Comments by "Perhaps" (@NoEgg4u) on "TheTopher"
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For a family sedan, the 2.0 Accord has excellent handling.
Unfortunately, the car's electronic throttle will not allow you to take full advantage of the car's handling.
If you are rounding a turn, and have the steering wheel turned past a certain point, then no matter how hard you press on the gas (you can floor it), the car will not accelerate. It will maintain speed, but not accelerate. As soon as you come out of the turn (as soon as the wheel returns close to center), the engine will kick in with authority.
This is the case while in any mode (including Sport mode), as well as turning off traction control.
The only way to take such turns at a faster speed is to already be going faster when you enter the turn. But sometimes you might not want to enter a turn too fast, and would rather increase your speed while already in the turn. That will not happen in the Accord. The electronic throttle is tied into the steering wheel (or tied into the front wheels), and denies your gas pedal's demand to accelerate in a hard turn.
And this is with the stock all-season tires.
I was considering getting much grippier performance tires. But what for? The car refuses to put power to the drive wheels while in a turn.
I am not suggesting that anyone try to duplicate the conditions I describe above, because you stand a good chance of having an accident. But if you have an eye towards handling performance, and road conditions are safe (sunny, dry, clear, and no other cars, etc), and want to take a turn at speed, the Accord is the prude that wags its "No, no" finger at you.
99.9% of drivers will never push the Accord (or any car) around a turn hard enough to run into the Accord's electronic throttle ceiling. And it is a great family sedan with a good amount of focus on all-around performance. But know that it not only has physical performance limitations (all cars have them), but it also has unforced, designer imposed limitations, and there is no way to circumvent the throttle issue (short of reprogramming the throttle control sensor, and void your car's warranty, and risk who knows what else, due to your tinkering with the sensors).
I suspect that the Civic Type-R will not have this problem.
I do not like the looks of the Civic Type-R. But had I have known about the Accord's throttle programming choice, I might have passed on buying it.
Cheers!
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