A few weeks ago I packed up my bags and headed to Santa Barbara.
*cue celestial harp*
And it was there I got to meet the new 2013 Honda Accord line-up… Honda’s ninth generation of Accords – the Sedan, the Coupe *sexy whistle*, and the plug-in hybrid *go green!*. The coupe and sedan are coming out later this month, and the plug-in hybrid’s release is scheduled for early 2013.
Disclosure: We own a Honda Odyssey… Her name is Hotyssey. YES MY MINIVAN HAS CAR LASHES.
But let’s get real — minivan vs. coupe?
Mama would looooooooove to zoom about in a coupe… *VROOM!*
The Honda Accord Coupe. I call her, “One Sexy Little Beast”.
Reality check: I have 3 kids. A coupe is not practical, but I am still going to dream.
Besides, my kids are getting older. Only one is in a booster, and barely. Really, we can entertain the thought of a graduation… of-sorts. I will say… I really do love, love, LOVE the automatic passenger doors on my Odyssey. Sliced bread/automatic van doors. SAME. My doors would be hard to give up. It’s like my own little space ship. A space ship where when the kids open the doors they do not hit other cars.
A space ship peppered with ground goldfish bodies in the interior.
BUT I DIGRESS.
But. Santa Barbara. Accord. The Honda people told me (and others) all about the 2013 Accord line-up. While talking cars (power trains and torque and alloy and stuff) has a potential bore factor of 10, I was not bored! We’re already a Honda family, so my interest was already piqued. During my visit, the part the drew me in was hearing from Honda designers about how much they think about the people who will be experiencing their vehicles.
Their mantra: “Man max, machine minimum.”
I did not just call Jill fat.
The entire design is built with the people inside in mind. People are the priority. As each designer and engineer shared, it became obvious that these folks are really thinking about not only our safety, but about an awesome expereince behind the wheel.
And trunk space. AN AMPLE TRUNK MAKES ME GO WILD.
What. ?
As a mom consumer, the things I look for in a vehicle are safety, comfort, function, and STORAGE SPACE.
So, in addition to impressive trunk space (a whole additional cubic foot), there are a couple new safety features in the new Accord that I think are just the bees knees.
YES. THE BEES KNEES. People still say that.
- The lane watch camera… it’s a camera tucked just under the the passenger side mirror FOR BETTER SEEING OF THE TRAFFIC ON THAT SIDE OF THE CAR. Brilliant. You turn on the blinker to go right AND THE SCREEN ON THE DASH SHOWS WHAT IS RIGHT (literally right) to the side and back of you.
- Aaaand the expanded view on the driver’s mirror
I spent a few hours driving each car in the 2013 line-up… and I tell ya, that expanded view is AWESOME. Seriously. That little added mirror space makes a HUGE visibility difference. It’s like a blind spot eraser.
Sure, there are a TON of other things about the Accord family I could fill you in on… an impressive company history, transmission details, fuel economy, optimal visibility, pricing, and I have pages of technical information sitting right here next to me on the couch… but we all know I am not mathy. So if you want to read-up on that stuff, Amir at Digital Trends has got the info down LIKE A BOSS! You, me… we… we want to see how the new Honda Accords will bring out the color of our eyes and how POWERFUL we feel behind the wheel.
Technical is important… but I know us. WE ARE FEELERS FIRST.
And visual.
Hitherhencetofore, THE BACK-UP CAM. With this, Mom can almost LITERALLY have eyes on the back of her head!
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Now, I don’t want to forget about the Plug-in Hybrid… GO GREEN! It is the first of its kind to hit the market. It’s great for in-town galavanting… as the battery gains charge from braking (I learned so much about hybrids!!!) But we all know me, and my penchant for all things technical and mathy (read: no penchant), so for some great information on the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid, check out these guys here and here. It is worth the time to click over and read about how this new kind of hybrid runs… *insert note about electric motors and engines and how this car switches between them and something about a full driving range of over 500 miles!*
Here she is, getting her charge on. She’s so cute, if she had cheeks, I’d totally pinch them right now…
And that is what I did on summer vacation.
WAIT.
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I almost forgot to share about the HondaLink featuring Aha Radio. The world at your dashboard. The tech geek in me just did a little high-kick.
Here’s that dashboard, btw…
Plug in your iPhone and have your Facebook feed read to you… or Twitter stream… listen to podcasts and news and all the music you can imagine… even on-the-spot directions to the nearest drive-thru coffee stand. By utilizing the very popular CLOUD… all the content you desire is at your voice command. Here – just take a peek at the video…
All in all, I was impressed with what I will be seeing on the streets and highways in 2013. How about you? When shopping for a car, what do you look for? What toots YOUR horn and makes you do a little high-kick inside.
*I was not compensated for this post. My transportation and lodging for the drive event was courtesy of Honda.
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