C&D: Camry vs Accord Hybrid

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kevm14
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

C&D: Camry vs Accord Hybrid

Post by kevm14 »

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/co ... 563&src=nl

Snooze. But I have a few comments.

First, this was written as if it was a Consumer Reports article, or maybe Motorweek. Very clinical. And you know what? That is totally appropriate. I appreciate not trying to veil their experience with these cars as some kind of adventure. Seriously.

Second, the powertrain integration and resulting performance differences are interesting. They said the Accord was stronger off the line and in fact, it is. But that seems to be programming. The 5-60s were much closer than the 0-60s. So the Accord seems to be simply goosing the electric motor harder on launch for whatever reason. They trapped within 1 mph of each other but they said the Camry felt stronger. The only metric that really captures that is the 50-70 where the Camry was in fact 0.7 seconds faster.

The Accord is lighter (252 lbs in fact) and has the better chassis. This should shock no one. The Camry had the more mature powertrain and as a result got a little better fuel economy.

Finally there was an interesting note that reminded me of something.
Both hybrids boast better fuel-economy ratings than their gasoline counterparts, but only the Camry XLE model gets outshined by its own siblings. While the XLE has EPA estimates of 44/47 mpg city/highway, the less expensive LE hybrid is rated at 51/53 mpg. Every 2020 Accord hybrid has the same government ratings—48 mpg across the board—but the 2018 Touring hybrid that we tested, which is mechanically identical to the 2019 model, only managed 42 mpg on our 75-mph highway test, or 2 mpg shy of a 2018 Camry we tested.
I remember hearing on TFL Truck about the way EPA ratings are done. I don't know the exact details but there are rules about testing the most popular/representative model/trim level. Not sure that explains the XLE vs LE differences but perhaps Toyota expected to sell a bunch of XLE hybrids and thus had to test it separately from the lower trim LE. Kind of interesting.
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