Honda Accord V6

Yes. It's a Honda Accord, and yes, everyone who knows me will be asking the same, three letter question. WHY? Why is a Japanese car on my car blog? To me, Japan has never made a truly good car. Japan's car industry has no racing pedigree, no history to commemorate, and the design teams for most Japanese car firms give birth to cars that are so drearily unstyled, that I often confuse a pile of wet cement with an automotive product from the Land of the Rising Sun.

Suddenly, one day whilst walking to the bus stop, I thought, yes, perhaps Japanese cars are good (i mean, they can't all be bad) They are certainly good value for money. It costs about the same to buy a mid range Ford Mondeo Zetec as it does to buy a top-spec Honda Accord. This particular Accord has a full leather interior, sunroof, smart alloy wheels and a decent array of airbags.

But we are more interested in the Accord V6, which costs around NZ$56,000 You certainly get what you pay for, and most of what you're paying for, is the engine. It's a very clever 3.5 litre V6 but the engine management can turn off cylinders depending on how you are driving at a particular moment in time. It can run on 3 cylinders for city driving; 4 cylinders for low speed cruising, and all 6 for motorways and overtaking.
Sadly, switching between cylinders is not instant.

Lets say you are driving in the city, late for a crucial meeting. You can only keep up with everyone else on the road, who are actually window shopping, so you are using 4 cylinders. You see a gap in the traffic, and an amber light. You stamp on the right pedal, but it might as well be connected to a lawnmower engine. It takes time for the engine to switch to six cylinders. Time that you need for catching amber lights

Apart from that small problem, I am definitively steered towards the new Accord V6. It's bold styling, it's value for money and the excellent engine make it the perfect family saloon for family who chooses their car over price, rather than brand.