[mrcultureshock]

Hello,

I'm considering buying the Accord Hybrid and I was wondering what you guys think of Honda's ACC? Is it better than what that other car makers offer?

I've decided that I'll be buying either the Accord Hybrid Touring or the Camry Hybrid XLE. For those of you who own an HAH, why did you get it over the TCH?

Many thanks in advance!

Nicolas

 

[Darmaniac]

dunno what are HAH or TCH or ACC ???
but the honda hybrid is surely better then toyota's.
My boss as a Camry Hybrid that he loan.
He got himself in a poor deal.
But oh well. not my car !

 

[mrcultureshock]

Sorry I should've explained what those terms mean:

ACC: Adaptive Cruise Control

HAH: Honda Accord Hybrid

TCH: Toyota Camry Hybrid

 

[accordinator]

I use the ACC quite a bit, and find it useful on most highway drives. It works pretty much exactly as you'd expect. If you have the car in ECO mode, it is somewhat lazy to accelerate back up to set speed if the car you're following slows and then speeds up again. I find it acceptable when not in ECO mode. I tend to keep the following distance at the closest of the 4 options, and that still provides plenty of space, likely more than many would leave if they weren't using the automated system.

FWIW, my wife doesn't use it at all; just isn't a fan of cruise control in general. If you don't use cruise, trusting ACC for any extent isn't likely going to happen either.

I only started looking at the HAH after reading about the drivetrain, was never interested in the Camry's prius-type tech. A test-drive hooked me. All the gadgets of a modern near-lux car, plenty of space, accelerates just fine with a top speed well higher than will ever be seen, for not a whole lot of money. And you can touch 50 mpg if careful, and can see 40+ mpg all day even without being careful. It also looks pretty good to my eyes, while the Camry just doesn't, even with the refresh.

 

[ltxi]

For a "driver", ACC sucks in any form. Imo, of course

 

[Lashlee]

Though I don't have a Touring with ACC, I love my HAH. I had a down payment on a Prius and test drove the Hybrid and never went back to the Toyota dealership. My best tank is 50.4 mpg (over the last 31k miles) and like accordinator stated high 40's happen without thinking about it. I like the look of the Avalon Hybrid, but it was a little more than I wanted to spend, and didn't look at the Camry Hybrid once I got in the HAH. Good luck with your search, and enjoy your new ride!

 

[isaccth1]

Hello,

I'm considering buying the Accord Hybrid and I was wondering what you guys think of Honda's ACC? Is it better than what that other car makers offer?

I've decided that I'll be buying either the Accord Hybrid Touring or the Camry Hybrid XLE. For those of you who own an HAH, why did you get it over the TCH?

Many thanks in advance!

Nicolas

Ah man, this makes me want to go out and test drive the Accord Hybrid.

If you're into puny driver's seats, go for the Sham, I mean Camry.

I've rented Camry Hybrid 2015 SE a couple times and i am NOT impressed with the drive: The steering is overboosted sometimes, it's video game light feedback steering in parking lot, steering is numb, gas engine comes on a bit jerky at times.

I know the conventional Accord EX-L from 300 miles in rental, and it rips the Camry Hybrid a new one by how niice Accord drives.

But you can get well over 40 MPGs in Camry Hybrid if that's so important.

 

[accordinator]

For a "driver", ACC sucks in any form. Imo, of course

Because true drivers are all about manually maintaining proper speeds in highway traffic in a mid-priced family sedan. It's what we all aspire to.

It's an added feature for those who like to use cruise control, no more, no less. I find value in it, and sometimes miss it on our other vehicles that don't have it yet. It doesn't make a car more exciting, but it makes longer highway stints or humdrum commutes just a bit better. YMMV.

 

[rkwagner44]

I use the ACC a lot, but I think it needs a few tweaks to improve it's reaction time. It will keep slowing down for several seconds after the car in front of you has made its turn and is out of your path. It's also too slow in starting to accelerate after a car in front of you has left your lane. Although once in awhile it gets it right. It is very good at not slowing down if a car moves into your lane and is going slightly faster than you. So a mixed bag IMO.

 

[accordinator]

That's fair; it is programmed very conservatively. If it is behaving a little slower than I'd like, I do sometimes add throttle to speed it back up faster. I do like that doing so doesn't disable the ACC from being in effect; as soon as you lift throttle it continues to maintain speed just as before. The same system is programmed more aggressively in the Acura, and it can sometimes feel a little jumpier/jerkier when accelerating back up to speed to match the car in front, so it's a bit of a trade-off.

If I had a wishlist on it, it would be helpful if there were two settings to control behavior. One, the following distance (that already exists). Two, how strict should the system be in matching the speed of the car in front. At the extreme, it would keep the distance exactly, and the instant the front car speeds up or slows down by 1 mph, the ACC would command the same immediately. At the other extreme, it would allow for much more leeway in smoothing those throttle and brake inputs; allowing the car to close up more on the one on front to brake smoothly, and more smoothly accelerating back up to speed even if the car in front is accelerating very quickly.

The Honda in ECO mode is way toward the latter. Out of ECO mode it's a bit more aggressive, but still can be somewhat slow to respond at times. The Acura is a few steps further on that scale, but at times makes for less than a smooth ride in some traffic conditions.

 

[f1snob]

For a "driver", ACC sucks in any form. Imo, of course

I don't really know what this is supposed to mean. I am a driver and love the ACC. I use it all the time.

It does have some quirks. As others have said it's sometimes slow with the ECO on. I turn the ECO off when I see hills coming up or in heavy traffic. It's is sometimes very aggressive on the brakes for no apparent reason. It also occasionally follows a car off the off-ramp and hits the brakes hard when that car slows even though there is no one in front.

Overall I like it and like the fact it has a digital speed indicator.

 

[ElectricDuck]

I picked up a HAH after planning on getting an Accord Sport. The leather became a necessity, and I wasn't familiar with the after market options for the sport...so I test drove a HAH and fell for the tech and drivability with great MPG.

The ACC wasn't appealing to me because of the driving I do. If I had longer freeway drives (or even less congested freeway drives that had less lane hopping idiots) I would have considered the Touring for the LED's and ACC, but the sensor handing that low does worry me. My TSX lost both fog lights to cracked lenses and both our TSX and our Odyssey lost an A/C radiator to rocks (after which, any car I have gets at least a plastic mesh over opening in the lower front fascia).

I find the FCW mildly annoying most of the time, but I appreciate the usefulness of the system and they fact that if it works "right" once, it's saved my butt. It's, like Honda, very conservative and doesn't consider some factors that would prevent some of the warnings...but that's because the cost of some of those changes would be prohibitive. For a mainstream sedan, it's a quite good system.

 

[mixermike]

I used to own a 2012 Camry XLE Hybrid. Nice car but I did not like the way it seemed to wander a lot at freeway speeds. Like most other hybrids, the brakes are very slow. Especially if you need to make an emergency stop. Just seemed to me like I was having way too many emergencies in the Camry.
I have a 2014 Accord plug in now. Much better car. Quieter. Smoother. And the brakes really feel like normal brakes should. Haven't had a single emergency stop in 15,000 miles.
Get the Accord.
The ACC is nice sometimes, but it is not a set it and forget it solution to compensate for other drivers. It's slow to react. I use the throttle with the ACC on all the time in city freeway traffic. I liken it's ability to react (LANGUAGE REMOVED)

 

[mrcultureshock]

I test drove a Accord Hybrid and a Camry Hybrid today. Here are some my of thoughts:

I really liked Honda's insrument panel because it looks modern and informative (though the speedometer was slightly too big and it was blocked by the steering wheel). The interior is nice and plush, as a new car should be. I prefer the exterior of the Honda as it looks more serious. The engine noise while accelerating (even slightly) is very noticeable. It sounds like I'm straining the car but in fact I was driving about 35mph. This was very strange compared to my old Sentra and it was a bit unsettling. As a result, the interior is not as quiet compared to the Camry. The dual-screen infotainment system was quite confusing to use and I liked the simplicity and straightforwardness of the one in the Toyota.

Overall, I liked aspects of both cars. A combination of both would be perfect for me but unfortunately I live in the real world. It's gonna be a hard choice.

Best,

Nicolas

 

[ElectricDuck]

The steering wheel can be adjusted, and the big speedo is nice for quick looks. It also allows usable space in the middle that Honda lets you choose several option for.

The CVT does make for a loud engine sometimes, and until you get used to it is kind of jarring. That feeling lasted about a day, after that, it's normal. The Honda interior is still pretty quiet.

The dual screen system takes use to become familiar, but after it does it doesn't cause as much of a hassle...but it still isn't very friendly, I'll agree.

The Camry is softer and quieter, the Honda is a little more enjoyable to drive, my $0.02.

 

[kwicslvr]

I ended up with the HAH over the camry hybrid mainly on looks and advertised mpg. My best drive yet in the HAH mpg wise is 51.3 mpg between fillups. I drove from south of Houston to Austin, Tx. Austin to New Braunsfuls, Tx and back to Austin. And then back home south of Houston. 540 miles total. Cruise set at 60 mph the whole way. Filled up at start and right at the end of the trip. I still had 260 miles on the range. The MPG was calculated with a calculator and not what the info screen told me. Love the HAH.

 

[Millarduck]

I use the ACC when there is open highway. If a car comes into your lane or cuts you off while it's on, the transmissions drops gears. Like 6th into 2nd instantly, it does not use the brake. Why this is scary is because people behind you don't know you slowed because the brake lights are not activated in the sudden deceleration. So having it on in moderate traffic, cruising in the outside lane can be troublesome. When I see some one come over into my lane, with plenty of distance, the ACC overreacts to the object in the radar field, that may actually be going the same or greater speed. You have to tap the brake to prevent it from dropping you from 65 to 35. Because the guy behind you texting may not see that you slowed without the brakes coming on.

 

[accordinator]

Interesting. I get the sense that the brake light comes on too frequently in the Hybrid implementation of it. If the traffic in front is backing off speed, and the Accord then starts to back off only a little speed, it seems that traffic behind even a ways back sees the flash of brake lights from a distance, and sometimes starts to move around even sooner than they'd be able to visually detect my own speed change. There are no gears to drop, so it is just applying some amount of brake regen, which I am assuming triggers that brake light as soon as it engages even slightly. Without the ACC on, one would just take their foot off the gas and coast for these small downward speed adjustments, without triggering a brake light.

 

[Gfn8r]

That's fair; it is programmed very conservatively. If it is behaving a little slower than I'd like, I do sometimes add throttle to speed it back up faster. I do like that doing so doesn't disable the ACC from being in effect; as soon as you lift throttle it continues to maintain speed just as before. The same system is programmed more aggressively in the Acura, and it can sometimes feel a little jumpier/jerkier when accelerating back up to speed to match the car in front, so it's a bit of a trade-off.

If I had a wishlist on it, it would be helpful if there were two settings to control behavior. One, the following distance (that already exists). Two, how strict should the system be in matching the speed of the car in front. At the extreme, it would keep the distance exactly, and the instant the front car speeds up or slows down by 1 mph, the ACC would command the same immediately. At the other extreme, it would allow for much more leeway in smoothing those throttle and brake inputs; allowing the car to close up more on the one on front to brake smoothly, and more smoothly accelerating back up to speed even if the car in front is accelerating very quickly.

The Honda in ECO mode is way toward the latter. Out of ECO mode it's a bit more aggressive, but still can be somewhat slow to respond at times. The Acura is a few steps further on that scale, but at times makes for less than a smooth ride in some traffic conditions.

Nice wishlist--I use the same technique to get the speed up a bit quicker. I guess one point I'd add is to add one more closer option for following distance, or move the existing settings closer together.

As I've stated in this forum, with ACC, you have to be aware of what's behind you--not that the driver behind you wouldn't be at fault, but.... Rather, I'm always ready to give just enough throttle to override a hard brake event and slow the car more gradually.

It'll be interesting to see if ACC is rolled-out further down the Accord lineup (with the Acura low-speed-follow and more aggressive calibration on the Touring, perhaps). One thing I know--I'll never have another car without this feature!