The Accord Touring also includes a new wireless smartphone charger on the lower console. It’s a great idea, but at the moment it only charges smartphones with Qi technology, such as the Samsung Galaxy S5, Note 5, Nexus 5 or Nexus 6. At the moment, it won’t charge iPhones, however aftermarket cases with Qi can be bought. Here’s a website that lists Qi-equipped phones. Note: don’t put your wallet or credit cards on the wireless charger: it can erase the data.
Not all of the Accord’s improvements for 2016 are available in all trim levels: for example, new front and rear parking sensors, rain-sensing wipers, automatic high-beams, and wireless cell phone charger are only available in the top Touring trim.
Honda’s safety and driver-assist technology package called “Honda Sensing” is now available on all 2016 Accords equipped with CVT or six-speed automatic transmission. It’s a $2,300 option on LX and Sport trims and standard on EX-L and Touring. The package includes Collision Mitigation Braking System with Forward Collision Warning, Road Departure Mitigation with Lane Keeping Assist and adaptive Cruise Control, and Straight Driving Assist which automatically counter-steers to keep the car in its lane. These safety technologies are designed to warn the driver of an impending collision and/or automatically brake or steer to avoid potential collisions.
I found the audible warning sounds annoying at times because the systems can’t always tell whether a driver is deliberately drifting out of a lane or is just not paying attention; or whether a driver is approaching another car too quickly on purpose or has just failed to see another car in front brake too quickly. For Forward Collision Warning, it’s possible to manually adjust the following distance to suit your comfort level, and you can turn off Forward Collision Warning and Lane Keeping Assist if you want. But for the most part, the flashing warning lights and warning sounds usually don’t intervene unless you’ve made a driving error or a collision is imminent.
I wasn’t comfortable with the Lane Keeping Assist and Straight Driving Assist features which automatically steer the car back into its lane or keep it centred in the lane. In my opinion, if a driver is not able to keep the car in their own lane after loud beeps and flashing lights warn of a steering error, then they’re probably too drunk or too tired to drive and shouldn’t be driving at all.
As well, it’s surprisingly easy to start trusting the automatic steering to do the steering for you, thereby leading to a loss of concentration and responsibility. This could actually increase the chances of a collision rather than preventing one. If and when self-driving cars arrive and completely remove the responsibility of driving from the driver, it’s a different matter.
When parking, the Accord’s new front and rear parking sensors are a welcome addition to the standard rearview camera. When approaching an object too closely at the front or rear, a warning message appears in the upper screen along with a warning sound. And when backing up, the rearview camera offers three different views of the area behind the car: normal, wide and top-down. The latter allows the car to be reversed into a parking spot within a couple of inches of a solid wall. Combined, the parking sensors and rearview camera make it possible to park the Accord Sedan in tight spots without the worry of denting or scratching the Accord’s body-coloured plastic bumpers. Unfortunately, the parking sensors are only offered on the top Touring trim.
Another useful feature in the Accord Touring are the automatic high-beams: they dip automatically when another car approaches and raise again when it passes.
