Got My Brand new 2009 Honda Accord 5 speed A/T

harimakesh · 6th January 2009, 12:33

Hi BHPians,

My out going car is a 2.4 Black Mitsubishi Gallant which I used for 26 months and did 66300kms. I loved the mitsubishi engine tuning sound and reached a maximum speed of 180kms. which had four side curtain air bags and two front airbags with passenger weight sensor . I always felt good to feel & enjoyed driving it.

On the o4th of January 2009, I got my Brand new 2009 Honda Accord once again this is on Company lease for next two years.

When the car is taken delivery the Accord had 33 kms on Odo.

Engine: 2.4 iVtec, 180HP ; 5 speed automatic transmission
Steeting: Little tiny ! with audio & Cruise controls mounted
Wheels: 17" 5 split spoke Alloys with 215 60 R17 tyres
Exterior Colour : Bold Beige (Golden)
Interior Colour : Beige+Choclate Brown dash

Seats: Seude fabric , front seats with back seat pockets , rear seats with boot access arm rest & cup holders. rear seat is not 60:40 but it is 100% flip

Audio : Integrated CD / mp3/WMA player with 6 speakers
Interior space : Very Good space for Front & rear seats
Center console is neat and enough cubby holes and sensible front door pockets and the rear door pockets are suitable for my kids to keep their juice /chips pack!
Boot: sooo big! the rear seat flip knob is placed inside the boot

Other Features: Side ORVMs with LED blinkers, can central lock from front passenger door too.

Keyless entry: For all doors & boot lid

Diemensions: 4950mm length x 1825mm width x 1450mm height

I liked the front of the car good styling. side profile of the car is decent and okay. The rear is completely messed up as it brings some traces of BMW with the tail lights and the round-wedged rear bumper spoils the rear appearance of the car in my opinion.

I still like the engine tuning & performance of my out going car 2.4 mitsubishi Gallant!

Perhaps it is not appropriate to compare my New Honda accord which is in its run in time with just 180 kms on odo with a car that has been with me for 26 months and done nearly 67K on odo!

This time I chose gold on Honda Accord, as it is easy to maintain in Kuwait's sandy /dusty weather! The out going black Mitsubishi gallant was a real challenge to maintain!

I have started to ike my 2009 Honda accord just as it has some great manners! when I exceed 120kms speed it just beeps once and then only reminds me by visually blinking at instrument panel! My old Gallant will keep beeping until I drop the speed below 120kms!

Steering integrated audio control in the Accord is use ful but the steering is somewhat small for the size of Accord!

Build quality is good and the quality of material used in the Honda Accord is good and better than Mitsubishi Gallant.

There is no rear A/C vents , Front Xenon lamps & Fog lamps for this package of Accord EX. Rear a/c as a Standard Could have been better. Xenon & Fog lamps has no true need in Kuwait as humidity is just about 25% for most of the year.
Mitsubishi Gallant had fully automatic climatic control where as in my new Honda Accord it is manual but is adequate with good throw of air to reach the rear.

Yesterday was the parting day with my 26 months old good friend 2007 Black 2.4l Mitsubishi Gallant, I was talking to it like a mad man as My youngest daughter went to her firstday of school sitting in the lap of Black Mitsubishi Gallant's lap. I said bye bye my dear friend with a heavy heart.

Now I have got a shiny new Golden friend the 2009 Honda Accord! I am sure we will have a Golden relation ship in the next 2 years time.

I will post some pictures of my new friend some time soon.

Hariharan
Kuwait

aaggoswami · 6th January 2009, 12:55

Congratulations!
Can we have some pictures.
Is this similar to the one in India or are more features offered ?
How is performance in case of 2K-4K rpm range. This range in the high specific output Honda engines is reported to be relatively weak.

abhinav.gupta88 · 6th January 2009, 13:01

So we have an accord.
Congrats on the purchase.

Seems you have a base variant and not the top end.

Waiting for pics

Sadly in India, Xenons, Steering Controls, RVM with indicator is not even in the option list.

Drive it well and run in well in it.
Cheers

P.S. Whats the Cost of it according to INR and the cost of 1 litre of petrol in kuwait.?

harimakesh · 6th January 2009, 13:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Congratulations!
Can we have some pictures.
Is this similar to the one in India or are more features offered ?
How is performance in case of 2K-4K rpm range. This range in the high specific output Honda engines is reported to be relatively weak.

it is not exactly similar to what is offered in India. I think in India Honda offers accord with more features but for an exorbidant amount. Also in India they call the models Elegante, Inspire against Lx, Ex.

What I have is an tailor made Ex for the large leasing market in Kuwait.
I like the Honda Accord for the time being for increased rear space for the family comfort and other features. Engine I still like Mitsubishi Gallant! Perhaps I may change my opinion one or two months after driving 5000k atleast.

ceejay123 · 6th January 2009, 13:12

congrats for your new ride.Is your ride a european accord or the american accord.please post some pics .

harimakesh · 6th January 2009, 13:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhinav.gupta88

So we have an accord.
Congrats on the purchase.

Seems you have a base variant and not the top end.

Waiting for pics

Sadly in India, Xenons, Steering Controls, RVM with indicator is not even in the option list.

Drive it well and run in well in it.
Cheers

P.S. Whats the Cost of it according to INR and the cost of 1 litre of petrol in kuwait.?

The variant is a tailor made Ex verson sans rear a/c meant for the leasing segment of Kuwait market.

Funnily the steering is tiny I get a feel of holding on to a video game control! Steering mounted audio controls & cruise is first experience.

The cost in INR is approximate 10 lakhs for the Accord version I have. The cost of petrol per litre is 60fils which translates into INR 10.50

In Kuwait you get a powerful car, good roads, cheap fuel but little country to drive

border to border less than 200kms only!

harimakesh · 6th January 2009, 14:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by ceejay123

congrats for your new ride.Is your ride a european accord or the american accord.please post some pics .

As per the bar code sticker on the window the car is made in Japan. By going with the fact that Kuwait adopts Left hand driving and kuwait's car market is 99% Automatic transmission the features must be similar to American.

harimakesh · 7th January 2009, 16:26

goswami, Abhinav, Ceejay Thanks for your wishes.
I have just taken the pictures of the car in a strange location (on the empty 4th floor of an covered parking lot) and will post it tomorrow.

harimakesh · 8th January 2009, 10:44

Hi all

Here are some exterior photos of my Accord. Sorry for the picture quality due to improper lighting & camera resolution.

During the week end tomorrow I will take some more with a better outdoor lighting.

harimakesh · 8th January 2009, 11:01

Some interior photos of Accord

A/T gear shift lever

Steering wheel with Audio+Cruise control mounted

Front door interior

Rear door interior

Roomy Back seat with arm rest

Center conole with Cup holders with lid

Front seat Center storage box with sliding lid cum arm rest

Sliding center box lid arm rest

Super comfy grip type driver seat height adj handle

harimakesh · 8th January 2009, 16:47

until today 08thJan afternoon I have done 415kms since taking the vehicle on 04th Jan evening.

At 2.5k RPM Accood is at 120km speed. Mitsubishi Gallant used to do the same speed at 2.75RPM.

Occasionally reached 150km speed to give way for the tailgating Ford Mustang!

I liked the driver seat adjustment handle type lever. just pump up the lever while seated the seat rises with an inclination and pump down the seat goes down by 2inches. I liked this in Honda accord!

In Mitsubishi Gallant the seat adjustment was through a wheel turn clockwise seat up anticlockwise seat go down.

After 4 days of driving Accord now the steering feels fine and the steering audio control is quite a comfort! Cruise is yet to be tested as Kuwait urban traffic doesnot permit to test!

Auxillary input is given inside front center console box. Alongside is the second power point 12VDC 120W socket. The stock audio is decent with 6 speakers. Two tweeters (located where manual ORVM control point used to be) two on the front doors and two ovals at the back tray.

Sound quality is good. The booms of hi-fidelity music makes the vehicle behind me appear jumping while looking at my IRVM. The music still penetrates into my legs & thighs through the thick Killer jeans!

As roads are sans poth holes / undulations except the tyre noise the cabin is quite quiet. No squeaks.

However, on the drive although Accord reaches 140kms at ease, I still feel something is missing as compared to Mitsubishi Gallant.

Honda accord perhaps expects the driver to be more well behaved manners like its manners of just beeping once on crossing legal speed limit of 120km/hr.

Despite my 50:50 grey hair, at 38 I felt much younger while driving the Mitsubishi Gallant at driver seat. Now while driving the Honda I feel I am a qualified uncle!

I never knew there was a driver nutured by Mitsubishi Gallant for 26 months inside of me in latent! Honda Accord seeming to bring out this secret accord between me and Mitsubishi Gallant!

I hope after the run in period with my Honda Accord will make another secret Driver's accord!

ORVM with LED blinkers

harimakesh · 8th January 2009, 17:17

Additional photos of my Honda Accord exterior & interiors included:

instrument panel

Passenger side SRS airbag + Tweeter + Right ORVM view

Head lamp

Driver door controls

Cruise on Steering

Audio controls on Steering

Auxillary input + 12V 120Watts socket inside center console box

Head lamp leveller + Vehicle stability Assist on/off switch

abhi1309 · 8th January 2009, 18:32

Nice, Kuwait almost looks like Boston to me in these pictures.

its.me.ankur · 8th January 2009, 18:36

Congrats for the New ride mate, the car looks dam good, Nice initial report. Looking forward to read more ride reports from your side

harimakesh · 8th January 2009, 19:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by abhi1309

Nice, Kuwait almost looks like Boston to me in these pictures.

Infact kuwait is home for a sizeable population of Americans (Military, Diplomat & citizen).

Besides Urban planning & construction techniques, Politically too Kuwait is 56th state of USA

. Mods. Bit of OT here!

As for Automobiles For sure Kuwait is a melting pot for international Japanese,American, European, Korean, Indian,chinese automobiles

6th January 2009, 12:33	#1
harimakesh BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Chennai/Kuwait Posts: 502 Thanked: 355 Times	Got My Brand new 2009 Honda Accord 5 speed A/T Hi BHPians, My out going car is a 2.4 Black Mitsubishi Gallant which I used for 26 months and did 66300kms. I loved the mitsubishi engine tuning sound and reached a maximum speed of 180kms. which had four side curtain air bags and two front airbags with passenger weight sensor . I always felt good to feel & enjoyed driving it. On the o4th of January 2009, I got my Brand new 2009 Honda Accord once again this is on Company lease for next two years. When the car is taken delivery the Accord had 33 kms on Odo. Engine: 2.4 iVtec, 180HP ; 5 speed automatic transmission Steeting: Little tiny ! with audio & Cruise controls mounted Wheels: 17" 5 split spoke Alloys with 215 60 R17 tyres Exterior Colour : Bold Beige (Golden) Interior Colour : Beige+Choclate Brown dash Seats: Seude fabric , front seats with back seat pockets , rear seats with boot access arm rest & cup holders. rear seat is not 60:40 but it is 100% flip Audio : Integrated CD / mp3/WMA player with 6 speakers Interior space : Very Good space for Front & rear seats Center console is neat and enough cubby holes and sensible front door pockets and the rear door pockets are suitable for my kids to keep their juice /chips pack! Boot: sooo big! the rear seat flip knob is placed inside the boot Other Features: Side ORVMs with LED blinkers, can central lock from front passenger door too. Keyless entry: For all doors & boot lid Diemensions: 4950mm length x 1825mm width x 1450mm height I liked the front of the car good styling. side profile of the car is decent and okay. The rear is completely messed up as it brings some traces of BMW with the tail lights and the round-wedged rear bumper spoils the rear appearance of the car in my opinion. I still like the engine tuning & performance of my out going car 2.4 mitsubishi Gallant! Perhaps it is not appropriate to compare my New Honda accord which is in its run in time with just 180 kms on odo with a car that has been with me for 26 months and done nearly 67K on odo! This time I chose gold on Honda Accord, as it is easy to maintain in Kuwait's sandy /dusty weather! The out going black Mitsubishi gallant was a real challenge to maintain! I have started to ike my 2009 Honda accord just as it has some great manners! when I exceed 120kms speed it just beeps once and then only reminds me by visually blinking at instrument panel! My old Gallant will keep beeping until I drop the speed below 120kms! Steering integrated audio control in the Accord is use ful but the steering is somewhat small for the size of Accord! Build quality is good and the quality of material used in the Honda Accord is good and better than Mitsubishi Gallant. There is no rear A/C vents , Front Xenon lamps & Fog lamps for this package of Accord EX. Rear a/c as a Standard Could have been better. Xenon & Fog lamps has no true need in Kuwait as humidity is just about 25% for most of the year. Mitsubishi Gallant had fully automatic climatic control where as in my new Honda Accord it is manual but is adequate with good throw of air to reach the rear. Yesterday was the parting day with my 26 months old good friend 2007 Black 2.4l Mitsubishi Gallant, I was talking to it like a mad man as My youngest daughter went to her firstday of school sitting in the lap of Black Mitsubishi Gallant's lap. I said bye bye my dear friend with a heavy heart. Now I have got a shiny new Golden friend the 2009 Honda Accord! I am sure we will have a Golden relation ship in the next 2 years time. I will post some pictures of my new friend some time soon. Hariharan Kuwait Last edited by harimakesh : 6th January 2009 at 12:46.
	() Thanks

6th January 2009, 12:55	#2
aaggoswami Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Vadodara Posts: 4,997 Thanked: 3,000 Times	Congratulations! Can we have some pictures. Is this similar to the one in India or are more features offered ? How is performance in case of 2K-4K rpm range. This range in the high specific output Honda engines is reported to be relatively weak.
	() Thanks

6th January 2009, 13:01	#3
abhinav.gupta88 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Delhi , India Posts: 4,090 Thanked: 341 Times View My Garage	So we have an accord. Congrats on the purchase. Seems you have a base variant and not the top end. Waiting for pics Sadly in India, Xenons, Steering Controls, RVM with indicator is not even in the option list. Drive it well and run in well in it. Cheers P.S. Whats the Cost of it according to INR and the cost of 1 litre of petrol in kuwait.?
	() Thanks

6th January 2009, 13:12	#5
ceejay123 BHPian Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Mumbai Posts: 26 Thanked: Once	congrats for your new ride.Is your ride a european accord or the american accord.please post some pics .
	() Thanks

7th January 2009, 16:26	#8
harimakesh BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Chennai/Kuwait Posts: 502 Thanked: 355 Times	goswami, Abhinav, Ceejay Thanks for your wishes. I have just taken the pictures of the car in a strange location (on the empty 4th floor of an covered parking lot) and will post it tomorrow.
	() Thanks

8th January 2009, 10:44	#9
harimakesh BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Chennai/Kuwait Posts: 502 Thanked: 355 Times	Some Exterior Photos Hi all Here are some exterior photos of my Accord. Sorry for the picture quality due to improper lighting & camera resolution. During the week end tomorrow I will take some more with a better outdoor lighting. Attached Thumbnails Attached Images
	() Thanks

8th January 2009, 11:01	#10
harimakesh BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Chennai/Kuwait Posts: 502 Thanked: 355 Times	Some interior photos Some interior photos of Accord A/T gear shift lever Steering wheel with Audio+Cruise control mounted Front door interior Rear door interior Roomy Back seat with arm rest Center conole with Cup holders with lid Front seat Center storage box with sliding lid cum arm rest Sliding center box lid arm rest Super comfy grip type driver seat height adj handle Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

8th January 2009, 16:47	#11
harimakesh BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Chennai/Kuwait Posts: 502 Thanked: 355 Times	until today 08thJan afternoon I have done 415kms since taking the vehicle on 04th Jan evening. At 2.5k RPM Accood is at 120km speed. Mitsubishi Gallant used to do the same speed at 2.75RPM. Occasionally reached 150km speed to give way for the tailgating Ford Mustang! I liked the driver seat adjustment handle type lever. just pump up the lever while seated the seat rises with an inclination and pump down the seat goes down by 2inches. I liked this in Honda accord! In Mitsubishi Gallant the seat adjustment was through a wheel turn clockwise seat up anticlockwise seat go down. After 4 days of driving Accord now the steering feels fine and the steering audio control is quite a comfort! Cruise is yet to be tested as Kuwait urban traffic doesnot permit to test! Auxillary input is given inside front center console box. Alongside is the second power point 12VDC 120W socket. The stock audio is decent with 6 speakers. Two tweeters (located where manual ORVM control point used to be) two on the front doors and two ovals at the back tray. Sound quality is good. The booms of hi-fidelity music makes the vehicle behind me appear jumping while looking at my IRVM. The music still penetrates into my legs & thighs through the thick Killer jeans! As roads are sans poth holes / undulations except the tyre noise the cabin is quite quiet. No squeaks. However, on the drive although Accord reaches 140kms at ease, I still feel something is missing as compared to Mitsubishi Gallant. Honda accord perhaps expects the driver to be more well behaved manners like its manners of just beeping once on crossing legal speed limit of 120km/hr. Despite my 50:50 grey hair, at 38 I felt much younger while driving the Mitsubishi Gallant at driver seat. Now while driving the Honda I feel I am a qualified uncle! I never knew there was a driver nutured by Mitsubishi Gallant for 26 months inside of me in latent! Honda Accord seeming to bring out this secret accord between me and Mitsubishi Gallant! I hope after the run in period with my Honda Accord will make another secret Driver's accord! ORVM with LED blinkers Attached Thumbnails Attached Images Last edited by Technocrat : 8th January 2009 at 19:56.
	() Thanks

8th January 2009, 17:17	#12
harimakesh BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Chennai/Kuwait Posts: 502 Thanked: 355 Times	more photos of Exterior & interior Additional photos of my Honda Accord exterior & interiors included: instrument panel Passenger side SRS airbag + Tweeter + Right ORVM view Head lamp Driver door controls Cruise on Steering Audio controls on Steering Auxillary input + 12V 120Watts socket inside center console box Head lamp leveller + Vehicle stability Assist on/off switch
	() Thanks

8th January 2009, 18:32	#13
abhi1309 BHPian Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Pune Posts: 445 Thanked: 69 Times View My Garage	Nice, Kuwait almost looks like Boston to me in these pictures.
	() Thanks

8th January 2009, 18:36	#14
its.me.ankur BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: delhi Posts: 33 Thanked: 29 Times	Congrats for the New ride mate, the car looks dam good, Nice initial report. Looking forward to read more ride reports from your side
	() Thanks