The April 2009 Car and Driver compared three family sedans in a head to head contest. They were the Honda Accord EX-L, the Ford Fusion SE (2010 model) and the Mazda 6 i Touring.
It came down to a split decision, but the Accord won the comparison. According to the article the highs on the Accord included: Sports-sedan reflexes, plenty of power, potent engine sounds, smooth ride, and lots of room. On the other hand, the lows included: Forgettable styling, center-stack button clutter, and where's the six-speed gearbox?
Even though it was close, it's like sports and elections. Someone or something won, and the others lost. That's the way it will go down in the history books. Now I would like to hear what the Ford and Mazda people are saying in their back rooms. I'm sure that they are analyzing the results very closely, and I would not doubt that they will be making some changes to their cars. Why? Because winning a contest like this is almost priceless from an advertising standpoint. If I was in their shoes I sure would be making some changes so that next year, my car would win.
Of course, we must also assume that the engineers and advertising people at Honda are also reading the results with a fine tooth comb. What do they have to do to insure that they win next year?
It will be interesting to see what all three companies come up with. One thing might be the slow movement to look alike and act alike, and cost alike, etc. This is one of the reasons I like the older classics. They were not designed to win contests like this, but rather reflect a particular design philosophy. Tomorrow more on the Accord in this contest.
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