Unspoiled For Choice

The Age

Saturday May 17, 2008

Barry Park

HONDA will have some big holes to plug in the Accord Euro line-up when it arrives in Australia next month. The car maker will initially offer only three versions of the sedan - a base model, mid-spec luxury and range-topping luxury - and with the one 2.4-litre engine when it goes on sale here.

But the car's launch in Austria last week revealed that European customers will get a much more comprehensive range of Accord Euros than us. Launched alongside the Euro sedan was a smart-looking wagon version that Honda says is still a long way from being released in Australia.

It's not because the car maker doesn't see a place for it in our showrooms, Honda Australia managing director Lindsay Smalley says.

Rather, it's because you can't fit it with baby seats.

The wagon is set up for European-style child restraints that clip into the seat on each corner. Australia's car design rules don't recognise the European restraints, and instead call for car makers to fit a latch-style system for a top tether. To comply with local design rules, the wagon will need to be re-engineered so that an Australian baby seat can either clip into a roof mount, or one built into the back of the rear seat.

That's a major project, Mr Smalley says. "The wagon is up to 2 1/2 years away, probably at its mid-life update."

Also missing from the local line-up is a diesel-engined option. Some of the cars launched in Austria were fitted with a surprisingly versatile, 110 kW/350 Nm, 2.2-litre, turbocharged diesel engine that powers a European version of the CR-V soft-roader.

We got to drive one of the old-model, British-market Accord Euros fitted with a 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel that was brought into Australia a couple of years ago to gauge buyer interest in an alternative-fuelled vehicle. However, it was noisy, rattly and lacked refinement. And there was no automatic gearbox option.

It's the same situation with the gearbox today. Development of a five-speed auto for the 2.2-litre diesel capable of replacing the six-speed manual on buyers' options list is still about 18 months away, Honda says.

Another option missing from the Australian specifications list is a 2.0-litre engine for the Accord Euro. According to Mr Smalley, the engine is not a high priority for the Euro, although if petrol prices continue to rise - and he has suggested a tipping point of about $2 a litre - we are more likely to see the engine used in a front-wheel-drive-only version of the CR-V soft-roader than in the mid-sized sedan. -- BARRY PARK

© 2008 The Age

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