Honda's new-for-2010 Accord-based crossover, unabashedly named Accord Crosstour. It is essentially an Accord wagon, except its rear roofline is aerodynamically sloped instead of squared off, which sacrifices some cargo room but preserves respectable backseat headroom even for six-footers. But please don't call it that.
Honda calls it a "five-door, five-passenger premium CUV" and offers it in two models: a well-equipped EX (just over $30,000, including destination) and an upscale EX-L (about $33K). "Real-time" four-wheel drive adds $1,450 and voice-activated navigation with a rear-view camera, another $2,200, but both are offered on the EX-L only.
Standard on the EX are dual-zone automatic air conditioning; 360-watt, 7-speaker audio with a 6-disc CD player; easy fold-down 60/40 split rear seats; 225/65 R17 all-season tires on alloy wheels; a power moonroof; steering-wheel audio controls; auto-off projector beam headlights; fog lights; rear privacy glass; and a hidden removable utility box.
How much of this Crosstour is Accord under its skin? Honda says roughly 60 percent of its parts are shared with the sedan, including the chassis and powertrain, the instrument panel and most of the interior. That chassis incorporates fully independent double-wishbone front and rear-multilink rear suspensions, both slightly upgraded for the taller, heavier Crosstour. Notable among those upgrades are rebound springs inside the front shocks to improve handling and reduce body roll, two-piston front brake calipers and bigger rear rotors.
The only available powertrain is the Accord's 271-hp 3.5-liter i-VTEC SOHC V-6 coupled to a five-speed automatic transmission. This award-winning engine uses Honda's exclusive Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) cylinder deactivation system to enhance fuel economy by shutting down two, or at times even three, cylinders when it's lightly loaded. The electronically controlled 5-speed automatic is smooth but slightly less fuel-efficient than the latest 6-speeds offered by GM, Ford and others. The 2WD Crosstour is EPA-rated at a respectable 18 city/27 highway mpg and the 4WD EX-L at 17/25.
If you've driven an Accord sedan, you'll feel comfortable in a Crosstour. Honda engineers have compensated well via specific spring rates, shocks and stabilizer bars; for its modestly increased size and the potential of added cargo weight. Unladen, it rides and handles about as well as the fairly agile yet compliant sedan. Its brakes are suitably strong and fade-free, but its constant-ratio steering is somewhat slower at low speeds compared to the sedan's variable-ratio system.
With six inches of ground clearance, this is no off-road crawler, but the available fully automatic Real Time 4WD system improves its bad-weather and off-pavement capabilities by sending power to the rear wheels when the fronts begin to slip. The 5-speed automatic can be manually shifted, and its new downshift rev-match feature smooths manual downshifts.
This new 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour slides neatly between Honda's Civic-based CR-V compact crossover and its larger, more truck-like (Accord-based) Pilot CUV and competes directly with Toyota's similar Camry based Venza and Nissan's Altima-based Murano. Call it what you want but consider it a very interesting new entry in the increasingly crowded crossover field.
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