Basic 2015 Accord Coupe LX-S surprisingly fun to drive

How much Honda Accord can one buy for under $25,000 ? Torque News takes a closer look at the bare-bones 2015 Accord Coupe LX-S.

What started this review was our quest for an in stock 2015 Honda Si.. Wishing to drive the latest manifestation of Honda’s sport- Civic, we were disappointed to rediscover that finding a new Si or even a late model Si is akin to finding a $100,000 laying on a busy city sidewalk in the midst of a great recession; it doesn’t happen often.

Nonetheless we wanted to experience Honda’s close ratio 6 speed transmission first hand, and stumbled across a 2015 Accord Coupe LX-S. Featuring a 2.4 Liter “Earthdreams” 16 valve DOHC direct injected 4 cylinder gasoline engine married to Honda’s mechanically bulletproof close ratio 6 speed manual transmission; thanks to Paul of Kendall Honda, Acura the ride was on. Was this bare-bones Accord Coupe fun to drive?

How much Accord can one buy for under $25,000? Our earlier drive and review with Honda Accord has been limited to 2014 and 15 Accord Hybrid, Hybrid Touring, Accord V6 Touring and Accord EX-L- 4 and 6 cylinder gasoline trim variants. All previously reviewed Accords driven featured premium interiors, power adjustable drivers seat a one touch power sunroof and state of the art HondaLink ™ personal connectivity.

In an Accord approaching $33,000, we expect premium sedan or coupe segment standard features and a handful of exceptional class-setting accessories, how about at the bottom end of the Accord lineup?

A solid lease or purchase value: 2015 Accord Coupe LX-S is bare-bones, but does sport a surprising list of standard features most often reserved for premium segment cars and light trucks. You will find Honda Accord pricing and specifications here.

Interior: You won’t find power seats in Accord Coupe LX-S. Curiously enough Honda has retained this manufacturing cost reducing measure while automating the windows, mirrors and featuring dual climate control in this base Accord offering. Once we moved past the mechanical pump and slide driver’s seat, we took notice of a rather comfortable medium hip-bolstered premium ballistic grade cloth seat; looks good, feels good.

The balance of the driving compartment is Accord quality, featuring just enough bling and soft to hard textured surface interface to add interest to an expansive driving environment.

Looking to the uncluttered console and center dash display we discover a functional , eye catching designed dash housing dual climate control, i-MID 8 inch high resolution dash monitor, Bluetooth cellphone connectability with text function, a 160 Watt am-fm, 6 speaker stereo with CD deck and Pandora option. Also standard on LX-S coupe are one touch power windows, color matched side mirrors, and illuminated smart-wheel controls.

How’s the drive? Most driver’s wouldn't anticipate acceptable performance from the Civic based 2.4 liter when applied to the larger Accord Coupe. After all this base model Accord Coupe is not related to the Honda Type R. However, when coupled to Honda’s close ratio 6 speed manual and quieted down(quite a bit) by Honda’s sound wave (ANC)active noise cancellation, we were more than a bit surprised by the overall driving experience found behind the wheel of Accord Coupe LX-S..

For 2015 we find the new ‘“EarthDreams” 2.4 L 16 valve DOHC (D.I.) direct injected 4 cylinder gasoline engine producing exceptional(181 ft-lb)torque throughout the midrange while averaging a respectable 24 City/ 34 Highway(manual transmission.) We found the engine to be responsive, shift pattern easy and accommodating with clutch pressure bordering on non existent. The “G” shift pattern in Accord is a joy to operate.

Somewhere along the line Honda engineering took the “stiff” out of Accords ride. We discovered a much improved drive-ride experience with improved rough road surface pothole absorption and limited to no body roll in lane changing and road surface transition. When combining the MSRP and overall attributes of Accord LX-S we find it to be an exceptional value wrapped in a quallity midsize coupe or sedan.

Positives: Price, Honda quality, top of the mark fit and finish. Responsive fuel efficient 4 cylinder, exceptional throughout the rpm range torque, smooth shifting and forgiving manual transmission. Exceptional standard features.

Negatives: Manually adjusted seats, sub standard stereo sound system, no lane watch, no spare tire kit.