2026 Honda Accord Hybrid Review | 50+ MPG's!!!

[music] >> What's up, you guys? Welcome back to another one. If you're new to the channel, I am Gold Pony and I do new car, truck, SUV reviews on YouTube. And today, we are in the brand new 2026 Honda Accord Hybrid, courtesy of Ciocca Honda in Hanover, PA. For more information on their inventory, please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. So, today we're in this one because this has been rated an above average reliability by Consumer Reports, which is kind of rare these days, if I'm being honest. You also can get over 50 miles per gallon in the Accord Hybrid, which is just wild considering the size of the sedan. And I think I remember the rear legroom being quite nice in this thing as well. We'll be testing that out a little bit later, but ultimately in this video, we will be testing out and going over everything about this one, from acceleration to braking, steering feel, ride quality, sound system, exhaust clip, all that fun stuff. So, having said all of that, what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. And so, as you can imagine, there are several different trim levels for the 2026 Accord Hybrid. You got the Sport starting at $33,795, which is a very modest $140 bump from the 2025 model year. And typically, it's a lot more than that. So, that's actually kind of impressive there. EX-L for $35,095. You got the Sport L for $35,495. And lastly, the Touring being the one we are in today, of course, starting at $39,495. But, regardless of the trim level that you go with, the power plant on the Accord Hybrid is going to be the same. Powering the beast is a 2-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder with two electric motors. It puts out 204 horsepower, 247 pound-feet of torque. That power being sent to the front wheels through an eCVT. Zero to 60 time is going to come in at approximately 6.5 seconds. Redline comes in at 6,100 RPM. Top speed, 125 miles per hour, if you're interested. With MPG numbers, get ready. 46 in the city, 41 on the highway for the sport trims and the touring. But, that EX-L trim actually gives you 51 mpg in the city, 44 on the highway, either way taking regular unleaded fuel. But, so now before we do any kind of fun acceleration test here in our Accord Hybrid, I did want to mention to you guys the drive modes. So, drive modes are in the form of a toggle switch located directly behind the shifter. Drive modes will include normal, econ, sport, and individual. Just in things like the shift points, the throttle response, and the steering sensitivity. So, one more thing before we do this acceleration, maybe you already noticed there are paddle shifters on the steering wheel. These paddle shifters are not used for traditional paddle shifterness, where you actually change through gears or it's not really gears through a CVT anyways, but like the Sonata Hybrid will use them for actual paddle shifters where it simulates changing through gears. The Accord Hybrid actually uses them for brake regeneration. So, I did want to mention that as well. So, if you wanted a little more braking power when you let off the gas without actually hitting the brakes, hit the left paddle shifter. If you wanted less of that, more like a traditional sedan, hit the right paddle shifter. That's essentially how you set that up. But, anyways, now that I've got all of that out of the way, let's go ahead and find a straightaway. Let's put the acceleration here to the test and let's see how quickly we can get this one here up to speed. Keep in mind, it's been raining all morning, so it's really stinking wet, but yeah. We're going to give this a shot. All right, found our straightaway here in 3 2 1 go! Spinning, baby. Spinning, baby. Lot of spinning. There it is. Now we're making Now we're making a little bit of headway. All right. Um yeah, that's a lot of spinning, you guys. Now, one thing I always wish the Honda Accord had, which was all-wheel drive. So, if we had all-wheel drive there, there probably wouldn't have been any spinning and like I said, it is raining a lot, so any front-wheel drive vehicle you're going to be spinning, especially when you put all that power to the front wheels. Again, if it had all-wheel drive, but I do wish it did because that would put it in better competition with, let's say, the Toyota Camry, who does offer all-wheel drive. Um I think that would just crush it on the Honda Accord. But anyways, if it was a dry day today, I'm sure that acceleration would be perfectly fine. It's a pretty impressive 0 to 60 number, but to go along with that acceleration, as always, braking is equally important. So, up front you will find 12.3-in ventilated front discs. In the back, 11.1-in solid rear discs. As far as that 60 easier stopping distance goes, comes in at a super impressive 120 ft. There's nothing wrong with that number whatsoever. As far as braking feel goes, it's pretty darn good. Definitely on the firmer side of things. This thing instantly brings you to a stop. So, a lot of times with sedans, you get kind of like a softer braking feel, but it's dang good here in the Accord. And typically, um you get like mid 120s when it comes to the sedans. 120 ft, that's definitely on the the lower number side of things, which is a good thing. That means this thing is definitely going to come to a stop a lot quicker than a lot of the competition. So, Honda, well done on the braking. I do appreciate that. But then touching on suspension and handling, up front you're going to get a MacPherson strut front suspension. In the back, independent multi-link rear suspension. Overall, as far as ride quality goes, it's been okay. It's nothing that would bother me. Now, I will say typically with Honda, for whatever reason, you tend to feel a little bit more of the road. I've noticed this, definitely with the Civic. Uh it's definitely the case here with the Accord as well. And maybe that's due in part because we got the bigger wheels with the Touring trim level. Maybe if you were to go with the EX-L, you wouldn't feel as much of the road, but nonetheless, I do feel like it's a little bit more pronounced than some of the competition. But still, it's nothing that would bother me. As far as uh steering feel goes, that's where the Accord really shines because it's weighted on the heavier side of things. Honda always gears itself more towards a a playful type of car. So, it definitely instantly points you in the direction that you want to go. It's definitely a nicer steering feel than the Camry. I'll just put it that way. And probably the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid definitely as well. So, I like the steering feel in this thing. It's definitely more enjoyable to drive a car like the Accord on the back roads. As far as cabin noise goes, that's been plenty fine today, actually. I've had no issues whatsoever when it comes to cabin noise. I'll be quiet here for a second. I'm going 30-ish mph. It's been pretty darn good. And that's doing part because the Touring trim level, at least, only the Touring trim level gives you an acoustic laminated front windshield, but also acoustic laminated front door glass. That's a luxury feature. A lot of luxury automakers won't even give you the acoustic laminated front door glass. So, again, that's only with the Touring trim level. And that's definitely playing a nice part in keeping this cabin super serene for us here today. But, then touching on rear visibility, looking at my rearview mirror, I definitely do not have any issues with that. I can see perfectly fine there. Also touching on forward visibility, rain-sensing windshield wipers do come standard on the Touring trim level. Touring trim level only. That essentially means that whenever this thing detects any kind of mist or rainfall, it's going to automatically turn on the windshield wipers for you. Kind of like it's been doing today because it has been raining still. So, it's kind of like automatic. It allows you to just one less thing to got to worry about there. Also touching on forward visibility, I'm looking at a head-up display right now. It is super bright, and I'm loving it. And I can see it perfectly fine through my James Orr frames. There'll be a pop-up somewhere on the screen if you guys want to support the channel. But, it gives you the speed limit and the speed limit recognition. So, it's telling me the speed limit is 35. I'm going 32 cuz I'm about to turn here. But, yeah, I love that. It is super bright. So, I'm a big fan there as well. But, that pretty much rounds off the performance segment of this review, you guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior now of our brand new 2026 Honda Accord Hybrid. All right. So, here she is, you guys, the new 2026 Honda Accord Hybrid finished in platinum white pearl in case you were curious of our exact exterior color name, but there are some new additional black exterior accents on the sport trims at least for 2026, but that's really the only exterior change for the 2026 Accord Hybrid here. But as always, let's go ahead and start with where this thing is made. Taking a look at the VIN, first character is the number one indicating that the Accord Hybrid is built and assembled here in the US in case you were curious. But starting up front on this one, active grill shutters will come standard meaning those grill shutters will open and close depending upon the engine cooling that is needed at any given time. And in case you were curious about the ground clearance since we're kind of off on this gravel kind of pull off here, it comes in at 5.3 in. LED headlights to the sides with LED daytime running lights. You get the automatic feature with those. You also get automatic high beams. So if you have your high beams on at night and sense a vehicle coming in the opposite direction, it's going to automatically dim them back to low beams and when that vehicle is gone, it's going to automatically bounce it back up to high beams for you there. You guys can see those silver accents in the bottom corners there. Those are going to be your front air curtains helping direct air around the wheel and tire combination for a little better aerodynamics there. And I've always liked the low hood line on the Accord. That's something that they recently did with this new design as well. So overall, I think the front end still looks good, but that pretty much rounds out the front end. Let's now go ahead and swing around to the side. All right, so with that said, let's swing around to the side of this one. Chrome upper window trim will come standard. Power adjustable side mirrors coming standard as well. However, they're going to be finished in gloss black for the sport trims and then body colored for the touring that we have with us here today and actually the EXL then as well. They're also going to be heated with integrated turn signals for those two trim levels and then you get the reverse gear tilt-down feature only if you go with the touring if you wanted that, but you also get gloss black side skirts. You guys can see that. If you're not a fan of them being gloss black, just go with the black exterior and then it's all body colored essentially. Then taking a look down at the wheel set up 19-in alloys for the sport trims and the touring and then you get 17-in alloys for the EX-L which is what I was saying earlier. I think the EX-L might be the best ride just because it has a little bit smaller wheel size, but any who, that pretty much rounds out the side profile. Let's now go ahead and swing around to the back. And so now since we are around to the back of the Accord here, rear spoiler is going to come on the sport trim levels only and that's going to be finished in a gloss black in case you were curious. LED tail lights do come standard. You also have that 90s style Honda logo. I call it a 90s style because they always made their Honda logo so small back in the day. And these days everybody's logos are absolutely gigantic. Just look at Acura for example, which Honda also makes of course. Their logos are massive and Honda just makes their tiny little logo on the Accord here. I think it's pretty cool, but anyways, there is a single exhaust outlet. It is tucked away underneath there, so having said that, I do believe you guys know what we have to do next here. As always, here is that exhaust clip. And so now since we are around to the back of the Accord, when it comes to opening that rear trunk, there's a button on the key fob, but of course there's a rubberized button on the trunk itself then as well. But once opened up, cargo capacity comes in at a very impressive 16.7 cubic feet. If that was not enough space, of course there is a 60/40 split meaning the rear seats do fold down for even more space then if you need it. That's actually a good bit of space you guys. There is LED cargo lighting back there. You actually have two grocery bag hooks built one on both sides in the cargo area which you don't always get in sedans. It's more of an SUV feature, so that was pretty cool seeing that as well. And then if you were to lift up underneath of that cargo floor, you will find a tire repair kit and some in-floor storage under the cargo floor. Would have preferred the spare tire personally, but that's what you get in the Accord. But anyways, then make your way up to the rear legroom, that comes in at a very, very impressive 40.8 in. For reference, I'm even 6-ft tall. This is how much space I had in the rear seats there. So, that's luxury like rear legroom there. Anything over 40 in, that's that's luxury right there. So, anyways, for comparison, 34.8 in for the Sonata Hybrid. And I know the Camry doesn't come close to 40 in either. So, quite a bit of space back there. Rear ventilation also back there. Dual rear USB charging ports. Rear center armrest with cup holders as well. And then if you were to go with the Touring trim level only, you actually also get heated rear seats. And those buttons are located on the doors for the rear passenger. So, that was pretty cool to see, too. But, then making our way up to the front seats, 10-way power driver seat with 2-way power lumbar coming standard. Power adjustable passenger seat for the EX-L trim level and up. Heated front seats coming standard. Cloth seating for the Sport. Leather seating for the EX-L trim level and up. Ventilated front seats for the Touring trim level only. And we actually have them on right now. And they're pretty comfortable. But, overall as far as seat comfort goes, it was actually plenty fine. I didn't have any issues whatsoever. I would say these seats are definitely more comfortable than the Sonata Hybrid. I'll just put that out there. But, then taking a look at the steering wheel, it is tilt and telescoping. It is leather wrapped. That does come standard for all trim levels. And then it's going to be heated for the Touring trim level only. So, that's pretty nice, too. But, then making our way to the start up, let me start by showing you guys the key here. Got your Honda logo on the one side. Then when you flip it over, lock, unlock, uh the button to pop the trunk there. circular button, that is going to be your remote start, which does come standard actually on all trim levels across the board. So, that's pretty sweet. But, overall it is all keyless entry with a push button start. So, all I'm going to do here is simply put my foot on the brake and press that engine start button located kind of by the driver's right knee there. And so, once started up, when it comes to the gauges, it is a full digital gauge cluster. You have your speedometer there to your right. Uh there is a digital speed front and center. You got speed limit recognition, trip A, trip B, you got your outside temperature in the bottom left-hand corner there. So, overall, it definitely gets the job done, not too bad there. And I forgot to mention the colors do change ever so slightly when you change the drive mode. So, for example, if I were to put it in sport driving mode, it's going to be lighting up in red. Uh if I were to put it in econ, it's going to be kind of illuminated on the outside in green. And that's actually normal's green, too, actually, come to think of it. So, anyways, gauges are plenty fine, no issues there. Wouldn't have minded a little more customization though, but anyways, then making your way to overall interior quality, a power moonroof does come standard on all trim levels across the board, I love that. LED interior lighting for all trim levels then as well. Overhead sunglass holder does come standard as well. That's a very high-quality overhead sunglass holder. They don't always feel as high-quality as this one, so I like that. Auto-dimming rearview mirror for the EXL and touring trim levels, dual-zone climate control coming standard, wireless phone charger for all trim levels across the board. It's located just in front of the shifter here, of course. No ambient lighting though. That's one thing I was kind of looking for, and I expected to see it because I think the Sonata Hybrid does give it to you. Not sure about the Camry though, but would have loved to have seen some ambient lighting, some multi-color ambient lighting preferably. So, that's something maybe they can work on that in the future. Aluminum foot pedals are going to come standard on the sport trim levels only. Everything surrounding the shifter is going to be finished in gloss black. You got your cup holders just to the right of the shifter there. Then within the center armrest, there's actually a ton of space in there for a sedan. There's a 12-V power outlet within there as well. I also like the silver door handles, and they're kind of like samurai sword style. So, I think that's pretty cool, too. Overall, it's not that bad, nothing too crazy, but um I definitely would be perfectly fine with it. But, now let's go ahead and take a look at the infotainment screen. This is a 12.3-in color touchscreen display. You get Bluetooth and audio streaming with that, wireless Android Auto, Apple CarPlay. There's a little compass you can check out up there. There's a power flow indicator. That is pretty cool checking that out, it gives you your average miles per gallon at any given time and also how many miles you have left until you hit empty up there as well. I like that. But of course, you also have your radio information. So, when it comes to the sound systems, there are two of them. You get an eight-speaker sound system with 180 watts for all trim levels but the Touring. Touring trim level is going to give you a 12-speaker Bose sound system. So, that of course is the one we have with us here today. So, let's go ahead and turn on the radio. Let's see what we got playing this morning and let's test out the clarity of this one. >> [music] >> That was FM radio. Let me start by saying that, so it's not going to be the clarity that you're typically used to from SiriusXM or Bluetooth audio streaming kind of thing, but I will say it sounded pretty good. I've had Bose sound systems in my cars before, they've never failed me. Uh again, no SiriusXM, so I couldn't really test it out, but I also think it's absolutely hilarious that there's this tiny little knob just underneath the infotainment screen. It is the tiniest little thing that you've ever seen. I guess they just didn't want to overlook the volume knob, although you can just simply adjust it through uh the steering wheel mounted controls, but it's just the tiniest little guy. I think that's funny, but anyways, last thing I want to mention you guys on that infotainment screen is when you do put the Accord Hybrid in reverse, you will find a rear-view camera coming standard across the board. Got a couple different views in the bottom left-hand corner there as well in typical Honda fashion there. And of course, it's going to make that little hybrid sound when you do put it in reverse, but that as always is going to lead us into safety. But so, let me start with the best part. Hybrid is an IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus, which by the way is the very highest designation given by IIHS. So, that pretty much says it all right there. Front side side curtain airbags do come standard. You get driver and passenger knee airbags up front as well. Also, rear side impact airbags. It's like a $300 option on Mercedes-Benz and BMW, by the way, so that's kind of cool that they come standard on the Accord. Also, in the back you got latch aka lower anchors and tethers for children for the rear car seats, rear child door locks, tire pressure monitoring system, but also coming standard is Honda sensing that gives you a blind spot monitoring system with rear cross traffic alert, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, collision mitigation braking system, road departure mitigation system, lane keep assist, traffic jam assist, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, and a driver attention monitoring system then as well. And then parking sensors actually come on the EX-L and touring trim levels, but overall what a customer I final thoughts here of the Accord Hybrid. You get tons of space. That's one of the big selling points of this one compared to the competition is the rear legroom is insane. Cargo space also equally insane. So, there's just a ton of space in this thing. Great MPGs. This thing gets over 50 miles per gallon if you go with that EX-L trim level. So, there's nothing wrong with that in a full-size sedan like this thing. Very good reliability. Again, Consumer Reports puts this at above average, which is above average. That's pretty darn good. Also nice styling in my personal opinion. The two constructive criticisms I would have for this thing would be all-wheel drive would be a nice option. It doesn't necessarily have to come standard, but the Camry offers it. I'm just saying. And also multi-color ambient lighting I think would look absolutely amazing in the Accord then as well. But, that pretty much rounds out this one, you guys. Thank you so much for watching. Feel free to follow me on social media stuff at the bottom of the screen. If you want to see what's coming next on the channel before it gets to YouTube, be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button. If you're new car reviews, that is what I've been doing for 12 years now. I do appreciate you guys watching more than you know, and I will see you guys all in the next video. Stay gold. >> [music]