i was just reading Edmund's long term review of the newer honda accord v6.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...hotopanel..5.*

Performance and Fuel Economy
From a performance perspective, the 3,500-pound Accord is sportier than in years past, but showed some signs of aging after 20,000 miles of dutiful service.

Acceleration to 60 mph from a standstill required 7 seconds (with 1 foot of rollout like on a drag strip) when new, but grew to 7.8 seconds by the Accord's final test. Quarter-mile times slowed from 15.3 seconds at 95.4 mph to 15.8 seconds at 90.3 mph.


What could they have they done wrong to see such a performance drop in a 1 yr old car?

(I want to keep my GS in tiptop shape and not lose 1 second accelerating on the freeway.)

 

Keep up with maintenance.
Keep up with tire pressure.
thats all i got.

 

Don't push it when it's not warmed up.

 

With a new vehicle, it also starts with a proper break-in. The better that piston rings, cylinder walls, bearings, valve seals, brake pads, and rotors seat properly to start with, the fewer potential problems you will have down the road, especially with oil consumption and emissions.

 

i somehow imagine the automotive ....enthusiasts at Edmunds didn't follow mmarshall's break-in Bible.

 

Of course, while they were the ones driving this particular vehicle and its tires, not me, I'm not sure I buy their library-quiet analysis here. Hondas, in general, tend to have noticeable road/tire noise, and th Accord, good a vehicle as it is, no exception.

 

Hey, it's not my Bible...I don't design new cars. I only pass on what the service people and engineers say. They are the one that have to deal with warranty problems.

 

I also think since the Edmunds editors and writers and staff know that it isn't their car...they just drive it like hell while they have it--which probably isn't too conducive for the preservation of the car...

 

Well, if Edmunds overdoes it with a new car, then that's on them. Even the gung-ho enthusiasts at organizations like Car and Driver/Road and Track magazine take it easy for the first thousand miles or so. On the long-term/ Four Seasons test, they will often put up to 50K or 60K miles on it, if the car is popular with the magazine's staff. They don't want to be saddled with repairs and unscheduled dealer visits any more than the average car-buyer does.

 

I think the drop off depends on the engine. For example, numerous tests have confirmed that the VQ is a little stronger at 50k than it is at pre-break in (usually the long term test articles). I've also seen better results for other manufacturers post better performance at 50k. I think the car Edmunds had was just a dud.

 

Good points all! I rather doubt the scientific accuracy of the tests conducted by Edmunds and many other reviewers because the results are often scattered all over the map. Ambient temperature, altitude, launch technique, and timing all can have considerable effects on track time - in addition to weight, fuel, and mechanical condition of the car.

After a good number of years' experience with commercial fleets, I've learned that a "company car" can be badly abused when it is driven by a number of employees. NOBODY bothers to care for it since it does not belong to anyone. If a fleet car is to survive, it has to be permanently assigned to one responsible individual who will take ownership in the vehicle and ensure it is properly maintained and driven with at least some amount of care.

Dumping a car into the motor pool often results in premature service issues. I once had a company 4WD pickup - I'd traded my company Maverick with a circuit-riding engineer who couldn't get the truck from one gas pump to the next after dark in rural Texas where the sidewalks roll up at sundown. The pickup had a spectacularly thirsty 350 V8 and was painted up with all the graphics of our TV station's news cruisers. It sported radios for every law enforcement agency in three counties and sprouting a forest of antennas, it looked like a tuna boat at high season. All of the lights and gumballs made it pretty hard to miss. Yes, it was a rolling embarrassment, the original Tijuana Taxi.

Not so embarrassing for Production Assistant who I let drive it for deliveries during the day. He'd time his run to arrive in front of his high school every day at noon and attempt 4-wheel burnouts for the appreciative little mouth-breathers in his class. After replacing the SECOND transfer case in six months, I snapped to the cause. The kid had no ownership in the vehicle - if he blew it up, so what? I quickly reassigned the truck back to the engineering department and drove my own car to work. Lesson learned. My PA could deliver those commercial tapes on a bicycle for all I cared.

Edmunds' Honda probably suffered the same kind of treatment at the hands of multiple staffers. Without one assigned driver taking responsibility for it, the car was probably abused beyond all reason . . . especially if it got into the hands of the interns.