 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour EX-L AWD Navi. Click image to enlarge |
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2010 Honda Accord Crosstour
Second Opinion:
By Jeff Burry
Ottawa, Ontario – We all like to think we have impeccable taste: that the things we enjoy and indulge in are classy and respected by those around us. But whether we’re willing to admit it or not, each one of us has a guilty pleasure or two (or three). I have just as many as the next guy, and the Honda Accord Crosstour is my latest.
The Crosstour is the first North American Accord model since 1997 that isn’t a four-door sedan – that was when the Accord station wagon was last sold here. With its fastback profile, the Crosstour has more in common with the two-door Accord hatchbacks of the 1980s.
 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour EX-L AWD Navi. Click image to enlarge |
Senior Editor, Paul Williams called the Crosstour a “nice-looking, stylish vehicle” in his November, 2009 First Drive article. I’m not so sure about that; to my mind, it’s a vehicle best described as “striking,” with all of the ambiguity that adjective lends itself to.
My guilty-pleasure attraction to the Accord Crosstour isn’t for the car’s looks; in fact, I think it looks ungainly from most angles, especially in the contrast between the front end’s sharp angles and the softer contours of the rear. (I admit that the look, especially the rear-three-quarter view, grew on me as the week progressed and I had some time to live with the car, but this is one vehicle to which the camera is not kind.) Nor is it for the interior control layout (the dash is largely the same busy, button-fussy one found in the Accord sedan), but rather for the overall feel and driving experience it offers.
The Crosstour is sold in one trim (EX-L), and the only options are all-wheel drive and a navigation system, both of which were included on my tester, priced at $40,450.
   2010 Honda Accord Crosstour EX-L AWD Navi. Click image to enlarge |
The Crosstour is about 50 mm (about two inches) wider than an Accord sedan, and while it looks bigger from the outside, none of the extra width translates into additional interior space; still, the cabin feels wide and spacious. It’s larger than the Accord sedan in every other direction, while its 2,797 mm (110.1 in.) wheelbase is three millimetres shorter.
It’s very comfortable inside, in spite of firm front seats. Those wider in the hips will find the side bolstering a little too aggressive, at least at the bottom of the seatback. The Crosstour favours those up front: while rear seat space is fine, both headroom and legroom are tight for a vehicle of this size. While the Crosstour’s name, appearance and all-wheel drive option suggest a tall-in-the-saddle driving experience, the seating position is surprisingly low, so getting in and out doesn’t require hoisting oneself up into the car.
An ungainly rear overhang translates into a long cargo area, but depth and width are limited by the sloping rear hatch and prominent wheelhouses inside. The cargo opening is large, as is the hatch, and the 60/40 rear seat folds perfectly flat. The tailgate is very easy to pull down, but the fact that one has to do so at all in a $40,000-plus vehicle is puzzling: Honda doesn’t offer a power tailgate, even as an option. The grab handle was a bit of a reach for me, at five-foot-seven, so anyone much shorter than that will wish for a power-closing hatch. Power closing or not, the hatch’s design creates terrible rearward sightlines, so if you go all-out and spring for the navigation package, you’ll be grateful for the rearview camera that comes with it.
