2010 Honda Accord Crosstour
As you no doubt have noticed, we live in an increasingly specialized society. It used to be you just ordered a regular cup of coffee. Now, you have your espressos, vanilla lattes and mochas from which to choose. In the automotive world, you have the Honda Accord and now the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour. Neatly splitting the difference between a family sedan and a crossover sport utility vehicle (SUV), this fastback Honda is billed as a grand touring vehicle geared toward active “empty nesters.”
You know the type: The kids are on their own, and so are their parents. Perhaps, Mom and Pop have taken up golf, tennis or oil painting and are looking for some practicality and luxury along with distinctive styling that makes it plain they aren’t shuttling kids around anymore.
It doesn’t get much more distinctive. There is no direct competition for the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour, which is offered only in up-level EX and EX-L trims with prices ranging from $37,648 for a 2WD EX to $46,458 for a 4WD EX-L with navigation.
The cordial Crosstour (think Accord sedan plus some major cargo capacity minus the road noise) backed up our ultraniche impression by having a sportier drive than a Toyota Venza while avoiding the crossover SUV look and higher seating position of a Nissan Murano.
One might argue the Infiniti EX35 could be considered a rival to the Crosstour, but the EX35 doesn’t have as rakish a roof-line or the passenger and cargo space of the larger Honda. So, unless for some odd reason you would cross-shop the Crosstour against the only other stylistically similar vehicle, the doubly expensive BMW X6, this Accord is definitely a unique cup of joe. Whether auto buyers embrace this decidedly nonmainstream blend remains to be seen.
Proven performance
The 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour is moved by the same 3.5-liter V6 found in the Accord sedan; it sends its 271 horsepower and 254 foot-pounds of torque through a five-speed automatic transmission. That is the sole engine available, though buyers do have a choice of front- or all-wheel drive.
During our test drive around the San Juan metro area, the V6 did a decent job of moving two tons worth of Crosstour EX-L 4WD. As expected with this engine in the Accord sedan, power delivery is rather soft out of the gate (peak torque is at a relatively high 5,000 rpm), but builds quickly to a meatier midrange. As a result, the Crosstour may not snap your head back when pulling away from stoplights, but its passing and merging power is respectably strong.
The five-speed’s gear changes were virtually seamless, even under full throttle. The transmission was sometimes slow to downshift unless prodded with a firm boot, likely a result of fuel economy-minded programming. To its credit, it did a fine job of holding gears on grades and through turns, eliminating the annoying hunting between gears exhibited by some other transmissions.
Should you want to shift for yourself (via the console-mounted shift lever), you will be happy to know the gearbox features an automatic downshift rev-matching feature, the first in a Honda-brand vehicle.
As with the Accord sedan, the V6 comes with cylinder-deactivation technology that will allow the engine to run on as few as three cylinders under light load conditions. The result is Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fuel economy estimates of 18 miles per gallon (mpg) city, 27 mpg highway and 21 mpg combined for the front-drive version. The four-wheel-drive (4WD) version comes in at about one less mpg. Fitted with upsized brakes compared to those of a regular Accord sedan, the Crosstour is rated 60 miles per hour to zero in 131 feet on the track, a decent if not impressive stopping distance for a vehicle of its size. In normal driving, the brakes feel strong and provide a progressive pedal feel.
Given its role as a grand touring vehicle, the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour’s suspension strikes an agreeable balance between a compliant ride and composed handling. Not surprisingly, it struck us as a bigger Accord sedan in terms of its steering feel (nicely weighted with some road feel) and lack of sloppy body motions when pressed through the curves.
Comfy interior
With the tilt-telescopic steering wheel and multiadjustable power seat, getting comfortable behind the wheel was easy. Accords have long had an unenviable reputation for allowing a bit too much road noise to make its way inside. Thankfully, that isn’t the case with the Crosstour as its quieter cabin is meant to more closely match the vehicle’s luxury grand touring-crossover mission.
Despite the teardrop roof-line, the backseat provided acceptable headroom and legroom to accommodate a six-footer. The seat itself was generously padded, well-shaped and up high enough to provide proper leg support.
Functional controls
With the dash essentially lifted from the Accord, the Crosstour’s controls are mostly intuitive and precise in action. Unfortunately, this means the Crosstour has the same center stack that’s overly cluttered with similar-looking buttons. At first glance, the layout is intimidating, but if our experience is any indicator, a day or two in the car is all you will need to get used to them.
Though the visibility toward the front and sides is acceptable, backing and parking a vehicle like this, with its fastback roof-line and high tail, can be a challenge. To help out, Honda has fitted a glass window below the liftgate (just like an old CR-X or the Insight), while on the EX-L with navigation you get a backup camera with guidance lines. The latter is a godsend, allowing you to easily place the vehicle between parking lines and back up to other parallel parked cars without worry about touching bumpers.
With the rear seats up, the Crosstour provides 25.7 cubic feet of cargo space, nearly twice the sedan’s trunk capacity. Flop them down via handy release levers mounted in the cargo bay and you will have 51.3 cubes at your disposal. Underneath the cargo floor is a removable, 1.9-cubic-foot utility box, while the carpeted cargo mat can be flipped over to its easily cleaned plastic underside should you be transporting anything messy.
Design / fit and finish
This 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour’s design elements—an in-your-face grille, a concave character line that becomes convex as you move toward the rear, the fastback body style—may seem rather odd at first, especially from a conservative company like Honda. But in the steel, the styling grew on us. Remember the 2002 BMW 7 Series? It was roundly bashed by auto critics for its “Bangle butt,” yet it became the best-selling 7 Series.
If you are asking why Honda didn’t just bring out an Accord wagon, rather than this fastback hatchback, the corporate answer is that Honda wanted to offer something different and sportier than what is currently available. It seems that despite some attractively styled and sporty wagons out there, the buying public still unfairly equates the term “wagon” with those dorky mom-and-dad mobiles many of us grew up with.
