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Is it possible to give a Honda Accord saloon a hatchback rear door?

S

ship69

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'08 i-DTEC EX man 5D
Hi

I don't get it. Why the heck didnt Honda make an 8th Generation hatchback?
But given that they didnt/dont, how hard would it be to CONVERT a Honda Accord saloon into a hatchback?

Background
The problem with an Estate Tourer is that it a long car (4750mm), and this makes parking difficult. OKay it's helped by parking sensors, but only a little.
The saloon is not only a fraction shorter in length (4725mm ==> 2.5cm shorter), and presumably much quieter (due to less of an open sound box at the back), but it is also cheaper to buy and IMHO, a much nicer looking car!

I mean in the saloon, the seats go flat (yes?), but because of the fixed back window the size of the opening into the boot is constricted. This would be a mighty pain for moving large things in and out of the boot.
Made much worse of course by those idiotic pillars into the car due to the rear suspension.

I now suspect that it was pure embarrassment about the pillars that caused them not to put a hatchback on, because it would draw attention to them. Plus perhaps the marketing people would moan saying that they shouldnt try to compete with little hot hatchbacks like Golfs.

No matter.

How hard would it be to give a Honda Accord 8th Gen saloon a hatchback rear door?

J



P.S. FWIW, my old Golf GT was 4149 mm ==> 60cm shorter than the Tourer.
 
you are right though john, 6th gen accord had a hatch, but in 2003 honda wanted to move it upmarket, so they went for saloon and estate only to follow the germans

maybe in the 9t gen it wii come back, if there is a 9th gen
 
Why compare a the size of an Accord to a golf though, if you wanted to compare like for like then surely it would need to be compared to a Passat, which funnily enough is only available as saloon and estate.
If you wanted a golf sized car then surely you would compare it against a civic, which is a hatch.
For a proper comparison, you would need to compare a mondeo or insignia, both or which are available as a hatch, but i'm not sure how they compare in length to the accord

edit: just checked, Mondeo hatch is 4778mm and the insignia is 4830mm, so the equivalent ford in hatchback form is 28mm longer than the 8th gen tourer and vauxhalls accord rival is 80mm longer
 
All previous hatch versions have been an ugly brother to the saloon, even going back to the 1st Gen.

I think the only future prospect of a hatch type Accord would be a coupe version.
 
I agree with Shiny, normally I think saloons are ugly (apart from the P10 Primera:)) however I don't think the Accord suits being a hatchback

I was behind a 6th gen hatch in the petrol station this morning and it just wasint doing it for me
 
Hatchbacks will be noisier aswell? Honda tends to have very restricted loading access so future models should be double hinged imo.
 
Shiny said:
All previous hatch versions have been an ugly brother to the saloon, even going back to the 1st Gen.

I think the only future prospect of a hatch type Accord would be a coupe version.
Click to expand...


Wait a minute - I dont see why a hatchback NEEDS to be significantly more ugly than saloon.
I mean, looking at the rear of a saloon, aesthetically nothing much needs to change - I'm no expert but surely it's just and extra shut line, no?
 
Rear body strength might be compromised, so multi-link would probably come off, and it would be more like a Tourer. In fact it would be simpler to get a Tourer and modify that.
 
Haha! Hatchback convert a saloon. That's mad!
 
Oh well.

But I *still* find it strange how many manufacturers of the larger car seem to refuse to even make any hatchbacks. A boot is seriously constructing if you want to move anything remotely large. And having a that *looks* like a saloon (with its better aesthetics and aerodynamics) but on which, simply put, the rear window lifts out of the way just seems such an obvious option to give to customers, without them having to own something that is long and so hard to park.
 
Hatches have a certain place in the market. If you're looking for a little bit of luxury and upper class motoring, irrespective of the realities, you'd typically not look at hatchbacks. I guess it's almost a snob thing. At least, that's how I see it.
 
B*stards! It's so irritating. ie. If you want to get a luxury car with a large boot opening you have to buy a ****** great long estate car. Pah.
 
import one of these
http://automobiles.honda.com/crosstour/

or buy a cr-v, imo you'd never get a modded saloon tailgate passed an MOT, you'd have rust issues and water leakage problems from day one.

Further thinking would leave me to believe that the tourer exec has parking sensors all round with rear parking camera too, so if you still think you'd have issues parking, even with all those extras, then maybe stick with the Golf :rolleyes:
 
Or a Skoda Superb which has a hatch and boot lid. 2 levers on the boot lid, so you can chose, lid or hatch.

Hatches are seen as being lower class, so they do a saloon and estate to match the Germans, as others have said.
 
Mr Honda said:
import one of these
http://automobiles.honda.com/crosstour/
Click to expand...


oooppphh.

That is tasty.

Must admit to worry about people that complain about the size of a car being prohibitive to parking. I drive the Accord and a Transit Van (with no rear window) in central London and parking is no more a problem for me now than it was 15 years ago when I had a Fiat Uno.

Guess that explains all the "car-park dings" I find when I get back to my motors :(.
 
Saab 9000 aero used to be the car to have...all knocking on a bit now though...but fast and huge hatchback
 
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