2010 Honda Accord Crosstour - Page 1 Review

See more photos

Shopping for a new Honda Accord Crosstour?

SEE LOCAL CLASSIFIEDS

TheCarConnection.com has driven the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour to bring you this hands-on review that covers styling, performance, safety, utility and features from on-the-road observations. TheCarConnection.com's editors also researched reviews from other sources to give you a comprehensive range of opinions from around the Web-and to help you decide which ones to trust.

High Gear Media drove a manufacturer-provided Accord Crosstour to produce this hands-on road test.

Think "Honda Accord" and you'll likely picture a four-door sedan or two-door coupe. Now a new variation, the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour, is meant to bridge the gap between nimble, fuel-efficient sedans and larger, more capacious crossovers. We might call it a large five-door hatchback, except Honda shrinks from the H-word. They call it an "active grand tourer" with "premium versatility", and it's quite similar to the Toyota Venza. Regardless of how it should be classified, the Crosstour takes all the typical Honda virtues-good handling, pleasant driving, clever features, and high gas mileage for the class-and expands them into the crowded crossover market under the legendary Accord name. Against hundreds of thousands of Accord sedans, it'll always be a niche model, but it gives current Accord owners a more flexible and capable vehicle to move up to. The model lineup is simple, the pricing is competitive, and it should do well-if you don't mind the way it looks.

The "interesting and challenging feedback" to early photos of the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour caught Honda off guard. That's a polite way of saying the Crosstour's shape is not to everyone's liking, and its hump-backed rear looks downright awkward from many angles. The front is recognizably Honda, with swept-back lights and fenders around a deeper, more garishly chromed grille. Behind the rear doors, the need to provide most of the cargo space of a crossover clashes with the stylists' desire to avoid the negative image of a large, boxy vehicle. But the Honda Accord Crosstour looks a bit better on the street than in photos; the tail is less bulbous viewed from an adult's eye level. Inside, a familiar Honda Accord dashboard and instrument cluster is updated only by the addition of blue lighting and new wood trim. A large speedometer and tachometer are flanked by smaller fuel and temperature gauges, with a display screen at the top of the center stack. Accord sedan drivers will feel instantly at home.