2008 Honda Accord Sedan: "Best New Family Car"
by EVANDER KLUM
Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) has recently awarded the new 2008 Honda Accord sedan as the ��Best New Family Car�� at the 26th annual Canadian Car of the Year competition. This award further qualifies the Honda Accord for the overall Canadian Car of the Year award which will be announced in conjunction with the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto in February 13, 2008.
It was last October that the 2008 AJAC Car and Truck of the Year competition was held near the Niagara-on-the-Lake. There were around 70 plus journalist members of AJAC that conducted the four days test evaluations of 59 individual products in 12 separate categories. This event aims to provide Canadian consumers with comprehensive and comparative information on vehicles that are newly introduced in the market stated AJAC officials.
For the Family Car category, the Honda Accord EX sedan has competed with five other products. Another Honda model, the 2008 Honda Accord Coupe V6 with 6-speed manual transmission was also chosen as one of the three finalists in the ��Best New Sports/Performance Car Under $50,000�� category.
The 2008 Honda Accord is newly redesigned and equipped with an added host of features and innovative technologies that improves efficiency, safety, and performance. The Accord is offered in sedan and coupe body styles with two variations of the 2.4 liter 4 cylinder and the 3.5 liter V6 engine. These two L4 engines revs up 177 and 190 horsepower with an estimated city/highway fuel economy ratings of 9.4/6.4L/100km with manual transmission.
Also to be offered is a 3.5 liter i-VTEC V6 engine that produces 268 horsepower which is the greatest ever engine to be equipped on any Accord. New generation of fuel saving and low emission technologies are also being offered such as the Variable Cylinder Management? (VCM). The VCM system functions in six-cylinder mode for power in plus 4-and-3-cylinder modes for better performance and efficiency that results to an estimated city/highway fuel economy rating of 11.0/6.7L/100km.
With the introduction of the 2008 Honda Accord, the second-biggest seller of automobiles in Japan and producer of high quality Acura catalytic converter has shown its Canadian customers that the company is really serious when it comes to providing the highest level of pedestrian and occupant protection. Every 2008 Accord is equipped with the most sophisticated safety technology available including side curtain airbags, driver��s and front passenger��s dual-chamber side airbags, dual-stage, dual-threshold driver��s and front passenger��s airbags, plus active head restraints to reduce the risks of head injuries during rear collisions.
According to Jim Miller, Executive Vice President, Honda Canada, Inc. said: "We are very proud of this award and thank the members of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada for their vote of confidence in our new Accord sedan. With more than three-quarter of a million Accords sold to date in Canada since its introduction in 1976, the Accord has remained a valid choice for Canadian families looking for high levels of dependability, quality and reliability - attributes that are hallmarks of the Accord as a perennial segment leader as the consummate family car."
