Test Drive: 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour AWD Navi

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.

The only engine choice is the same 3.5-litre V6 that moves up-level Accord sedan models, among other Honda and Acura vehicles. In the Crosstour, it makes 271 horsepower and 254 lb-ft of torque, and is bolted to a five-speed automatic transmission that is the sole option in that department, too. This engine uses Honda’s VCM (variable cylinder management) system, which allows the engine to run on three or four of its six cylinders under light-load conditions in order to save fuel. Its operation is largely seamless, and the engine features active engine mounts to minimize vibration caused by VCM’s operation (though if you pay very close attention, you can feel the system switch between three/four and six-cylinder modes).

2010 Honda Accord Crosstour EX-L AWD Navi. Click image to enlarge

With all-wheel drive, fuel consumption ratings are 12.3/8.0 L/100 km (city/highway); in cold weather and mostly city driving, I averaged 14.5 L/100 km, according to the Crosstour’s trip computer.

With an extra 210 kg (460 pounds) to haul around compared to an Accord EX-L sedan, the engine works hard to make the Crosstour move at full throttle. Handling is surprisingly agile, and corners are handled with far less body roll than expected from a crossover. The steering is light at lower speeds but firms up nicely once you’re up to highway pace. However, the brake pedal is a little spongy.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Honda add a four-cylinder option to the mix in coming years, in order to attract shoppers who like that the Toyota Venza is offered with a smaller engine. The Venza and Crosstour seem like obvious competitors, as “stylish” crossovers, but Honda’s pricing, which starts at $36,450 for the front-drive model, is a healthy bump up from the $30,650 Toyota asks for a V6, front-wheel drive Venza. For the extra dough, the Honda comes with a few standard comfort/convenience items that are extra in a Venza; in any event, the disparity in price between the two suggests that a less-expensive, lower-spec Crosstour could be in the works.

Despite its odd proportions, I can see this car appealing to drivers who like the BMW X6 or 5 Series GT or Acura’s ZDX, but can’t afford their premium price tags. That amounts to the Crosstour being a lifestyle vehicle for those whose lifestyles can’t support the payments for a luxury vehicle.

For all of its attention-grabbing presence, the Crosstour doesn’t accomplish much that many crossovers costing $10,000 less can’t manage. That doesn’t stop me from liking it, though, in spite of its looks. Like I said, we all have our guilty pleasures, and this car is one of mine.

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