2026 Honda Accord Review | BIG Upgrades for 2026!

All I need is you, baby, baby. >> What's up, you guys? [music and singing] Welcome back to another one. If you are new to the channel, I am God Pundit bringing you new car, truck, SUV reviews on YouTube. And today, we are in the brand new 2026 Honda Accord, 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. And so, we're in this one today because there's some nice updates for the 2026 Accord. This is a very good-looking sedan in my personal opinion, at least. Also known for excellent safety. I'll get more into that in the safety portion of this review. And you also get 2 years or 24,000 mi of complimentary maintenance, which is always a good thing cuz that's going to save us some money. So, ultimately in this video, we will be testing out 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 a couple different trim levels for the 2026 Accord. You got the LX, which actually is the one we're in today, starting at $28,395, which is a very modest $100 bump from the 2025 model year. You never see that. It's like a grand or two typically these days with inflation. But, then you got the SE for $30,695. But, regardless of the trim level that you go with, the power plant on the Accord is going to be the same. Powering the beast is a 1.5-L turbocharged four-cylinder. This puts out 192 horsepower at 6,000 rpm, 192 lb feet of torque coming in at 1,700 rpm. Power sent to the front wheels through a continuously variable transmission. Zero to 60 time is going to come in at approximately 7.2 seconds with MPG numbers coming in at 29 in the city, 37 on the highway, taking regular unleaded fuel. And in case you were curious about the reliability for the new 2026 Accord, that is going to come in at an average rating according to Consumer Reports, the Accord Hybrid comes in at above average if you were comparing the two I suppose. But Accord Hybrid is its own review so I probably already reviewed it. If not, it's coming very soon. But anyways, before we do any kind of fun acceleration test here in our Accord, I did want to mention to you guys the drive mode. And so there's essentially there's sport, normal, and econ. Normal is what the car defaults to. There's econ just behind the shifter. And then sport you just tap the shifter back one more time. But essentially that adjusts things like the shift points, the throttle response, and actually the climate control settings as well. So for example, if you put it in that econ drive mode, just driving down the highway is probably what I would use that for. It's going to dial back the AC a little bit, hold the RPMs at a little lower level, but it is going to increase your MPGs. I've tested that in my old Civics way back in the day cuz they've had that econ button for a while now. It actually does a pretty darn good job, believe it or not. But anyways, now that I've got all of that out of the way, what do you guys say? 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 our new 2026 Honda Accord here up to speed. All right, think I found a straightaway here. Why not, right? In 3 2 1 OH MY GOSH, TURBO LAG. There it is. Oh, that's funny. It's like VTEC kicks in at up RPMs for sure because dang is there turbo lag on this sucker. Now I just got done reviewing the Accord Hybrid and that didn't exist of course because it's naturally aspirated four-cylinder with two electric motors. But this one definitely got some turbo lag so just keep that in mind. This is one of the reasons I'm not a huge fan of turbocharged engines is because of the turbo lag. Also, they're typically not as reliable as their naturally aspirated counterparts. Having said that, this thing I'm sure still is very reliable because it's a Honda after [clears throat] all. But yeah, there's some turbo lag there, bro. But it's okay. But to go along with that acceleration, as always, braking is equally important. And so up front you will find 11.5 inch ventilated front discs. At the back, 11.1 inch solid rear discs. As far as that 60-0 stopping distance goes, it comes in at 121 ft. Towards braking feel goes, really good. Really, really, really, really, really good. Yeah, that that's a really good braking feel. Definitely on the firmer side of things. Instantly brings you to a stop. 121 ft, that's a plenty respectable number. Typically, what I say is anything in the one teens is a sports sedan. Anything like mid 120s is kind of average, and then 130 is kind of not the best, but 121, it's right where the Accord should be. So, 100% not going to have any issues with the braking on this thing. Then touching on suspension and handling, up front you're going to get a McPherson strut front suspension. In the back, independent multi-link rear suspension, front and rear stabilizer bars. Overall, as far as ride quality goes, I actually really like it, and I think it's because we have the LX trim level. We got the smaller wheels. It's a pretty darn smooth ride. Let me got it. Like, I like this trim level because it gives you a better ride quality because you got the smaller wheels. And these seats are dang comfortable. We'll get more into that in the interior portion of the review, but I love these seats. They definitely hold you in place. They're like little bucket seats. Although they're cloth, they're still comfortable, but anyways, as far as ride quality goes, like I said, it's plenty fine. As far as cabin noise goes, we're going 50 mph here. I'll shut up for a second. I still got it in sport driving, man. Let me take it out of there so we can shift here. There we go. Yeah, cabin noise or lack thereof, it's plenty on point. Now, not as quiet as the Accord Hybrid Touring that I was just in because that got acoustic laminated front windshield and front side glass. This one does not, but it's still plenty serene cabin, and it's nothing that would bother me. As far as steering feel goes, it's fine. It's definitely weighted a little bit on the heavier side of things. Definitely heavier than a lot of the competition like the Sonata and the Camry. So, I do like the steering feel for that reason. And touching on rear visibility, looking out my rearview mirror here, I can see perfectly fine out the back. I got a truck chilling behind me. He's just chilling. So, yeah, nothing wrong with visibility, either. But, that pretty much rounds out the performance segment of this review, you guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior now of our brand spanking new 2026 Honda Accord. All right, so here she is, you guys, the new 2026 Honda Accord finished in crystal black pearl. So, if you're a big fan of Pirates of the Caribbean, perhaps this is the color for you. But, let's go ahead and start with where this one is made. Taking a look at the VIN, first character is the number one indicating that the Accord is built and assembled in the US, specifically Ohio I believe is what it's said, but anyways, let's go ahead and start up front. You will find a black front grill with active grill shutters, meaning these grill shutters are going to open and close depending upon the engine cooling that is needed at any given time. So, that's kind of cool. To the sides, LED headlights with LED daytime running lights. Get the automatic feature with those headlights. You also get automatic high beams. So, if you have your high beams on at night, it senses a vehicle coming in the opposite direction, it's going to automatically dim them back to low beams. Then, when that vehicle is gone, it's going to automatically bounce it back up to high beams for you there. So, super convenient. I love that feature, personally. You got some front air currents to the bottom corners there. Guys can see it's kind of accented like a matte black. So, that's going to help project air around the wheel and tire combination for a little better aerodynamics there. And, of course, you got the low hood line, which is uh known for this new generation Accord, which I personally think 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 then now since we are around to the side of this one, chrome upper window trim coming standard there. Power adjustable side mirrors, they will be body colored for the LX, but then gloss black for the SE trim level. Then, taking a look down at the wheel setup, 17-in silver alloys for that LX. New 19-in alloys for the SE. So, they were 17-in alloys for the SE trim level last year. Now, they're going to be 19-in for that specific trim level. And then, you're going to get matte black side skirts to finish everything off there, but that pretty much rounds out the side profile. Let's now go ahead and swing around to the back. All right, so then now since we are around to the back of this one, Body colored shark fin antenna all the way to the top there. You do have LED tail lights. They definitely look good back there and I love the 90 style Honda logo as well. I say 90 style because it's just a tiny little logo where every manufacturer is making their logos absolutely gigantic or including Acura. So, I just find that interesting. But anyways, dual exhaust outlets to the very bottom there and they are tucked away unfortunately. I would have loved to have seen them exposed, but nevertheless, I do believe you guys know what we have to do next year. As always, here is that exhaust clip. Right, so then I assist we are around to the back of the Accord. When it comes to opening that rear trunk, there is a button on the key fob. There of course is a rubberized button on the trunk itself then as well. But once it's opened up, cargo capacity comes in at 16.7 cubic feet. That is actually crazy impressive. That's a good number. There is LED cargo lighting back there. There's actually grocery bag hooks on both sides in the cargo area. I always love seeing that. And then if you were to lift up underneath of that cargo floor, this is super interesting. You do get a spare tire which is super interesting because in the Accord Hybrid, you get the fix-a-flat. But in the Accord non-hybrid, you get the spare tire. So, that's kind of cool. Kind of wish the Accord Hybrid came with the spare tire as well because I personally prefer that. But anyways, big difference there. But then let's go ahead and make our way up to the rear legroom that comes in at an impressive 40.8 inches. That's insane. That's luxury like. For reference, I'm not even 6 ft tall. This is how much space I had in the back seats there. You do get a rear center armrest with cup holders. You got rear ventilation back there and dual rear USB charging ports then as well. Then making your way up to the front seats, cloth seating is going to come standard in both trim levels. However, the SE is going to give you heated front seats if you wanted those. 10-way power driver seat with two-way power lumbar for the SE as well, but I will say, like I said when I was driving this thing, although these are manually adjustable cloth seats, these things are dang good. Like really, really comfortable. You sink into them and the bolsters are definitely on the more pronounced side, so they definitely hold you in place. I really like these seats. Like probably my most comfortable, top three most comfortable cloth seats out there. Like they're pretty dang good. I'm just saying, but then let's go ahead and take a look at the steering wheel. It is tilt and telescoping. It is going to be wrapped in urethane. 10:02 grips were perfectly fine. Then making your way to the startup, let me start by showing you guys the key. You got your Honda logo on the one side. When you flip it over, lock, unlock, the button to pop the trunk, and the circular button is your remote start, which by the way comes standard on both trim levels. But it is all keyless entry with a push button start. So all I am going to do here is simply put my foot on the brake and press that engine start button located just to the left of the center climate control vents there. And so, once started up, when it comes to the gauges, this is a 10.2-in digital gauge cluster. It looks okay. It It It looks okay. I'll just put it that way. Um tachometer's on your left, speedometer's on your right. You got a digital readout front and center. Speed limit recognition up there, trip A, trip B, the uh outside temperature's in the bottom left-hand corner. I say it looks okay because it's just black and white. I wish there were some kind of different gauge clusters you could play around with to kind of change the look or maybe some color changes as well rather than it being just black and white. So, there's definitely a lot of customization you can do when it comes to digital gauge clusters. That's one of the benefits of them. Um but Honda just went with the black and white theme here, which is kind of uh unemotional. But now, let's go ahead and make our way to overall interior quality. A power moonroof is going to come with the SE trim level, but not our LX trim level that we have with us here today. Overhead sunglass holder, let's test that out. Yep, that is a super high quality one, so I like that. Automatic climate control for the LX trim level, meaning you set the temperature, it's going to automatically hit that temperature for you. But, you do get dual zone climate control for the SE, so then the passenger can set their own individual temperature, too. Just in front of the shifter, there's a wireless phone charger, meaning that's going to come standard on both trim levels. I really like that. Just above that, a couple USB charging ports. To the right of the shifter, you got your couple cup holders. Everything surrounding the shifter and the cup holders is finished in the matte black. Would have loved to have seen that finished in a gloss black or kind of a silver texturized design. Still plastic, though, that's fine. Just make it some kind of not boring, is all I'm saying. And then with through the center armrest, there's actually a decent amount of space in there, I like that. And a 12-V power outlet, as well. Overall, when it comes to interior quality, it's maybe a little bit on the basic side of things with the matte black finishes and whatnot surrounding the power window buttons and all that, but um I suppose it gets the job done. But, now let's go ahead and make our way to the infotainment screen. There is a new for 2026 9-in color touchscreen display. So, if you guys remember last year, it was a 7-in color touchscreen display. So, they bumped that up to 9 in this year, so I think it actually looks pretty darn good. Bluetooth and audio streaming, you get Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, as well. And of course, you can check out your radio information up there, as well. So, when it comes to the sound systems, there are two different sound systems because we have two different trim levels. That's how Honda does it. So, for the LX, you get four speakers and 160 W. So, not the best on paper. For the SE, you get eight speakers and 180 W. So, a little bit better there, but we do have the LX 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] >> It's not the best. It's four speakers, you guys. It's not going to be the best sound system. It's probably It's probably a really, really good podcast sound system, but uh yeah, when you turn it up, you do get a little bit of crackly, but then again, that was FM radio, as well. So, it I'm sure if it's Bluetooth audio streaming or SiriusXM or something like that, which I don't even know is on this car, uh it would be a lot better. But, yeah, FM radio is not going to be the greatest right off the bat. So, anyways, if you like podcasts, this is going to be perfectly fine. I'm not even joking. I'll be serious. Like, if you don't really listen to music, who cares? But, um yeah, it's just not the best It's four speakers, guys. But, anyways, last thing I want to mention to you guys on that infotainment screen is when you do put this thing in reverse, you will find a rearview camera coming standard across the board. You of course get a few different views in the bottom left-hand corner in typical Honda fashion there, as well. But, that is always is going to lead us into safety. And so, let me start [clears throat] with the best part. The Accord is an IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus, which is the very highest rating given by IIHS. That's what Volvos get. It doesn't get any better than that. So, you got to appreciate that. Front, side, side curtain airbags do come standard. Driver and passenger knee airbags up front, as well. In the back, you got rear side impact airbags, which by the way is like $300 option on BMW or Mercedes, but Honda gives it to you for free on the Accord. Wonderful. Also, in the back, you got latch, aka lower anchors and tethers for children for the rear car seats, rear child door locks, top pressure monitoring system. But, also coming standard, the fun stuff, known as Honda Sensing. So, that gives you 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. So, overall, when it comes to my final thoughts here of the Honda Accord, excellent rear legroom, excellent space overall. I'm just going to say excellent space, cuz the cargo space is damn good, as well. So, you definitely got one up on the competition, Honda, when it comes to the space. That's for sure. Excellent safety, like I said, you can't beat an IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus. Uh nice steering feel and handling. I always have fun in really any Honda when it comes to the steering feel, especially when you start comparing that like I do to the competition. You'll notice that a lot of the competition has looser steering feels like the Sonata, like the like the Camry, but this one's more playful. Kind of like a Mazda would be, like the Mazda 6 used to be. So, it's a nice playful steering feel there. Now, as far as room for improvement goes, I'll give you two things here. One, the interior quality is definitely below average. A lot of matte black finishes. It's very boring. It's very plasticky. So, even if Honda even if you updated that with like a texturized plastic finish with a nice design to it. It can still be plastic. There's nothing wrong with that. Just make it not boring. And then the other thing is an all-wheel drive option is definitely needed for the Accord because so much of the competition is offering all-wheel drive now like the Kia K5, like the Nissan Altima, like the Toyota Camry. I'm sure there's more, but they all offer all-wheel drive. So, therefore, you would think the Honda Accord would as well. I live in Pennsylvania here. We do get quite a bit of snow in the winter months. So, all-wheel drive is kind of kind of kind of a good thing. But anyways, that's about it for this one, you guys. Thank you so much for watching. Feel free to follow me on social media stuff 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 into new car reviews. That is what I've been doing for 12 years now. Do appreciate you guys watching more than you know, and I will see you guys all in the next video. Be gone. >> All I need is you, [music] baby, baby. All I need >> [music] >> is you, baby, baby.