This doesn't look too shabby, but nowhere near as good as the concept, and those "bends" in the grille fins are.. "non-straight"
List of issues I have with the car:
No HIDs on any US H-badged cars (wtf!) -- sick of seeing yellow in '07
Redesigned steering wheel incompatible with my grip
Redesigned cupholders are a step down
Redesigned gauges are ugly, loss of electroluminescent effect
Strange look - better, but they did not get "it"
Cheap trunk - thought the "industrial" look was unique to my lowly DX; in either case, not acceptable in '07
No rear AC vents, unacceptable in '07 -- Honda, do you see a repeating pattern here?
Call me crazy, but I'd like a 6MT on the I4. I know, it'll never happen, or it'll happen the same day Honda gets HIDs (read: never).
Castration of armrest storage area, no more dual setup, smaller
If I were a family man, I would probably buy this car (actually, I'd go for the Camry, but same difference). However, I'm not a family man, I'm a young[ish], image-conscious man who got an Accord for a good mix between reliability (bulletproof with I4 5MT), practicality (so many great interior features, not the least of which is the huge armrest storage bin, which has now been castrated) and performance (my '03 weighs under 3000 lb., feels nimble, with a few upgrades handling is excellent). The new car doesn't do it for me. I can pretty much afford to buy any car I want, including V12 cars -- I drive an Accord by choice, not by need.
Oh well, the point is moot anyway since I'm not buying another gas car -- I'm waiting for the new diesels to show up, so if Honda doesn't get its act together and bring a diesel here soon, I guess my next car will be a German diesel of some sort, probably MB or VW. And thankfully, my 7th gen has a lot of life left in it so I can wait for a nice diesel to come along.
