September 2002 Motor Trend has tested a 2K3 Accord V6 auto(it only comes in auto). It has 240 hp and 212 tq. It tested 0-60 @ 6.57 secs. and the 1/4 mile at 14.98 @ 94.95.

Seems competitive to both the 2K2 Altima and the 2K2 Maxima in automagic form.

The 2K3 Accord Coupe is getting a 6-speed manual to go with that engine.

 

If indeed the new 2k3 Accord does prove to be as fast as the magazines are saying it's going to be then both the Altima and Maxima are in some serious trouble. We all know the kind of backing Honda has from the aftermarket companies. Give this car a year or two on the market and it'll beat almost every Maxima out there that is supercharged or turboed. About the only thing to beat it will be a Maxima or Altima with bolt ons and NOS.

 

Car and Driver gave a preview test and they are estimating that the Coupe will go 0-60 in 7.5-8.0. The 1/4 Mile in 16.5-17.0. I don't know, we'll see.

 

The good news is that the Accord won't likely see too many changes in the next few years. Maybe the 6th gen Max will bring something even this 240 horse Honda can't challenge for a while.

 

i don't know much about engines. but if i read correctly you said the accord has 240 hp. right?

ok so the 02/03max has 255hp hmmmmmm

and your saying the accord will beat the all the max's out there. or is that with the accord heavily modded???

but stock to stock the max should take it. yes or no???

 

Fifteen less horsepower and 34 less torque than the Maxima. I'm not worried. Motor Trend does a good job of getting quick and fast 1/4 mile times so it appears that the Max community is in good shape.

As far as aftermarket parts go, the 2k2, 2k3 Maxima's already have intake, exhuast, pulley and Y-pipe (coming soon) and nitrous kits. There's not a whole lot more you can do to a N/A engine when you are on a budget other than super/turbocharging it. And eventually, we will see a S/C kit for the VQ Maxima's.

Jesse

 

The Accord in Motor Trend is bone stock.

Horsepower is not the whole equation so just because the Max has 15 more horses does not mean that the Max or Altima is faster. There is the weight issue, wheel hop and traction issue, and the Accord comes with a 5-speed auto transmission for better gearing than the Max's 4 speed auto.

 

Ya, but my God it's ugly!!!!

 

OOF, HOW MUCH CAN I AGREE TO THAT....TAIL LIGHTS ARE SO DAMN BORING...I MEAN IT'S JUST BLAH...NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT IT.

 

You sho right about that, it is ugly.

Here is an excerpt from Motor Trend:

The '03 car, now with more power, a five speed automatic in place of the previous four-speed, and just 31 additional pounds of curb weight, obliterated the old car's time with a 6.6 sec dash. That's the same effort turned in by the Altima in our sedan comparo, which at the time used its unrivaled 240 hp to run and hide from everything else in the catagory. Now the Accord runs stride for stride with the speedy Altima.

The Maxima was not in the comparo and was not mentioned in this article either.

 

I wouldn't worry about the 2K3 Accord either. Have any of you guys lost to a current V6 Accord? Oh yeah, that's right...they don't come with a manny tranny!

The 2K3 will only be a five-speed automatic. A six-speed will probably not come until 2K4 or later.

 

Please!!! Give the Honda Accord some credit!! I know all majority of you guys been downing the Honda Accord cause they are not all that(performance wise).. Now the hp and trq are up and you still mambling about the accord. Don't be surprise if you got smoke from the stop light race! Sorry but the Accord deserve's a credit.

 

As Mystical would say, tru, tru.

I'm surprised at how much the aftermarket scene has picked for the Max recently. But we should remember how much more the aftermarket parts makers love Honda.


btw, is the 2k3 Accord engine the same 3.5 currently used inteh Odyssey? And is it SOHC instead of DOHC?

 

There is already a Stillen supercharger for the 3.0L VQ.

I know you mean the 3.5L VQ, but you 3.5L VQ people seem to forget where your engine came from.

 

It's still a 3.0 SOHC probably hotter cams, higher compression ratio, bigger TB secondary intake actuator(adapt from CL-S), free flowing cat and exhaust etc..

 

they are supposed to come with 6spd as well

 

I agree! You have to give Honda some credit. In the USA Today review of the 2003 Accord, Honda's Head of Accord Development is quoted as saying "we tried to make a serious sport sedan out of the Accord". Couple that with Honda's aim to extract BMW-like performance from the Accord, you have to give them much credit. NOTE: They could have easily opted for the 300hp J30A from the Honda ACR and made the buying public forget all about the Maxima or Altima 3.5SE.

Now, based on some preliminary specifications I have on the new V6 Accord, it WILL be pretty even with the Altima 3.5SE and not far behind the 2K2 Max in performance. (at least according to my Cartest program)

Just keep in mind, Honda will only take but so many punches before they start punching back. With the 260hp TLS/CLS being the first, the new Accord V6 is the second counterpunch. If Toyota gets involved (i.e.: Toyota dumping the Camry in favor of the faster Chaser), it'll take this segment into a whole another level. (i.e.: maybe we'll see the 280hp Subaru Legacy B4 or 280hp Mitsubishi Galant VR4) It's like the escalation of an arms race!

 

I think we will get the Legacy, or even the famous Legacy GT-B wagon, and Galant VR4 but it's a water down version(mid 200hp or something). I'm hoping they will because this cars are badass.. IMO, this is all out war hp race from each car manufacturer! I think Lexus camp need a slap in the head!! They should be extracting some HP with those IS300 or else they will go down the water!!

 

Cams, aftermarket ECU, injectors, advance timing, im sure theres more.. and im positive Hondas will have them all.

 

Hmm...I guess that would help explain the "lack" of TQ. Initially I thought I had read 3.5L elsewhere, but I was probably assuming Honda would throw the Odyssey's engine to compete with the Nissan's 3.5L.

 

Man, some of you guys are Maxima brainwashed. Be afraid of the new Accord. It might be the best looking car on the road (neither is the 5th gen), but it's gonna run neck and neck with the Altima/Maxima. The Accord sedan will only come with a auto, but it's a 5 speed which makes much better use of the engines power. Too bad Nissan doesn't realize that a 5-speed auto is what's holding the Maxima/Altima back. Accord sedan ran a 14.9@95 which is faster than the auto Altima and damn close to the tested times of the 5 speed Altima (14.7@96). The Accord coupe will come with an optional 6 speed and is projected to hit upper 5s 0-60 and probably mid 14s in the 1/4.

PLEASE don't forget that the new Accord's V6 is based heavily upon the current CL-S/TL-S 3.2 V6. Mods will be plentiful for this motor the second the car comes out. I'm sure Comptech will have their infamous headers waiting before the car is even released. The new Accord coupe will weigh about 150lbs less than the Cl-S too. Hmmmmmmm.....I'd be afraid guys.


Dave

 

Well said Dave B. Now where's Russ's 2 cents on this.

 

man... ricers w/ actual competitive cars... now there's food for thought

 

Lets talk about interiors too. The Honda has it all over the Nissan however, the Alty is waaaay better looking. Different strokes for different folks.

 

Your right about that! Actually the Comptech Supercharger is out already so that gives some more lil arsenal from the Accord camp..

 

Are you talking about the new Alty's interior being nice!? OMG!!!

 

Aiiight...lets get it straight, ladies...

The new Accord WILL be a threat. Will it be a sports sedan? No...it'll be a sportY sedan. The engine will still be the warmed-over 3.0L that'll have some beefy stock performance. The tranny will be similar to all other 5-spd. automatics being produced by Toyota and Honda; shifts so quick that the performance loss btw. a manual and automatic becomes almost negligible.

If it comes to kick my **** at the stoplight, then good for them! I'm just happy that NISSAN RAISED THE BAR by offering the new Altima with 240hp as an option...from here on out I guarantee the next 5 years will be VERY INTERESTING for the "family" sports sedan category

I own a 2k1 Maxima. I enjoy my car a lot. I owned an 85 Accord, 89 Accord, and an 89 Civic Hatchback...you won't see me in a 2K? Accord unless it's pulling 300hp, AWD, and a six-speed manual tranny

 

No, I meant that the accord has a better interior and the alty has a better exterior. The alty's interior looks like something out of Kia.

 

Guys, you're all welcomed to checkout the 7th Gen Accord V6 Forum @ AccordV6.com

There's lots of useful info there and I've posted up a lot of CarTest2000 simulation data with final car specs.

Some little tid bits...

The 3.0L engine is based on the same SOHC J30A1 engine from 98-02 but has been significantly revamped. It uses a new "high inertia" intake manifold which is NOT variable like on the CL-S. It's tuned to resonance in the upper RPM's so low-rpm performance will suck like before, unfortunately. It also has a bumped up compression ratio from 9.4:1 to 10.0:1, and uses larger intake valves, hotter VTEC cam lobe, and a 6750rpm rev ceiling vs 6300rpm from before.

The engine is rated for 240 HP and 212 lb-ft TQ on 87 octane fuel which would give the car performance in the low/mid-15's and a low-7 0-60 time. HOWEVER, according to a USA Today article which interviewed the Accord program manager and a few engineers, the engine is good for ANOTHER 10 HP and 10+ lb-ft TQ on 91+ octane fuel. That will put the car at about 15-flat to very high 14's, and in the 6's to 60 mph. I believe this is how MT got their times (with premium fuel) because otherwise the mag numbers and cartest sims don't match up (and cartest is usually very accurate)

The 5AT tranny is lifted from the Acura TL but has REVISED gear ratios such that it doesn't fall out of the powerband when going into 4th gear like before. 4th is much shorter now (but still overdrive), and then 5th is the insanely tall econo overdrive gear.

So the moral of the story is....

DO NOT SLEEP ON THE NEW ACCORD V6's

Pre-02 automatic owners will need mods to keep up with them, and even stock 5spd owners like myself will seriously need to be on the ball. 02-03 auto owners, along with Altima 3.5SE autos will be about even with the new AV6. The 5AT tranny helps to make up for the torque deficit from the smaller 3.0 engine. 6spd owners are safe for now, though

 

My 2001 Accord V6 shifted slow as crap. I can shift my 5spd Max a helluva lot faster than my Accord's autotragic. Others dynoed their stock AV6's at about 22.5% loss. Not bad for an automatic, but still not close to your typical manual at about 15% loss.

 

Steve, I have the old Cartest program (MS DOS) and fed the specs of the new Accord Coupe V6 w/6speed into the program. Heres what I got:

0-60: 6.3 seconds
0-100: 16.6 seconds
1/4 mile ET: 15.0seconds @ 95mph
Top Speed: 155mph (Though it'll probably be limited to 130mph in production)
These numbers are on par with the 2K2 auto, though they're still short against the 6 speed Max.

With Honda claiming an additional 10hp/10lb-ft with premium gas and Unorthodox Racing claiming an additional 20hp from is UR Aluminum Crank pulley, I think we Maxima and Altima owners have been served notice.

It looks like I'll be doing a couple of performance mods to my Max afterall.

 

Here's what I got. I matched the specs line by line from www.hondanews.com and then modified the manual shift speeds to "REAL" instead of "GRANNY". LOL

On 87 gas

0-60: 6.21s
0-100: 15.55s
1/4 mile: 14.63 @ 97.66 (at line, not averaged)
Top Speed: 151 mph

On 91 gas: est. 250HP/225TQ

0-60: 5.95s
0-100: 14.72s
1/4 mile: 14.37 @ 99.50 (at line, not averaged)
Top Speed: 153 mph

I think so too, but competition is a good thing - it'll mean better Nissan's

hehe, yup. Time for an intake and y-pipe for me