Interior impressions
The top trim Accord Hybrid Touring and Camry Hybrid XLE both have attractive, nicely appointed interiors with quality leather, plastic and cloth materials, bright instruments and easy-to-reach controls, but the two-tone beige and black colour scheme in our Camry Hybrid tester felt brighter and cheerier than the sombre and mostly black cabin in the Accord Hybrid. Still, we didn’t like Toyota’s choice of off-white ‘UltraSuede’ cloth seat inserts in the beige leather seats, particularly in a family sedan where the occasional smudge or spill can (will) occur.
    2014 Honda Accord Hybrid. Click image to enlarge |
We found that both cabins are spacious enough for four adults, but the middle rear seat in both cars is uncomfortable. Front headroom is adequate in both cars but the moonroof surrounds on these top-trim models take up a lot of available headroom – without the moonroofs, the base Accord and Camry Hybrid have considerably more front headroom. Front and rear legroom is generous, but the Camry has a little more rear legroom. Rear headroom is adequate but not generous.
   2014 Honda Accord Hybrid & 2014 Toyota Camry Hybrid. Click image to enlarge |
Both our top-trim test cars had multi-adjustable power driver’s seats that are comfortable and supportive; the UltraSuede seat inserts in the Camry’s leather seats are warmer on a cold morning, but both cars have front seat heaters and the Accord Touring has rear seat heaters as well. Both cars’ power driver’s seats include power height, power lumbar, power recline and power fore-aft features while both power front passenger seats have power recline and fore/aft, but not power height or power lumbar. The outboard rear seats are comfortable too, but as we mentioned, the raised centre rear seats in both cars are hard and uncomfortable and leave the centre occupant with virtually no headroom. We noted the Accord has height-adjustable rear head restraints, but the Camry’s are fixed. Both cars have rear seat anchors and tethers for child seats and childproof rear door locks.
    2014 Toyota Camry Hybrid. Click image to enlarge |
We liked the brightly lit instrument clusters in both cars, which include special gauges showing battery charge level and real-time charging and power levels. Each car also had a trip computer and information display integrated into the central speedometer with values selected by pressing a button on the steering wheel. In the centre stack, the Accord Hybrid Touring has an 8.0-inch upper screen displaying audio, telephone, navigation, fuel consumption info, and real-time power distribution, but unlike the Camry’s 6.1-inch screen, it is not a touchscreen. A series of buttons and a round dial below the heater controls are used to navigate around this screen. As well, the Accord Hybrid has a second smaller touch-screen below the bigger screen that’s used exclusively for audio functions. Presumably, this allows the driver to change the radio station without altering the display on the upper screen. Still, we thought Honda’s combination of two screens, numerous buttons and a single controller dial on the dash was overly complicated and difficult to operate unless the vehicle was stopped. From experience, we’ve found the best place for a controller is down on the centre console, similar to what Mazda, BMW, Mercedes have.
The Camry Hybrid’s single touchscreen is a bit simpler to operate. Large, well-marked buttons around the perimeter of the touchscreen and large on-screen buttons seem more intuitive. However, the Camry’s screen can be subject to glare because it doesn’t have a hood like Honda’s large screen does.
