Full Review of the 2014 Honda Accord Coupe Manual

2014 Honda Accord Coupe V6 Manual

Last year, we drove the all new Accord Sedan. During our time with that car, we had the chance to take a road-trip down to Houston from Dallas. The trim we were in was the Sport and overall, I was mostly disappointed in the sportiness of that car. It wasn’t that it’s a really bad vehicle, but I knew Honda had much more potential. A few months after putting the sedan through its passes, I had the chance to drive the coupe with the V6 and a manual transmission, on a track! I really wasn’t looking for a lot to come of those quick laps around the infield track at Texas Motor Speedway, but I stayed optimistic. Needless to say, if you’ve seen our video, the car blew me away on just how well it handled and just how sporty this car really could be when you include all the right variables. You can check out the video of me taking that car around the track on our YouTube channel. Be sure to give us a thumbs up and subscribe for more videos like it.

So after being blown away on the track, I was real eager to get this car for a week and see how it would fare as a daily driver on the rough, busy, and barely existing roads around DFW. Luckily I knew just who to call, and now we have a full review for you.

Looking at the coupe, you obviously see some very close resemblances to the sedan body, and you see a lot of Honda styling cues, but it has a style all its own. The front-end looks more tight and aggressive, but it’s really wrapped up in the backend where you see the dual exhaust and cleaner taillights. The integrated lip spoiler on the trunk is also a very nice and sporty touch.

Inside the car, you get a pretty good interior compared to those of Honda’s recent past. The materials are good quality with nice leather and stitching touches throughout the cabin. The steering wheel is chunky with a great feel and easily accessible controls. One of the more notable features inside this car is the center stack. Up-top you get an 8-inch multi-informational display that can show incoming text messages, show your navigation screen, or all of your infotainment options. Below that is your audio touchscreen interface that allows you to choose your music selection whether it be from Pandora, Bluetooth streaming, or old school AM/FM radio. Stacked right below that, we have your thermostat controls which are laid out very well and offer a nice dual climate system. One more step down you have a big knob that allows you to interface with the top screen as it’s not a touch-screen. All of this is daunting at first, but it quickly becomes easily manageable and most actions you’ll be making while driving can be accomplished through a button on the steering wheel.

Moving under the hood, you can have this car with its base engine, a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder pushing 185-horsepower matched up to either a 6-speed manual or a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). The Sport sedan we drove was equipped with this engine and the CVT and it was that setup that left us wanting more. Well we got more in this car with the 3.5-liter 24-valve SOHC i-VTEC V6 engine pushing 278-hp. This engine was matched up to the 6-speed manual transmission, so no clunking around with a CVT.

2014 Honda Accord Coupe V6 Manual

This is really the setup to have as you get good power and are able to stay clear of the lazy feeling CVT. The more direct manual transmission not only allowed us to have fun out on the track, but also provided for an overall better driving experience day-to-day. There’s nothing better than dropping a gear or so and blowing past a slow 18-wheeler that just pulled out in front of you. There’s also nothing like being able to take it out on a tight track and enjoy the suspension setup, strong chassis, and nice steering feel as you bang through gears taking corners much faster than an Accord ever should.

2014 Honda Accord Coupe V6 Manual

Although our tester priced out a $37,574, you can get an LX-S coupe starting at just $23,625. This won’t get you a V6 under the hood, but as long as you stay away from the CVT, you’ll still have some fun and it’s about $700 cheaper. If you’re looking to get into an Accord Coupe with a V6, you’ll be looking at a base price of $30,625 and at that price; there are a lot of other coupes that may grab your attention. Most notably, the new Hyundai Genesis Coupe which can be had with a more powerful V6 engine, a manual transmission or more traditional automatic transmission, and its rear-wheel-drive. You do get more room in the Accord, but if it’s my money, it would be hard to pass on the Genesis. Other than that you could be looking more at the American Muscle cars like the Mustang or Challenger, and if you’re looking in the $38k price range you could even get a V8 under the hood.

After all of that, I’ve got to say I’m still very impressed with this car. It’s almost the perfect combination having a nice and responsive V6 matched up to a manual transmission and a chassis that loves abuse; the only thing you’re missing is the rear-wheel-drive. The lack of rear-wheel-drive doesn’t ruin the car, though; it just puts a damper on some of the fun to be had. All of that matched up with a pretty decent interior, a good warranty, and a good price, it should be hard for most people pass on such a deal.