Honda’s latest Accord sedan has rewritten the record books of the stringent Euro NCAP safety test programme. The sleek sedan recently achieved the highest overall safety rating in the category for large family cars.
The Accord not only became the first large family sedan to score three stars in the pedestrian protection category, but also achieved the best overall performance for combined safety in this class, thanks to a five-star rating for adult protection, and four stars for child protection.
“We are delighted with the Euro NCAP result, which confirms the new Accord leadership as far as combined adult, child and pedestrian safety in the large family car class is concerned,” says Honda South Africa Managing Director, Yoshiaki Nakamura.
“It’s further proof that Accord customers have access to highly effective active and passive safety technologies – systems that have been put into practice as part of Honda’s goal of providing safety for everyone.”
“There is no doubt that the latest Honda Accord presents a particularly persuasive motoring package in [its] segment,” comments Graham Eagle, general manager for sales and marketing at Honda SA.
“We’ve always recognised that high safety standards form part of that package, but this has now been confirmed by the Accord’s class-leading score in arguably the world’s most stringent crash safety tests.”
At the core of the Honda Accord’s exceptional safety ratings is its so-called Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) body structure, which regulates the distribution of impact forces in the case of a collision to prevent cabin deformation, thereby greatly enhancing occupant protection.
But, as the Euro NCAP results prove, the Accord’s design engineers also took pedestrian safety into account.
Among the pedestrian protection measures adopted by the latest Accord are energy absorbing fender mounts and bonnet hinges, windscreen wiper pivots that break away on impact, and an unobstructed area beneath the bonnet to allow more space for energy absorbing deformation.
On an active safety level, the Honda Accord is equipped with Vehicle Stability Assistance (VSA), which greatly enhances the ability of the driver to maintain control even under challenging dynamic conditions, by acting on the throttle and applying braking to the left and right wheels individually if required.
This is in addition to other established active safety systems such as ABS anti-lock control for the braking system, operating in conjunction with electronic brake force distribution (EBD) and emergency braking assistance (EBA).
The locally available Accord range consists of four sedan models powered by a choice of 2.0-litre and 2.4-litre engines, and with a choice of manual or automatic gearboxes. An estate version, the Accord Tourer, is available in 2.4-litre manual and automatic, and it joined the range at the beginning of November.
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