Honda Accord Gas Mileage

The Honda Accord first rolled off a boat onto American shores in 1976, and grew quickly in popularity to become one of America’s best-selling cars. Honda’s legendary reputation for providing exceptional quality at a reasonable price took the Accord to the top of the charts. Fuel economy played a big part in that success. The Accord’s gas mileage figures have consistently been in line with expectations for a mid-sized family sedan. But like its older (yet smaller) brother the Civic, the Accord has grown quite a bit in size and weight over the years.
Just how big? Believe it or not, the Marysville, Ohio-built 2008 Accord is classified as a large sedan.

Some of the gas mileage figures for the smaller 1.6 and 1.8 liter Accords of the late 1970s and early 1980s were astronomical in comparison to the fuel economy figures for today’s much larger cars. It all comes down to the weight. A typical late 70s Accord weighed in at roughly 2,000 lbs. … just enough that it could be pulled around by 70 horsepower. By comparison, the top of the line 2008 Accord EX-L V-6 weighs approximately 3600 pounds and is powered by a 3471cc V-6 that provides 268 horsepower and delivers 19 city / 29 highway. (The slightly more fuel-efficient 2354 cc inline four cylinder version of the 2008 Accord in LX or EX trim delivers 22 city / 31 highway with a manual transmission and 21 city / 31 highway with an automatic.)
While Honda has dropped the Accord Hybrid from the lineup for 2008, upcoming model years should see a big jump in MPG figures as Honda adapts the highly-efficient engine that’s already under the hood of the Accord diesel.