'98 Honda Accord V-6 LX - Road Test - Japanese Car

The spirit of the Acura Legend GS lives in the new Honda Accord V-6. It feels as if that sport-flavored, $42,000 edition from three seasons back has been reincarnated as the thoroughly re-engineered '98 Accord. With added width, more glass, and a generous helping of rear passenger room, this sixth-generation Accord seems almost as commodious as its legendary cousin.

Computer-positioned chassis reinforcements give the new Accord milled-from-an-aluminum-ingot solidity and also allows use of softer springs for improved ride quality. The latter, when combined with a totally new rear suspension and revised front geometry, produce a wonderful combination of plush freeway ride and taut, controlled cornering posture, much like what we enjoyed in the Legend GS. With power from a 200-horse U.S.-built 3.0-liter SOHC V-6, the preproduction Accord we tested ran 0-60 mph in 7.8 seconds, a full tick quicker than the last Accord V-6 we clocked and 0.3 second swifter to that speed than even the old 230-horse Legend GS. About the only thing the '98 Accord V-6 doesn't share is its ancestor's stratospheric pricetag: Amazingly, the '98 Accord V-6 will cost about $1500 less than a comparable '97 model.

Not long ago, auto industry soothsayers predicted a globe full of so-called "world cars," single models that could be sold in every country with much savings of development and manufacturing monies. Scratch that. The oracles forgot that people's individual needs and desires vary wildly. In order to meet those differing tastes, Honda will spin off at least three distinct versions from a single Accord platform: A wide, roomy sedan for North America and Asia, a narrow four-door for Europe and Japan, and an aggressively styled, U.S.-built coupe. Though all share a family resemblance, U.S. and Japanese Accords will be so different that there will no longer be a "mother plant" in Japan to produce U.S.-spec Accords should Honda's Marysville, Ohio, facility not meet demand.

There are significant distinctions between the four- and six-cylinder versions of the North American Accord, not the least of which is that the inline four points left, while the V-6 mounts in the engine bay pointing right, and their crankshafts spin in opposite directions. Also, the four-cylinder-powered Accord feels more sporty (at the expense of some ride comfort) while the six seems more sumptuous (at the expense of some responsiveness). This is partially because the thick rubber bushings that isolate the suspension-carrying front and rear subframes from the chassis on V-6 models are absent on four-bangers.