2008 Honda Accord Coupe

Remember those fifth-generation Honda Accords? They came out in 1994 and what fantastic cars they were: the first ones with VTEC, and later V-6s. So good we picked them as our 1994 Import Car of the Year.

I have fond college memories of that generation coupe for three reasons: the "hot-cam" VTEC engagement, spacious rear seat (don't ask), and swoopy (for the time) styling. Sure, sixth-generation coupes had taillights reminiscent of the NSX, but the fifth-gens always stood out because their curvy hips were accented by pie-wedge taillights. Don't believe me? Fire up Google Images and check 'em out for yourself -- before and after Gen 5 -- Honda stuck the Accord with characterless horizontal taillamps. Yeah, I know, I'm obsessing, but when a vehicle lineup is as solid as the Accord's, you tend to focus on the little things.

Which is why it brings me great pleasure to report that, after a 14-year absence, non-horizontal, non-boring taillights have returned to the Accord sedan and coupe.

But wait, there's more: In addition to injecting a dose of style to the Accord's butt, Honda has significantly butched up the rest of the car. Some say it has the lines and headlights of a Hyundai Sonata, but I disagree. Call me crazy, but if the new Accord Coupe resembles anything, it would be its own stablemate, the Honda Ridgeline truck. Just look at the nose: Sure it's been laid back a bit and smoothed out with those backswept headlights, but squint your eyes and you can see the Ridgeline face in that six sided grille. No?

Okay, so maybe I am crazy, but believe me when I tell you the new Accord drives like dream -- at least the 268-horsepower Accord Coupe EX-L I just drove did.

Pull out into traffic and punch it and the coupe just goes. In addition to 200 more horsepower than the first-generation, 1976 Accord CVCC, the 3.5-liter V-6 in the eighth-gen coupe makes 248-pound feet of torque. And yet, at WOT, there's no wheelspin or torque steer -- unless you do something lame like floor it around a corner -- and even that is easy to counteract. The Civic's dreaded "rev-hang" is nowhere to be found either; release the E-throttle and the engine winds down immediately, and quietly.