that C shape design that the Accord is now known for. And if you were to go with the two liter or the sport trim level, you guys see we'll get a little bit of chrome badging back there as well. And just below it all, dual exhaust outlets with chrome tips for the sport trim levels and the touring. Otherwise that exhaust will be hidden down below. But anyways, having said that, I do believe you guys know what we have to do next, as always, here is that exhaust clip. So but now since we are around back of the Accord here, when it comes to opening that rear trunk, there actually is a button on the trunk itself as expected. There is also a button to unlock it on the key fob itself as well if you wanted to. But anyways, once opened up, cargo capacity comes in at 16.7 cubic feet, which is excellent quite honestly. If you were comparing the Accord to the Camry, the Camry's trunk space comes in at 15.1 cubic feet, a substantial amount more than that Camry. If you were comparing it to the Hyundai Sonata, that comes in at 16 cubic feet even. So the Honda Accord takes it when it comes to cargo space at least. If that was not enough space, of course there is a 60-40 split, meaning the rear seats do fold down for a good bit of extra space on top of that. The maker away to the rear legroom, that comes in at 40.4 inches. Again, excellent amount of space for the rear legroom. For example, I mean even six feet tall, this is how much space I had back there. So plenty of space for me. Again, for comparison's sake, Toyota Camry comes in at 38 inches even, Hyundai Sonata 34.8 inches. So again, 40 inches, anything over 40 inches really, is luxury like legroom. So plenty of space for me back there. Dimon also though, mentioned for those rear passengers, there are seat back map pockets. Of course you can store more than just maps in those pockets. Also a rear center armrest with cup holders for every single trim level. Other manufacturers a lot of times just put that on the upper trim level. So like even the base trim level of the Accord can give you that. Rear charging ports also can be found back there as well. You guys can see that. And if you were to go with the touring trim level only, you can actually also get heated rear seats. That's another feature that usually you find on luxury vehicles, but not all the time on non-luxury brands. So I love seeing that on the Accord or at least available for the Accord. I will say that. But make your way now to the front seats, manually adjustable cloth seating for the LX. Sport trim level is going to give you 12 way power driver seat with four way power lumbar. Heated front seats are going to be found on the Sport Special Edition trim level and up. And also all two liter engine options. So that is why we have those heated seats here today. Power adjustable passenger seat found on the Sport Special Edition trim level and up. Leather seating for the Sport Special Edition trim level and up once again. And the touring trim level is going to add memory settings for two drivers and ventilated front seats as well. And as far as the seat comfort goes, it's perfectly fine. Definitely no issues there for me, not Lexus F Sport comfortable but certainly comfortable enough to take it on a trip to Ocean City or something like that. Anyways, then taking a look at the steering wheel. It is tilt and telescoping. It is leather wrapped for the sport trim level and up. And once again, the 10 and two grips on the steering wheel are perhaps the best among all of its competitors in its class. They are so thick and it gives you a much better feeling again of being in control of the vehicle. So I love that. Then make your way to the startup. Let me first start by showing you guys the key here. You do have your Honda logo on the one side. And when you flip it over lock, unlock the button to pop the rear hatch and that little circular button there on the left. That is going to be a remote start that is available as well. And there is a push button start for all trim levels across the board. So that's actually how I'm going to start this one up. Simply just put your foot on the brake and press that bright red engine start button located just by the driver's right knee there. Except with them once started up, those gauges will do a full sweep. There is a digital portion to the gauges found on your left. And then there is the speedometer, which is on your right. That is not part of the digital screen, but it is analog, but still the digital portion can be controlled by using the steering wheel mounted controls found on the left side of the steering wheel, giving you a bunch of different information like your tachometer, of course, how many miles you have left until you hit empty. You also have trip A, trip B, your radio settings, Bluetooth information, safety settings. When you need your next oil change, the list really goes on. So quite a bit you can control on the digital portion of those gauges there. So that's definitely nice. Then making our way to overall interior quality, you will find a power moonroof. If you were to go with the EXL trim level and up, or one of the two liter trim levels like we have today. So therefore you are looking at that power moonroof right now. Dual zoom climate control coming standard across the board, overhead sunglass holder on the roof as well. That comes standard across the board too. Sport pedals, of course, found on the sport trim levels. They definitely look quite nice down there. Homeland controls can be found on the EXL trim level and the touring trim level. That's how you're gonna go about getting them. Also with those two trim levels, you will get an auto dimming rear view mirror as well. And overall, when it comes to the finishes, I love this carbon fiber imitation trim that you can find above the passenger side glove box. It continues onto the doors. But having said that, you can also find some hard plastics throughout this one, like just in front of the door handles there. Also just in front of the drive buttons. But speaking of just in front of the drive buttons, there is actually a wireless phone charger found within that center area as well, which I love. That is definitely pretty nice. A 12-volt power outlet in there. Two USB charging ports. Then the hard plastics actually continue just behind that. You will find two cup holders, lecture mechanical parking brake, and a good bit of storage found within the center armrest as well, including a 12-volt power outlet actually in there too. So definitely quite nice. Love the carbon fiber imitation look up there. And the wireless phone charger is definitely a big one for me as well. But now let's make our way up above all of that to the infotainment screen. It is going to be an eight-inch color touchscreen display for all trim levels across the board. Bluetooth and audio streaming coming standard. Android, Auto, and Apple CarPlay coming standard across the board as well. That is definitely nice. That means you can hook a smartphone up to the accord and then therefore display free navigation up on that screen, providing you have the data available to do so. But that means you don't have to go with the factory navigation system, which by the way comes standard on the touring trim level only. So that's how you're gonna get that if you wanted it. But you can of course also check out a ton of other information up there. Like you can choose to display simply a digital clock with a galaxy in the background, which I always thought was pretty cool with Honda. They always do that a little bit differently on their vehicles. I kind of like it. But anyways, radio settings up there of course as well. And by the way, when it comes to the sound systems on the accord, they will differ substantially amongst the trim levels of course. LX trim is gonna give you four speakers and 160 watts. Sport trims are gonna give you eight speakers and 180 watts. Then if you go with the EXL or touring, they are going to give you a 10 speaker sound system with 450 watts and a subwoofer. So since we have one of the sport trim levels today, we do have eight speakers and 180 watts. So what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and turn on the radio and see what we got playing today and let's test out the clarity of this one. You'll be waiting for it. Actually not that bad of a sound system quite honestly. Wouldn't have minded a bit more bass, but the clarity is plenty nice. And it definitely felt like more than your standard six speaker sound system that you find on other manufacturers. So I do like that as eight speakers. You can tell the difference in clarity, but still not the most bass in the world. But then again, that's what you got the 450 watt sound system for if you wanted a little bit more of there. But plenty nice sound system. And last thing I wanted to mention to you guys though on the tech display at least is when you do put the accord in reverse, you of course will find a rear view camera coming standard across the board, letting you know who or what is behind you which is always is going to lead us in the safety. And so first thing I always like to mention when it comes to safety at least the 2021 Accord is an IIHS top safety pick. So that's always a brilliant start to start with there. Front side, side current airbags do come standard, driver and passenger knee airbags though as well. It doesn't always come standard on every vehicle out there. In the back you're going to have latch AKA lower anchors and tethers for children for the rear car seats, rear child door locks as well, tire pressure monitoring system that's all pretty standard and boring at this point. But the fun comes in with Honda Sensing. Honda Sensing does come standard on every single trim of the Honda Accord as well because that is going to include a collision mitigation braking system, road departure mitigation system, adaptive cruise control, that's a fun one, lane keep assist, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, traffic sign recognition meaning the Accord is going to tell you the speed limit of any given road that you're on so you're less likely to get a speeding ticket. It's always a good thing. And then automatic high beams as well and that's going to conclude the list that comes standard across the board. However, if you were to go with the EXL touring or one of the two liter trims, you will also get a blind spot monitoring system with rear cross traffic alert, meaning the little car icons in your side mirrors letting you know if somebody is in your blind spots you don't go turning into anybody on the highway basically. So that's a plus as well. But overall, when it comes to my final thoughts here of the 2021 Accord, first and foremost, Sonic Gray is a brilliant color. It looks absolutely amazing on the Accord. So I wanted to say that. Also kind of sad to see the six speed go. I can understand it from Honda's perspective with supply and demand. If you don't have enough people buying it, what's the sense of producing it? You're just going to end up losing money. So I kind of get it there. Although I will say any Honda manual transmission is absolutely amazing, but I do like the subtle exterior changes. Not a whole lot of a difference, but I do like the differences that it made there. Again, overall exterior styling is great. Wonderful handling, wonderful braking. One of my constructive criticisms though, since we have the more powerful engine, sending all of that power to the front wheels is not going to give you optimal grip and you're really not going to take full advantage of that power without it being sent four wheels or perhaps some super sticky tires in the summer. But anyways, wouldn't have minded an available all-wheel drive system like the Camry offers, like the Kia K5 now offers. So other sedanans are doing that. I think it's about time, Honda put an available all-wheel drive system on their Accord in my personal opinion. Also, full digital gauge cluster, I think would look absolutely amazing on the Accord as well. Though it is half a digital gauge cluster, full digital gauges are always better because they're a little more customizable and it looks a little better in my opinion. But also a suede leather combination for the sport trim levels would be pretty cool rather than the cloth leather combination that we have here. It's a multicolor ambient lighting as well. But overall, I always have to have pluses and minuses. So don't think I'm knocking the Accord because I'm really not. This is definitely a wonderful car. And it's for that reason that I am super particular about it seeing as I've owned four or five Hondas in the past. But anyways, that is about it for this one. You guys, thank you so much for watching. Please let me know what you think of the Accord in the comments section below. Feel free to follow me on social media if you wanna see what's coming next on the channel. Be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button. If you're in a new car reviews, that is what we do here on this channel after all. Do appreciate you guys watching more than you know and I will see you guys all in the next video. That was lame. Stay gold.