just about every midsize sedan offers an
optional more powerful engine in the
2017 honda accord the base four-cylinder
makes hundred and eighty five horsepower
and the optional v6 makes 278 horsepower
now we gathered a four cylinder and a
six-cylinder record to test fuel economy
and acceleration to show the difference
spoiler alert the v6 is faster and the
forest owners more efficient but we
wanted a gauge by how much and tell you
if it's worth it to buy the v6 even with
more horsepower than the four-cylinder
the six-cylinder surprise us in fuel
economy numbers on a 115 mile route
which was a combination of city and
highway driving the six-cylinder got 26
miles per gallon compared with the four
cylinders 29.4 miles per gallon and they
both use various technologies to get
their mileage on the four-cylinder you
have a direct-injected four cylinder
with a continuously variable automatic
transmission and then on the
six-cylinder you have variable
displacement technology that shuts down
three cylinders so you're driving in a
three cylinder or six cylinder mode and
the transmission on the six-cylinder is
actually a traditional 6-speed automatic
according to fuel economy . gov the v6
accord is only going to cost you an
extra two hundred fifty dollars per year
in fuel prices now that's of course
accounting for fuel prices today if you
drive 15,000 miles per year and if you
get to combine ratings the best part of
the v6 though is that it runs on regular
gasoline
now that's a contrast to other optional
engines in competing vehicles that
require premium fuel for the best
performance and fuel economy and that's
not the case in the accord v6 with
nearly a hundred more horsepower than
the four-cylinder the v6 absolutely puts
a gap on the four-cylinder and
acceleration now we know corners don't
necessarily care about zero to 60 and
quarter mile times
but we put him on the track side-by-side
to show just how much of a difference
there it's in terms of numbers 0 to 60
for the six-cylinder is 6.9 seconds and
the four-cylinder 9.3 and a quarter mile
acceleration the v6 is 15 seconds
compared with 16.9 seconds to the
four-cylinder now that doesn't mean a
whole lot on its own but in terms of
acceleration two seconds is an eternity
more than an additional hundred
horsepower v6 6 speed automatic
transmission makes a big difference in
how the car accelerates compared with
the cbt in the four-cylinder on the v6
it has just snappy acceleration as soon
as you punch it the tires want to spin
and it rips off the line and it has
great acceleration all the way down the
track the four-cylinder on the other
hand is a fairly typical cbt where it's
tuned for fuel economy vs performance
now it is one of the better CVTs out
there but there's still a lot of droning
and delay when you first hit that
accelerator pedal when it comes to
transmission choice
the driver engagement level you
definitely want that good 6-speed
automatic versus the CVT the accord
trims were driving are the top trims on
each engine so the four-cylinder is an
Axl with navigation and Honda sensing
and the v6 is the Turing now beyond
acceleration these two cars drive very
differently the Turing has a unique
suspension bigger brakes bigger wider
tires and bigger sway bars that create a
very different handling experience it's
much more engaging to drive its type
it's responsive it drives almost like a
completely different car than the horse
owner the EXL four-cylinder just felt
more like an appliance that's something
that you
to drive like the v6 Turing so the big
question is it worth it
well on these models we're looking at
about a four thousand dollar price
difference between the two the EXL with
four cylinder is about thirty one and a
half thousand dollars and the v6 touring
about 35 and a half thousand a
responsible side says you know what
you're buying a midsize sedan it should
be affordable should be fuel-efficient
it should be practical
that's what makes the v6 a hard sell
despite it being so good
eighty percent of accord sedan sales are
four cylinders but the v6 is a very
special car especially on this touring
trim level so if you decide to splurge
for the v6 be rest assured you're going
to get a completely different experience
of the force owner