[Tatanko]

Sedans are clearly more functional. I have a coupe and must put my briefcase in the trunk every morning instead of the rear seat. As a general rule, getting stuff in and out of the rear seat is not easy.

I have an 8th gen. coupe same as you and I don't agree at all. Yes, having rear doors makes things easier, but it is in no way difficult to access the back seat of my coupe. There's a little release at the top of the seat near the headrest that lets me get to the back in like half a second. I can't see that being more work than having to open and close your trunk unless your briefcase is the size of a gun vault.

 

[Flyboy]

At least Honda is honest and builds both the Accord and Civic coupes with two doors. MB is billing their CLA as a four door coupe. Only the Germans could come up with that oxymoron. By all the definitions I could find in dictionaries online a coupe is defined as a two door sporty car.

 

[Earl Sweatshirt]

At least Honda is honest and builds both the Accord and Civic coupes with two doors. MB is billing their CLA as a four door coupe. Only the Germans could come up with that oxymoron. By all the definitions I could find in dictionaries online a coupe is defined as a two door sporty car.

As well as the VW CC (Comfort Coupe). Those damn Germans...

 

[Flyboy]

As well as the VW CC (Comfort Coupe). Those damn Germans...

Ah, so that's what the CC stands for. Four doors it's a sedan....period. :thmsup:

 

[Keyboard]

At least Honda is honest and builds both the Accord and Civic coupes with two doors. MB is billing their CLA as a four door coupe. Only the Germans could come up with that oxymoron. By all the definitions I could find in dictionaries online a coupe is defined as a two door sporty car.

Ah, so that's what the CC stands for. Four doors it's a sedan....period. :thmsup:

Coupe -- A closed roof car with less than 33 cubic feet of rear interior volume.
Sedan -- A closed roof car with more than 33 cubic feet of rear interior volume.

Therefore, the number of doors do not define a coupe or sedan, and hence there are 4 door coupes and 2 door sedans.

Here is the definition of a coupe from this site:

"Technically, a coupe is defined as a fixed-top car with less than 33 cubic feet of rear interior volume. Typically a car with less than 33 cubic feet of rear interior volume has only two doors, hence the common practice of associating two doors with the term “coupe.” However, there are plenty of vehicles out there which have only two doors but more than 33 cubic feet in the rear. These cars, while their manufacturers may call them coupes, are technically two-door sedans. A few examples of two-door sedans are the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, Mercedes CL-Class, Chevy Monte Carlo, and surprisingly, the Mazda RX-8 (although that’s a bit of a different story.)"

The site further explains the technical definition of a sedan.

 

[Kamdog]

Then there is the coupe vs. coupé argument. aranoid:

 

[Flyboy]

Coupe -- A closed roof car with less than 33 cubic feet of rear interior volume.
Sedan -- A closed roof car with more than 33 cubic feet of rear interior volume.

Therefore, the number of doors do not define a coupe or sedan, and hence there are 4 door coupes and 2 door sedans.

Here is the definition of a coupe from this site:

"Technically, a coupe is defined as a fixed-top car with less than 33 cubic feet of rear interior volume. Typically a car with less than 33 cubic feet of rear interior volume has only two doors, hence the common practice of associating two doors with the term “coupe.” However, there are plenty of vehicles out there which have only two doors but more than 33 cubic feet in the rear. These cars, while their manufacturers may call them coupes, are technically two-door sedans. A few examples of two-door sedans are the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, Mercedes CL-Class, Chevy Monte Carlo, and surprisingly, the Mazda RX-8 (although that’s a bit of a different story.)"

The site further explains the technical definition of a sedan.

They are entitled to their opinion, but the dictionary does't differentiate the interior rear volume but does define it as having two doors. As far as most people are concerned and if asked they would say a coupe is a two door car.

 

[Honda2014]

I've always really liked the looks of the Accord Coupes since the 7th gen. However, I'm really old-fashioned and am a function over form kinda guy, so it's all about being practical for me. So since sedan > coupe in everyday practicality, it's all sedan for me. :thmsup:

 

[okiescot]

I have an 8th gen. coupe same as you and I don't agree at all. Yes, having rear doors makes things easier, but it is in no way difficult to access the back seat of my coupe. There's a little release at the top of the seat near the headrest that lets me get to the back in like half a second. I can't see that being more work than having to open and close your trunk unless your briefcase is the size of a gun vault.

I have been dealing with a coupe for the past 14 years and it is more difficult for me to access the rear seat than it is in my EX. You have to pull the release on the back of the seat then you have to move the seat belt out of the way. That gives you access, but you have to do a contortion act to put anything back there.

When you are through you have to put the seat back up again, adjust the seat to fit you and then retrieve the seatbelt. For an old man that is quite a few extra steps to take just to look cool.

 

[Earl Sweatshirt]

Coupe -- A closed roof car with less than 33 cubic feet of rear interior volume.
Sedan -- A closed roof car with more than 33 cubic feet of rear interior volume.

Therefore, the number of doors do not define a coupe or sedan, and hence there are 4 door coupes and 2 door sedans.

Here is the definition of a coupe from this site:

"Technically, a coupe is defined as a fixed-top car with less than 33 cubic feet of rear interior volume. Typically a car with less than 33 cubic feet of rear interior volume has only two doors, hence the common practice of associating two doors with the term “coupe.” However, there are plenty of vehicles out there which have only two doors but more than 33 cubic feet in the rear. These cars, while their manufacturers may call them coupes, are technically two-door sedans. A few examples of two-door sedans are the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, Mercedes CL-Class, Chevy Monte Carlo, and surprisingly, the Mazda RX-8 (although that’s a bit of a different story.)"

The site further explains the technical definition of a sedan.

I'm pretty sure I never want to go have a beer with you.

 

[dkm16]

If you really can't come to a conclusion perhaps you should wait until the 2015 4-door "coupe" comes out.

 

[IamMurphy]

For me I was on the fence. I love the front end of the coupe, hate the rear. My deciding factor was insurance. Here in Ontario if you are male and under 25 you get raped. I'm 19 and pay 250$ a month on my sport. I had a 97 prelude and paid 320 for basic liability and my toy 02 grand prize gtp was 280.

My only complaint with the sedan is those pos fog lights. When will someone figure something else out.

 

[69ssrscam]

I love the front end of the coupe, hate the rear.

+1

Wouldn't have minded a coupe but couldn't get past that back end. Totally ruled out the coupe for the way it looks from behind. See them on the road and have no regrets.

 

[Tatanko]

I have been dealing with a coupe for the past 14 years and it is more difficult for me to access the rear seat than it is in my EX. You have to pull the release on the back of the seat then you have to move the seat belt out of the way. That gives you access, but you have to do a contortion act to put anything back there.

When you are through you have to put the seat back up again, adjust the seat to fit you and then retrieve the seatbelt. For an old man that is quite a few extra steps to take just to look cool.

I'm not sure we're talking about the same car. In my '10 Coupe on the driver's side there is a little latch at the top of the seat, as I described in my last post, and it leans the seat the entire way forward without moving it backward/forward on it's tracks. The seatbelt stays against the B-pillar, I'm not sure how it would be in your way unless you buckle up your seatbelt when you're not sitting in the seat. There's not really anything I would put in the back seat that couldn't be placed there through the massive opening created by leaning the seat forward. The passenger side seat behaves differently.

This obviously isn't ideal for rear seat passengers, but in the very rare event I'm actually carrying more than one passenger, I have them get in through the passenger's side where the seat more easily slides forward. I would agree that if you regularly have rear seat passengers that the sedan is far more ideal, but that's a decision you make when you buy the car. It doesn't really affect your ability to use the back seat for "stuff" though, especially not something as small as a briefcase.

 

[Baldeagle]

The definition of a coupe is one of those questions that if you ask five people for their definition you’ll get five different answers.

Here is Hemmings Classic Car Guide definition:

http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2007/03/01/hmn_feature6.html

Here is the Hemmings Classic Car Guide definition of a coupe:

• Coupe: Any two-door other than a Two-Door Sedan, smaller than a related four-door in the same model line. If there is no sedan in that model's lineup, the two-door is a coupe and cannot be a Two-Door Sedan. All two-door two-seaters with a solid roof are coupes. Many manufacturers have referred to qualifying convertibles and retractable-roof cars as Convertible Coupes when the tops were up.
• Hatchback Coupe: Any coupe with a luggage compartment contiguous with the passenger compartment and accessed via a large rear liftgate.
• Sports Coupe: Any coupe having no B-pillar, often a fastback; also called Hardtop Coupe, Two-Door Hardtop, Berlinetta, Berlinette.
• Business Coupe: A two-door with a single row of seating and space between the seatback and the end of the passenger compartment, as for a salesman's sample case.
• Opera Coupe: A two-door with a single row of permanent seating and folding occasional or jump seats as the second row.
• Club Coupe: A two-door with two rows of seating and a trunk, smaller than a sedan in the same lineup for comparison, generally having a fixed B-pillar, and a rear seat farther forward than in a comparable sedan. Also called Close-Coupled Coupe.
• Sedanet (Sedanette): A fastback Club Coupe; also called Aero Coupe, may or may not be a Hatchback Coupe. Originally a sedan, which resembled a Coupe.
• Two Door Sedan: A two-door with two rows of seating, having the same or nearly the same room and seating configuration as a sedan in the same lineup, usually with a profile identical to a sedan. Also called Business Sedan (if lacking rear seat), Brougham (also applied to four-doors), Brougham Coupe, Coach, Club Sedan, Victoria (also applied to smaller coupes).

However, Keyboard is absolutely right too. The definition he presented came directly from the Society of American Engineers (SAE). While defining a coupe based on its interior volume seems arbitrary, it is recognized by almost everyone knowledgeable in the car industry. It always seemed odd to me that America made this definition but the foreign manufactures actually use it. Based on the SAE definition, Mercedes calls their 4-door CLA a coupe and VW calls their 4-door CC a “Comfort Coupe.” Even though Mazda marketed their RX-8 as a four door car, it was still called a coupe.

 

[LSA]

Complete opposite for me. Sedan rear end is ugly compared to the coupe. I wouldn't have even considered Honda if it weren't for the 6-6 coupe.

 

[Flyboy]

The definition of a coupe is one of those questions that if you ask five people for their definition you’ll get five different answers.

Here is Hemmings Classic Car Guide definition:

http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2007/03/01/hmn_feature6.html

Here is the Hemmings Classic Car Guide definition of a coupe:

• Coupe: Any two-door other than a Two-Door Sedan, smaller than a related four-door in the same model line. If there is no sedan in that model's lineup, the two-door is a coupe and cannot be a Two-Door Sedan. All two-door two-seaters with a solid roof are coupes. Many manufacturers have referred to qualifying convertibles and retractable-roof cars as Convertible Coupes when the tops were up.
• Hatchback Coupe: Any coupe with a luggage compartment contiguous with the passenger compartment and accessed via a large rear liftgate.
• Sports Coupe: Any coupe having no B-pillar, often a fastback; also called Hardtop Coupe, Two-Door Hardtop, Berlinetta, Berlinette.
• Business Coupe: A two-door with a single row of seating and space between the seatback and the end of the passenger compartment, as for a salesman's sample case.
• Opera Coupe: A two-door with a single row of permanent seating and folding occasional or jump seats as the second row.
• Club Coupe: A two-door with two rows of seating and a trunk, smaller than a sedan in the same lineup for comparison, generally having a fixed B-pillar, and a rear seat farther forward than in a comparable sedan. Also called Close-Coupled Coupe.
• Sedanet (Sedanette): A fastback Club Coupe; also called Aero Coupe, may or may not be a Hatchback Coupe. Originally a sedan, which resembled a Coupe.
• Two Door Sedan: A two-door with two rows of seating, having the same or nearly the same room and seating configuration as a sedan in the same lineup, usually with a profile identical to a sedan. Also called Business Sedan (if lacking rear seat), Brougham (also applied to four-doors), Brougham Coupe, Coach, Club Sedan, Victoria (also applied to smaller coupes).

However, Keyboard is absolutely right too. The definition he presented came directly from the Society of American Engineers (SAE). While defining a coupe based on its interior volume seems arbitrary, it is recognized by almost everyone knowledgeable in the car industry. It always seemed odd to me that America made this definition but the foreign manufactures actually use it. Based on the SAE definition, Mercedes calls their 4-door CLA a coupe and VW calls their 4-door CC a “Comfort Coupe.” Even though Mazda marketed their RX-8 as a four door car, it was still called a coupe.

Thanks for all the reasesrch. Regardless of what SAE says, any 12 year old kid can pick out a coupe based on how many doors it has.

Back in the 1950s when I was a kid the big three made two door sedans and wagons that had the B pillar and cars like my dad's 1955 Buick Century two door hard top that didn't have the B pillar. In those days they made four door hard top cars without the B pillar. Although they were called hard top convertible the two door versions were called coupes.

 

[14A]

It is my belief that every outboard seat in my car should have its own door. If I want a 2 door car, it would be a 2 seater.

Besides, the front end of the sedan is much nicer and more agressive looking than the coupe's.

 

[Graycar]

Besides, the front end of the sedan is much nicer and more agressive looking than the coupe's.

I have an opposite opinion.....to each his own.

 

[Alex185]

I don't understand what the issue with 4-door being called coupes...they all have the same concept of their rear window being slanted into the trunk like on all coupes, and they all look sexy.