Honda gives Accord a facelift 02 | 03 | 2011

HONDA HAS GIVEN its Accord saloon and estate models — which go on sale in Scottish dealerships in July — subtle tweak to the styling and chassis, plus improved the car's economy and CO2 emissions.

The Accord’s 148bhp 2.2-litre i-DTEC diesel drops its CO2 figure by nine points to 138g/km for the manual saloon, while the autobox drops 11g/km to 159g/km. The manual estate falls 10g/km to 143g/km.

There's further benfits — achieved through aerodynamic revisions and improvements — to the 2.0 i-VTEC petrol-powered models with the CO2 figure now 159g/km, down 9g/km.

While all this may sound rather boring, the major plus point is the changes drop the petrol, along with the auto-equipped 2.2 diesel saloon, below the important 160g/km Write Down Allowance threshold for the first time.

The accord, which was always one of the quietest cars in its class anyway, is now even quieter. The addition of higher density foam under the bonnet and dashboard areas has improved NVH levels and boost refinement

In terms of styling, the facelifted Accord gets re-profiled cooling ducts and fog lights and a new bumper at the front, plus new headlights and a new ‘sportier’ grille; at the rear there's a new finish for the lights and chrome trim above the number plate for saloon models, plus a new bumper.

In addition there's new 17in alloys on offer on ES and ES-GT models, plus three new colours – Alabaster Silver, Graphite Lustre metallic and Celestrial Blue Pearl.

Inside the cabin the main changes include a bright silver finish for the door handles and handbrake, plus there's new seat materials and door linings available as options on ES models. The ES, in addition to the EX, also gets illuminated blue footwells.

CLICK HERE to hear Honda Europe boss, Dundee-born Ken Keir, on Honda's plans

CLICK HERE to have a walk round the Honda stand at Geneva

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Jim McGill